A committee of the UW System Board of Regents recommended altering the state's faculty sick-leave policy Friday, though nine UW campuses have said they are opposed to some of the possible changes.
The Committee on Regent Response to the Legislative Audit Bureau Audit on UW System Personnel Policies and Practices voted unanimously that a new policy must make faculty report all sick leave, regardless if a colleague is able to cover a class.
Under the current policy, faculty members do not have to report sick leave if another instructor is able to teach a class, according to UW-Stevens Point professor Chris Sadler, who was part of the committee.
Unused sick leave can be converted into funds for health insurance coverage when all state employees retire and this policy also applies to UW faculty, Sadler said.
Faculty senates at nine campuses are against changing the current sick leave policy and three are not opposed to changing it, according to Sadler. He said the UW-Madison faculty senate was opposed to changing the policy, but UW-Milwaukee was willing to allow the alteration.
Sadler said the full UW Board of Regents would likely adopt the recommendation.
UW-Platteville associate professor Nancy Turner, vice president of The Association of University of Wisconsin Professionals union, said the change in policy would discourage professors from taking colleagues' classes.
Turner said that for professors to have to record sick leave even when their classes are covered is essentially punishing"" them.
UW system spokesperson David Giroux said the ability to not report sick leave if another professor can cover a class is only available to faculty and academic staff with class instructional duties.
Giroux said some aspects of the sick leave policy need to be balanced, with the UW system showing it is acting responsibly.
""We want to preserve what's right about these benefits and preserve what's most important for our employees and at the same time demonstrate that the university is committed to being accountable and efficient,"" Giroux said.
