Five University of Wisconsin chancellors received five-figure bonuses for meeting first-to-second-year student retention targets for the fall 2024-to-fall 2025 cycle, despite the system facing declining enrollment and branch-campus closures. These payments are the first under a new incentive program approved last year by the Board of Regents, while UW-Madison’s chancellor also received a separate six-figure retention bonus for remaining at the flagship campus.
The regional chancellors who received awards were Tammy Evetovich at UW-Platteville ($44,275), Renee Wachter at UW-Superior ($44,798), Andrew Leavitt at UW-Oshkosh ($45,677), Lynn Akey at UW-Parkside ($17,621) and Thomas Gibson at UW-Stevens Point ($17,375). Akey and Gibson saw their payouts prorated because they only partially met their retention goals. Separately, UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin previously received a $150,000 retention payment that pushed her 2025 compensation above $1 million, as reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
How the incentives were created
In mid-2024, the Board of Regents signed off on base-salary adjustments along with an incentive plan that lets chancellors at campuses outside Madison earn up to 15 percent of their base pay if they hit first-to-second-year retention benchmarks. UW officials pitched the move as a way to hang on to top leaders in the middle of statewide enrollment drops and mounting budget stress. "Losing talent is much more expensive than rewarding it," UW System spokesperson Mark Pitsch told PBS Wisconsin.
Donor money and the Mnookin exception
System leaders have said that Mnookin’s retention payments at Madison were covered by private donations, not state appropriations or tuition dollars. Since then, Mnookin has accepted a position at Columbia University and is expected to leave around commencement, which means she will not be around to collect future scheduled retention increases. That timeline was noted by WPR and later dissected in an opinion column in Isthmus.
Critics raise timing and budget questions
Campus commentators and editorial boards have questioned the optics of cutting retention bonus checks while several branch campuses have closed and some four-year campuses are staring at projected deficits. They argue the program risks looking like an automatic raise in a tough budget year. Critics also warn that the incentive scheme could erode trust if the retention metrics and prorating formulas are not applied in a clear and consistent way. Coverage by PBS Wisconsin has placed the raises against the backdrop of flat state aid and broader political fights over higher-ed funding.
What to watch next
Lawmakers, Regents and campus watchdog groups are expected to zero in on upcoming fall-to-fall retention figures and any future incentive payouts as the UW System finalizes its next budget requests. Chancellors who received prorated bonuses this year could be in line for larger checks if retention ticks up, while others may find themselves defending their pay in hearings that also feature program cuts and consolidations. Reporters are likely to track official retention data and any new statements from the Regents and UW System on how the incentive plan will be judged going forward; reporting from WPR offers additional context on how the program was originally set up.
