Chancellors at Universities of Wisconsin campuses that have lost a high percentage of freshmen will have bigger retention targets to meet in order to earn the 15% bonuses newly available to all chancellors, according to information provided to the Wisconsin State Journal.
UW system sets targets chancellors must hit for 15% bonuses | Wisconsin State Journal
The chancellors at UW-Green Bay, UW-Oshkosh and UW-Parkside will need to increase their retention rates — the percentage of freshmen who stick around for sophomore year — by 1.7% to 4.1%, respectively, according to UW system information. That would bring their campuses back above 70%.
But other chancellors, such as those at UW-Eau Claire and UW-La Crosse, which retain more than 80% of their freshmen, will only need to boost their retention rates by 0.5% or 1% to earn the 15% bonus.
In July, Regents approved a new compensation program that will give chancellors at all UW system schools except UW-Madison a shot at bonuses if they can meet specific first-to-second-year retention targets.
Each chancellor’s goal was set in August in consultation between the chancellor, UW system President Jay Rothman and UW Board of Regents President Amy Blumenfeld-Bogost.
Each goal was based on several years of retention rates, though, not just the latest year’s results, UW system spokesperson Mark Pitsch said.
Many UW system schools lag national retention averages for public four-year universities. For freshman students who started at public four-year colleges in fall 2022, 78% of them stayed enrolled the following fall, according to National Student Clearinghouse data.
Retention rates have slipped at most UW system schools over the last decade. Schools like Eau Claire, La Crosse and UW-Platteville have stayed relatively consistent over the last decade, while retention rates have dropped below 70% at others, including UW-Oshkosh, UW-Parkside and UW-Superior.
Increasing both enrollment and retention are key to the UW system meeting its own goal of graduating 41,000 students each year, up from the nearly 37,000 yearly graduates it has now.
The UW system and Regent presidents will have discretion to determine how well chancellors have met their retention goals after a year and what their bonuses will be. Those first meetings will occur in November, after UW system leaders can evaluate enrollment numbers; decisions on how much to reward in bonuses will be made before the end of December.
Oshkosh has had one of the largest declines in retention rates in the last 10 years, going from 78.1% in 2013 to 69.3% in 2023, amid sharp budget cuts. The campus’s retention rate has been a bit inconsistent, with 67.8% in 2021 and 72.3% in 2022.
Oshkosh’s goal is to retain 71% of the students who are currently freshmen and will be sophomores next fall.
Green Bay will be asked to meet a 70% retention goal, up from its 2023 figure of 65.9%. In recent years, it effectively has become an open campus that accepts nearly every student who applies and gives automatic acceptance to any Green Bay Area School District graduate.
Parkside’s retention goal is 71%, up from its 2023 figure of 68.7%. In the last five years, its retention rate has dipped as low as 65.4%. Parkside’s goal would return the school to about where it was in 2021 and 2022.
UW-River Falls did not have a retention rate goal set because it has an interim chancellor. Retention rates were set for UW-Milwaukee and Oshkosh, though, which will see turnover in their chancellors next summer when both step down at the end of the school year and return to the faculty. If met, those bonuses will go to their current chancellors, Pitsch said.
Madison also was not given a retention goal. Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin has a different incentive: The Regents are rewarding her longevity in the position. The flagship school has the highest retention rates of any UW system school, by a long shot. For the last 10 years, it has kept between 94% and 95% of its freshmen into their sophomore year.
Should Mnookin stay through June 2025, she’ll get an additional $150,000. The bonuses increase by $50,000 each year through June 2029, allowing her salary with bonuses to top $1 million a year. Those bonuses will be funded through philanthropy, not state or tuition dollars.
Source: UW system sets targets chancellors must hit for 15% bonuses
