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A Final Farewell

UW System President Katharine C. Lyall commences to a new stage

By Kate Kail

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Katharine Lyall goes out in style

More than 300,000 students have graduated from University of Wisconsin System institutions during the 13-year tenure of UW System President Katharine C. Lyall. With her final President's Convocation on June 24 and her final days as president looming at August's end, Lyall will soon join the ranks of those who move on with fond Wisconsin memories in tow.

“It has taken me a little longer than four years to graduate from this position—others have been faster,” Lyall said. “But those 13 years have given us the opportunity, I think, to build a strong foundation for the future and to accomplish a great deal together.”

Katharine Lyall waves goodbye

Lyall outlined the progress made systemwide since she began her term as acting president in 1991, including:

  • Raising $7 billion in pledged donations from UW alumni and supporters;
  • Building more than four million square feet of new space — half supported by non-state dollars;
  • Growing annual enrollments by nearly 10,000 students;
  • Doubling the overall UW budget from $2 billion in 1991 to $3.9 billion in the fiscal year beginning July 1;
  • Growing the number of students of color at UW campuses, as well as the number of UW graduates who study abroad; and
  • Becoming less dependent on support from state funding, which has shrunk to about 25 percent of the university’s budget.

“I hope you know, as I do, that these accomplishments didn’t just happen,” Lyall said. “They have been the product of the hard work and dedication of faculty and staff throughout the UW System.”

Lyall extolled the state’s proud tradition of public service, a career choice she called “greatly undervalued,” and congratulated UW employees for being part of an institution that makes so many contributions to the state of Wisconsin.

“You represent one of the great strengths of this state – one that our elected leaders and the public should nurture, not disparage,” she said.

Lyall, who announced her retirement in February, noted that her “commencement” symbolized the end of her time at the system’s helm, but both she and the UW System were beginning new adventures.

In September, Lyall, an economist, will begin a year’s appointment as a visiting senior scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in Palo Alto, Calif. And as she departs, the UW System continues its search for a new leader, someone Lyall said will face promising opportunities as well as great challenges.

Lyall delivers her final message

Lyall noted that while the state’s economic picture has yet to brighten, and that the percentage of the state’s adult population with college degrees remains below the national average, the state can recover if it is successful in transitioning to a knowledge-based economy.

The UW System can make that goal a reality, she said. Creating 100 high-end jobs within the university contributes the same economic impact as creating 250 manufacturing jobs, she said.

“That is why, in my view, it made little sense to cut more than 600 UW faculty and staff positions in the last budget, while creating nearly 600 new positions in Corrections,” Lyall said. “This was a shift from high-end to lower-paying jobs, just when we need to go the other way.”

The UW System is poised to meet all of Gov. Jim Doyle’s proposed priorities for the next biennium, Lyall said, including infusing the state’s workforce with more college graduates, bolstering the state’s economy by creating and attracting high-wage jobs, and providing access to education for students from all income levels.

Lyall suggested that as the state moves forward in drafting a plan for its future, that it shift from thinking about a taxpayer’s bill of rights to creating a “Student Bill of Rights.” Lyall said such a “bill” could include:

  • The right of all qualified students to have access to higher education;
  • The right of those students to pay moderate tuition and receive sufficient financial aid so they can get an affordable education;
  • The right of students to have their tuition and fees used for their education, not to pay down budget deficits or support other state programs; and
  • The right of students to get access to the programming they need to study and graduate in a timely way.

This shift in thinking will allow the state and the university to focus on the important work and potential of the UW System, she said.

“Elected officials are beginning to realize that they must stop cutting the university and start growing it for two reasons – one, because demand for access is strong and two, because Wisconsin’s economy needs us,” Lyall said. “Growing the university is an important path to state prosperity.”

The convocation, attended by more than 150 UW System staff, ended with a presentation of “diplomas” to full-time employees, who in turn, presented gifts to President Lyall. Her moving truck will now include her beloved IBM Selectric typewriter, as well as a laptop computer to jump-start her assimilation into Silicon Valley, and a memory book of photos and well-wishes from UW colleagues.

The audience receives Katharine Lyall's final words as System president

“It has been a great privilege to lead this university system,” Lyall said in closing. “As I leave this stage today, both literally and figuratively, please know that I will not be far away. I will return to Madison after my year in California, and like any good professor, I will be here to check on your progress and to cheer you on. And if you are discouraged at times, remember: There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.”