36.09(1)(j) (j) Except where such matters are a subject of bargaining with a certified representative of a collective bargaining unit under s. 111.91, the board shall establish salaries for persons prior to July 1 of each year for the next fiscal year, and shall designate the effective dates for payment of the new salaries. In the first year of the biennium, payments of the salaries established for the preceding year shall be continued until the biennial budget bill is enacted. If the budget is enacted after July 1, payments shall be made following enactment of the budget to satisfy the obligations incurred on the effective dates, as designated by the board, for the new salaries, subject only to the appropriation of funds by the legislature and s. 20.928 (3). This paragraph does not limit the authority of the board to establish salaries for new appointments. The board may not increase the salaries of employees under this paragraph unless the salary increase conforms to the proposal as approved under s. 230.12 (3) (e) or the board authorizes the salary increase to recognize merit, to correct salary inequities under par. (h), to fund job reclassifications or promotions, or to recognize competitive factors. The granting of salary increases to recognize competitive factors does not obligate inclusion of the annualized amount of the increases in the appropriations under s. 20.285 (1) for subsequent fiscal bienniums. No later than October 1 of each year, the board shall report to the joint committee on finance and the secretary of administration and administrator of the division of personnel management in the department of administration concerning the amounts of any salary increases granted to recognize competitive factors, and the institutions at which they are granted, for the 12-month period ending on the preceding June 30.

36.09(1)(L) (L) The board shall possess all powers necessary or convenient for the operation of the system except as limited in this chapter and ss. 13.48 (14) (am) and 16.848 (1).

36.09(2) (2) The president.

36.09(2)(a) (a) The president shall be president of all the faculties and shall be vested with the responsibility of administering the system under board policies and shall direct a central administration which shall assist the board and the president in establishing system-wide policies in monitoring, reviewing and evaluating these policies, in coordinating program development and operation among institutions, in planning the programmatic, financial and physical development of the system, in maintaining fiscal control and compiling and recommending educational programs, operating budgets and building programs for the board. Subject to par. (b), the president shall appoint each senior vice president, vice president, associate vice president and assistant vice president of the system. The president shall fix the term of office for each senior vice president, vice president, associate vice president and assistant vice president of the system.

36.09(2)(b) (b) The sum of the number of senior vice presidents and vice presidents of the system that the president may appoint under par. (a) may not exceed 4.

36.09(2)(c) (c) The president shall appoint a special assistant to the president to serve as the director of the office of educational opportunity under s. 36.64. The special assistant serves at the pleasure of the president.

36.09(3) (3) The chancellors.

36.09(3)(a) (a) The chancellors shall be the executive heads of their respective faculties and institutions and shall be vested with the responsibility of administering board policies under the coordinating direction of the president and be accountable and report to the president and the board on the operation and administration of their institutions. Subject to board policy the chancellors of the institutions in consultation with their faculties shall be responsible for designing curricula and setting degree requirements; determining academic standards and establishing grading systems; defining and administering institutional standards for faculty peer evaluation and screening candidates for appointment, promotion and tenure; recommending individual merit increases; administering associated auxiliary services; and administering all funds, from whatever source, allocated, generated or intended for use of their institutions.

36.09(3)(b) (b) The chancellor may designate a person as provost, to act as chief executive officer of the institution in the chancellor’s absence, if the person currently holds a limited appointment as vice chancellor, associate chancellor, assistant chancellor, associate vice chancellor or assistant vice chancellor. The chancellor may not create an additional administrative position for the purpose of this paragraph.

36.09(3m) (3m) Meaning of “subject to” in certain provisions. In subs. (4) to (5), “subject to the responsibilities and powers” means subordinate to the responsibilities and powers.

36.09(4) (4) Faculty. The faculty of each institution, subject to the responsibilities and powers of the board, the president, and the chancellor of such institution, shall have the primary responsibility for advising the chancellor regarding academic and educational activities and faculty personnel matters. The faculty of each institution shall have the right to determine their own faculty organizational structure and to select representatives to participate in institutional governance, except that the faculty of each institution shall ensure that faculty in academic disciplines related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are adequately represented in the faculty organizational structure.

36.09(4m) (4m) Academic staff. The academic staff members of each institution, subject to the responsibilities and powers of the board, the president, the chancellor, and the faculty of the institution, shall have the primary responsibility for advising the chancellor regarding the formulation and review, and shall be represented in the development, of all policies and procedures concerning academic staff members, including academic staff personnel matters. The academic staff members of each institution shall have the right to organize themselves in a manner they determine and to select their representatives to participate in institutional governance.

36.09(5) (5) Students. The students of each institution or campus subject to the responsibilities and powers of the board, the president, the chancellor, and the faculty shall have primary responsibility for advising the chancellor regarding the formulation and review of policies concerning student life, services, and interests. Students in consultation with the chancellor and subject to the final confirmation of the board shall have the responsibility for the disposition of those student fees which constitute substantial support for campus student activities. The students of each institution or campus shall have the right to organize themselves in a manner they determine and to select their representatives to participate in institutional governance.

36.09 History History: 1973 c. 335; 1975 c. 39, 224; 1977 c. 196 ss. 130 (1), (2), 131; 1977 c. 418; 1979 c. 34 s. 2102 (29) (a); 1981 c. 20 s. 2202 (1) (a); 1983 a. 27 s. 2200 (15); 1983 a. 366; 1985 a. 29, 42, 45, 332; 1987 a. 4, 27, 340; 1989 a. 31, 336, 359; 1991 a. 39; 1997 a. 27 ss. 1156ad, 9456 (3m); 1997 a. 35, 237, 307; 1999 a. 42; 2001 a. 16, 104; 2003 a. 33 ss. 930, 931, 2811, 9160; 2003 a. 48 ss. 10, 11; 2003 a. 206 s. 23; 2003 a. 320; 2005 a. 25 ss. 695, 2493; 2007 a. 125; 2009 a. 28; 2011 a. 10, 32; 2013 a. 20 ss. 578, 2365m, 9448; 2013 a. 166; 2015 a. 55; 2017 a. 59.

36.09 Annotation Sub. (5) gives student organizations, rather than the student body, the right to select representatives to participate in institutional governance. Student Ass’n of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee v. Baum, 74 Wis. 2d 283, 246 N.W.2d 622 (1976).

36.09 Annotation Student and faculty voting participation on the Board of Regents is limited to duly appointed members, but that does not preclude the board or any committee thereof from utilizing groups of nonmembers in advisory capacities. 60 Atty. Gen. 395.

36.09 Annotation The Board of Regents has no authority to provide a deferred salary plan for employees other than through the state teachers retirement system or the Wisconsin retirement fund. 61 Atty. Gen. 6.

36.09 Annotation A ruling by the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire denying a request to conduct door-to-door solicitation in residence halls did not violate constitutional rights. 61 Atty. Gen. 373.

36.09 Annotation The leasing of university buildings to a religious congregation during nonschool days and hours on a temporary basis while the congregation’s existing facility is being renovated and leasing convention space to a church conference would not violate the separation of church and state provisions of the 1st amendment and article I, section 18, of the Wisconsin Constitution. 63 Atty. Gen. 374.

36.09 Annotation Regents should identify how compulsory fees will be used to necessarily and conveniently further the objects of the university before approving a segregated fee. Regent’s duties are unchanged under sub. (5). 63 Atty. Gen. 385.

36.09 Annotation The financing of student organizations through mandatory student fees does not violate the 1st amendment if viewpoint neutrality is the operational principal. Board of Regents v. Southworth, 529 U.S. 217, 120 S. Ct. 1346, 146 L. Ed. 2d 193 (2000).

36.09 Annotation With one exception, the university’s system, as required by Southworth, 529 U.S. 217 (2000), for distributing compelled fees collected from university students to student groups that delegates funding decisions to the student government was subject to sufficient limits. Southworth v. Board of Regents, 307 F.3d 566 (2002).

36.09 Annotation Although the 1st amendment establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution neither compels nor authorizes the university to categorically exclude funding of activities related to worship, proselytizing, and sectarian religious instruction with segregated fees, the university may nevertheless be able to exclude some or all of the activities to which it objects. The university is free to enact viewpoint neutral rules restricting access to segregated fees, for it may create what is tantamount to a limited public forum if the principles of viewpoint neutrality are respected. However, before excluding an activity from the segregated fee forum pursuant to a content-based distinction, the university must explain specifically why that particular activity, viewed as a whole, is outside the forum’s purposes. Roman Catholic Foundation v. Regents of University of Wisconsin System, 578 F. Supp. 2d 1121 (2008).

36.09 Annotation Affirmed. Badger Catholic, Inc. v. Walsh, 620 F.3d 775 (2010).

36.11 36.11 Powers and duties of the board of regents.

36.11(1) (1) Protection of people; custody and management of property.

36.11(1)(a) (a) The board may promulgate rules under ch. 227 to protect the lives, health and safety of persons on property under its jurisdiction and to protect such property and to prevent obstruction of the functions of the system. Any person who violates any rule promulgated under this paragraph may be fined not more than $500 or imprisoned not more than 90 days or both.

36.11(1)(b) (b) Except as provided in this paragraph and ss. 13.48 (14) (am) and 16.848 (1), the board may purchase, have custody of, hold, control, possess, lease, grant easements and enjoy any lands, buildings, books, records and all other property of any nature which may be necessary and required for the purposes, objects and uses of the system authorized by law. Any lease by the board is subject to the powers of the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority under s. 233.03 (13) and the rights of the authority under any lease agreement, as defined in s. 233.01 (6). The board shall not permit a facility that would be privately owned or operated to be constructed on state-owned land without obtaining prior approval of the building commission under s. 13.48 (12). Subject to prior action under s. 13.48 (14) (am) or 16.848 (1), the board may sell or dispose of such property as provided by law, or any part thereof when in its judgment it is for the best interests of the system and the state. All purchases of real property shall be subject to the approval of the building commission. The provision of all leases of real property to be occupied by the board for use other than for student housing shall be the responsibility of the board. The provision of all leases of real property to be occupied by the board for use as student housing shall be the responsibility of the department of administration under s. 16.84 (5), except for leases in effect on July 14, 2015, regardless of any subsequent extension, modification, or renewal, which shall be the responsibility of the board.

36.11(1)(c) (c) The board may promulgate rules under ch. 227 for the management of all property under its jurisdiction, for the care and preservation thereof and for the promotion and preservation of the orderly operation of the system in any or all of its authorized activities and in any or all of its institutions with forfeitures for their violation, which may be sued for and collected in the name of the board before any court having jurisdiction of such action. Forfeitures shall not exceed $500.