The UW System Board of Regents approved salary increases for UW-Madison football head coach Bret Bielema and offensive coordinator Paul Chryst Friday in a closed session.
According to UWBadgers.com, Bielema's total compensation will increase from $1.7 million to $2.5 million for the upcoming year and will grow by an additional $100,000 each year through 2016, when his contract ends.
Chryst's salary will increase from $305,000 to $405,000 this year, with an additional $100,000 each year through 2016, according to the website.
The raises came after a season in which the Wisconsin Badgers football team finished 11-2 en route to a share of the Big Ten championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl. However, Texas Christian University defeated the Badgers 21-19 in the Jan. 1 game.
The regents also discussed their position on the voter ID bill the state Legislature is currently debating. Regents President Charles Pruitt said the board has asked the legislature to consider an amendment allowing student IDs as an acceptable form of identification.
""As regents our first responsibility is to consider the effect of any legislation on the 182,000 students within the UW System,"" Pruitt said. ""Without this amendment we strongly oppose SB Six.""
The board then debated where they will stand on the bill if the amendment passes, with some regents taking a stand against the bill as a whole. However, Pruitt proposed to put the discussion on the agenda for the March meeting after they did not come to an official position Friday.
UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin later spoke about what the proposed New Badger Partnership might mean for other state schools looking for more flexibility from the government in how they spend state funds.
""If the governor is supportive … of the Badger Partnership and if he moves forward with that, which I hope he will … I hope that it will include flexibilities for the other campuses, either now or going forward,"" Martin said.
However, Martin said due to the lateness of the Regents and other state schools to propose more flexibility, the Badger Partnership will go forward separate from the system.
