At a University of Wisconsin Board of Regents meeting Friday, several regents expressed concern over a policy that would set thresholds for the amount of money the system should hold in cash reserves.
The policy, still in draft form, recommends institutions maintain reserves of at least 10 percent of their yearly expenditures and requires institutions with reserves that are over 15 percent to submit reports justifying the reason for keeping them.
UW System institutions with reserves under 10 percent would also have to submit a plan about how they intend to save enough money to reach this amount.
UW System spokesperson David Giroux said some regents took issue with the wording of the policy. Regent Margaret Farrow, for instance, feared legislators would interpret the policy to mean UW institutions had an inflexible 15 percent cap on reserves.
Other regents also expressed concerns about the 15 percent figure, questioning whether it should be higher.
Last year, the UW System came under fire for holding $648 million in cash reserves. The policy comes in response to a mandate in the 2013-‘15 state budget that the Board of Regents set guidelines about account balances.
As a result of the regents feedback, Giroux said UW system officials will change the language to make it clear that the policy’s figures are not hard guidelines.
“We need to word some things better around the 20 percent and 15 percent target thresholds and clarify what those mean,” Giroux said.
The policy will eventually be submitted to the Joint Finance Committee. However, before it is sent to the committee, the Board of Regents it will need to approve it at their October meeting.
