At the end of last year, UW-Whitewater Chancellor Beverly Kopper announced her resignation. As a portion of her exit agreement — as is the general procedure for university leaders — she was set to start a position as a tenured psychology professor.
However, receiving a salary nearly 50 percent more than the UW-Whitewater psychology department chairwoman, is not the norm.
As of next fall, Kopper will be paid a salary of $118,308. This is more than 75 percent the average psychology faculty member earns and 38 percent more than the largest current salary in the department.
Until she starts her new position, Kopper will be be on paid leave with a stipend of $242,760 until the end of August. This, along with her nine-month salary, was revealed Dec. 17., the same day Kopper announced her resignation.
UW System Spokesperson Mark Pitsch told GazetteXtra that “Kopper’s new salary is less than the one she earned as UW-Whitewater’s provost.”
She will be teaching four classes — three in the classroom and one online course — each semester in the 2019-20 academic year. She is now contracted as a tenured psychology professor at the university.
The UW System required Kopper to develop a proposal documenting a work outline for the upcoming semester by Jan. 31. In her letter, she wrote that she has “not been in the classroom or lab in over a decade.” Kopper has never taught at UW-Whitewater.
Before the fall semester begins, Kopper must develop a class syllabus, read texts, prepare assignments and learn new classroom technologies.
Her resignation came after allegations that she created a “hostile work environment.” The university was also amid investigations that her husband, Pete “Alan” Hill, sexually harassed female employees at UW-Whitewater, where he had an honorary position.
After the system revealed they found “merit” to the allegations, legislators called for Kopper’s resignation. When her one-sentence resignation was announced, frequent critiquer State Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, voiced his opinions against the exit agreement.
He originally brought forward concerns of her management style, although they were tangential from the sexual harassment investigations. However, he noted his concern for whether female employees who were potentially harassed by Hill were “afraid” to come forward since they may have “feared retribution” from Kopper.
The UW System opened a second investigation in September after more women spoke about their experiences. That investigation closed in December, however those records have yet to released to media outlets.
