A UW System Board of Regents committee approved the $33.5 million annual budget to continue a systemwide IT project Thursday, apparently following UW System President Kevin Reilly's advice to ""hold your nose and do what is necessary.""
The Board of Regents will officially vote on the project Friday, which Reilly said is necessary to replace the ""outdated, vintage-1975 system"" with an ""integrated, flexible, highly secure system"" to handle the system's 67,000 employees.
According to Reilly, the project is expected to cost $81.4 million before it is launched in 2012 and will be funded without taxpayer dollars. Twelve million dollars from a Microsoft lawsuit and $45 to $50 million from the system's operating reserves will be used to help fund the remaining budget.
""Implementing this system will be costly, but it's hardly a luxury. It's a necessity to be addressed now, not later,"" he said.
The project raised eyebrows with some lawmakers, such as Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, who encouraged the board to delay the project on Wednesday after learning that the main consulting firm, Huron Consulting, has been under a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation after restating its earnings in early August.
Huron CEO Tim Roth told the regents at the meeting no foul play was involved and the project was still on track.
The regents also suspended a rule forcing UW System staff to acquire a doctor's note if they are sick for more than five days at the suggestion of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to UW System spokesperson David Giroux.
