State officials Monday said many state employees earn more than Gov. Jim Doyle.
Some UW-System officials, who are technically state employees, make more than Doyle, including certain athletic officials chancellors and clinical research faculty, UW-System spokesperson David Giroux said. UW-Madison head football coach Bret Bielema has a current salary of $1.3 million while Chancellor Wiley earns $327,417 according to UW-Madison University Communications.
These both rank above Doyle's salary of $136,263. Wisconsin Department of Administration spokesperson Linda Barth said she was unable to release names of state employees earning higher salaries than Doyle as of press time.
Giroux said he does not think attracting qualified candidates for open UW-System positions would be a problem, even with the budget deficit.
Our academic reputation is still carrying today and people do see these as valuable leadership opportunities,"" Giroux said.
There are currently more than 50 applicants to replace Chancellor John Wiley in Fall 2008.
However, Giroux said he did not rule out state financial troubles as a factor in recruiting candidates for Chancellor.
""I can't say that it isn't a concern,"" Giroux said, ""but it doesn't seem to be an impediment right now for the positions that we currently have open.""
Salaries for chancellors and other UW-System officials are set by comparing them to a ""peer group"" consisting of other schools in the Big Ten and other top research universities.
Andrew Reschovsky, professor of public affairs and applied economics at the La Follette School of Public Affairs said in an e-mail state administrators might need to make difficult decisions in hiring practices.
""To the extent that lower budgets make it harder to compete for high quality (and high paid) employees, state agencies will either have to operate with fewer employees, or they will be unable to compete successfully for the most highly qualified job candidates,"" Reschovsky said.
""That being said, it is important to realize that many other states face the same kind of budgetary pressures as Wisconsin.""
