The UW System Board of Regents made an attempt Friday to help the UW System stay competitive by proposing a 5 percent pay increase during the 2005-2007 biennium.

The increase, if approved by the governor and state legislators, can be funded from three sources: tuition, the general public revenue – which comes from state taxes – and grants, Regent President Toby Marcovich of Superior said.

The Regents requested that 4.3 percent of the money come from tuition and 7 percent come from the GPR, which means tuition would rise 4.3 percent over the next biennium.

“It’s a very worrisome time,” Regent Roger Axtell of Janesville said. “Wisconsin has gained a reputation for being one of the lowest-paying institutions.”

The reason for the Regents’ request, he said, is the need to help keep personnel in Wisconsin and retain the UW System’s quality. Wisconsin is losing faculty to other universities across the nation because of the higher pay they give employees.

Last year, the state made a $250 budget cut, but didn’t provide GPR to help out with it, Axtell said. Instead, tuition increased 18 percent over the last biennium, he said, to compensate for about $150 million.

“(Last year), the students had to pay 150 million more to get 100 million less,” Axtell said. “It’s been a really rough two years. This has got to stop.”

Senior Eric Ristau said that even though tuition increases aren’t what students want, the reasoning behind it has merit.

“I’d take 4.3 percent over 18 percent any day. It’s very important that we stay competitive, because as it stands now, the UW Wisconsin System is the most highly regarded,” Ristau said. “We could lose all that if we fall behind in what we pay (UW personnel).”

Chancellor Donald Mash said search consultants call about once a week trying to persuade him to look at jobs elsewhere. Recently, he received a call from a search consultant in Pennsylvania in regards to a university looking for a president. Mash told the consultant he was not interested, he said.

“Our faculty, our staff are falling behind,” Mash said. “We do compete in a national market. We’re falling behind, and it’s serious. We simply have to figure out how to remain competitive for our key people.”

Compared to other universities similar to UW-Eau Claire across the Midwest, Eau Claire is ranked 41 of 49 schools in high tuition rates. The University of Minnesota-Duluth ranks first with $8,415, compared to Eau Claire’s $4,724 rate.

“Even with the increases, I don’t think (students) are going to find better alternatives in terms of price,” Regent Gerald Randall of Milwaukee said. “The issues of qualities and price are still at the advantage of the UW Schools.”

He emphasized, however, that the UW System’s quality is dissipating because of the cuts, and that the system cannot absorb another cut as large as it did during the last biennium.

Axtell said Wisconsin’s fate lies with the governor and state legislators, because they decide how much money the state will grant and how much of it will come from tuition.

“We need the help of the governor and our legislators to stop the bleeding and help us recover quickly.”