Madison, Wisconsin.. Wisconsin University System president He may lose his job during a closed meeting of the regents on Tuesday evening.
Guardian Council She announced that she had set a date for the meeting at 6 p.m. EST to consider the firing of Jay Rothman, the leader of the state’s four-year colleges. The regents did not give a clear reason why they would consider terminating Rothman, who served just over four years in the top leadership position.
The vote is scheduled just five days after The Associated Press first reported that the regents had asked Rothman to either resign or be fired. Rothman said in two letters to the regents that he would not leave voluntarily without knowing what he did wrong.
The board shared the results of the performance review with Rothman, with “direct conversations and clear feedback regarding leadership expectations,” Trustee President Amy Bogost said in a statement Monday. She said the system needed a “clear vision” but did not detail the review’s findings.
The secrecy angered Republicans, who control the legislature and the regime’s finances.
“This lack of transparency is unacceptable,” said Republican state Rep. David Murphy, chairman of the Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities. “Chairman Rothman deserves to know exactly why the Board has lost confidence in his leadership.”
Rothman has served as president of the 165,000-student multi-campus system since January 2022. Former president and CEO of Milwaukee-based Foley & Rothman, Lardner Law Firm, had no prior experience in higher education administration.
He has spent his term lobbying Republican lawmakers to increase state aid to the system in the face of federal cuts, dealing with free speech issues surrounding pro-Palestinian protests, and addressing declining enrollment that has forced eight university campuses to close. Overall enrollment across the system has remained steady under his leadership.
He must tread carefully with the Republican-controlled Legislature and the Board of Regents, which includes a majority of members appointed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.
Rothman interceded deal With Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos in 2023 calling for a diversity hiring freeze and the creation of a position at UW-Madison focused on conservative thought in exchange for Vos releasing funds to increase UW staffing and tens of millions of dollars for construction projects across the system.
The trustees initially rejected the deal and then approved it in a second vote held just days later. Evers said at the time that the deal left him frustrated and disappointed.
When Evers was asked Monday about the move to oust Rothman, he did not take sides. “It’s their calling,” he said of the board.
The fight over Rothman’s future comes as the main campus in Madison loses its chancellor. Jennifer Mnookin He will leave the country next May at the end of the current academic year to take up the position of president of Columbia University.
Rothman earns $600,943 annually as president of the University of Wisconsin. He could be fired without stated cause and has no appeal rights, said Wisconsin employment law attorney Tamara Packard, who reviewed Rothman’s contract at the AP’s request.
Under the contract, Rothman must receive six months’ notice of his termination. In practice, what usually happens is that the person is asked to focus on transitioning their duties and not actually working in the office anymore, Packard said.