1

Personnel Policies and Practices, University of Wisconsin System

Legislative Audit BureauNovember 2006

2

UW System Employees

3

UW System Governance and Personnel Policies

UW Board of Regents is statutorily responsible

for personnel policies

UW System employees participate in the

Wisconsin Retirement System

Negotiated contracts apply to classified,

represented UW System staff

4

Reported Average Sick Leave Use by UW System Staff

5

Sick Leave UseReported by Faculty, Academic Staff,

and Limited Appointees in 2005

6

Average Value of Converted Sick Leave for UW System Employees

Faculty - $222,100

Limited appointees - $153,900

Academic staff - $112,200

Classified staff - $47,600

7

Vacation Time Reporting Policies and Practices

9-month appointees do not earn

vacation time

12-month appointees earn 22 days of vacation

time each year

UW policies allow the placement of limited

amounts of unused vacation time in

individual reserve accounts

8

Limited Appointments

Statutes identify certain senior administrative positions as limited appointments

Statutes grant the Board of Regents authority to categorize other administrative positions as limited appointments

Administrative code allows the UW System President and the chancellors to designate additional positions as limited appointments

9

Position Titles Designated as Limited Appointments

10

Transfers into Back-Up Positions

95 employees transferred into their back-up

positions between July 2002 and December

2005

58 of these transfers were at UW-Madison and

UW-Milwaukee

50 of the 95 transfers appear to have been

voluntary, and 45 were involuntary

11

Settlement Agreements

UW System executed 13 settlement agreements with employees from 2003 through 2005

The Department of Administration’s Risk Management program paid $1.1 million for UW System personnel claims from 2003 through 2005

The Department of Workforce Development’s Division of Equal Rights substantiated none of the 147 employment discrimination complaints filed against UW System

12

UW System Employees with the Position Title “Consultant”

“Consultant” is a position title used for both

classified and unclassified employees

UW policies require these to be short-term

appointments

134 unclassified UW System staff held the

“consultant” position title in December 2005

13

UW System Unclassified Consultants with Salaries of at Least $65,000

14

UW System Faculty Sabbaticals

15

Compliance with Policies Related to Sabbaticals

73 files were reviewed

Sick leave reporting is not uniformly enforced

Not all faculty were in compliance with a statutory

requirement to return to the institution for one year

upon completion of the sabbatical

Standardized forms would help to ensure

consistent application of statutes and UW policies

16

Audit Recommendations

Board of Regents– Modify policies for reporting sick leave and vacation time use– Review position titles designated as limited appointments– Report to the Committee in June 2007

UW System Administration– Report to the Committee in June 2007 on efforts to provide and track concurrent

and back-up positions uniformly– Annually report to Board of Regents on hiring of consultants– Develop a standard agreement on faculty sabbaticals and a standard form to use

in determining compensation

Legislature– Review sick leave conversion credit program

17

Personnel Policies and Practices, University of Wisconsin System

Legislative Audit BureauNovember 2006