There is an overarching question that Lovell’s departure brings to the fore, according to faculty, business leaders and legislators: What kind of university is UWM expected to be? Credit: Journal Sentinel files

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A month after he was inaugurated as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's eighth chancellor, Michael Lovell warned state lawmakers that his campus was significantly underfunded compared with its peers, and an alarming number of up-and-coming faculty members were being poached by rivals.

Last week, the 47-year-old rising academic star became UWM's biggest recruiting loss when he accepted an offer from Marquette University to move five miles south and become the first lay president in the Jesuit school's 133-year history.

A devout Catholic, Lovell was careful to say that nothing drove him away from UWM after 3 1/2 years as chancellor. Rather, his faith led him to embrace a unique opportunity that would not have been possible before Marquette changed its bylaws in 2011 to allow a Catholic layperson to become president.

His departure puts UWM at a crossroads.

Several major construction projects are well underway, but others are still in the design phase and haven't been funded. The university's strategic plan is not settled — although Lovell vowed it will be finished by August, when he moves to Marquette. A massive campaign to raise hundreds of millions of dollars is just a year away. Enrollment has declined in the last three freshman classes, leading to work on a new enrollment strategy. Faculty turnover is distressing.

And there is an overarching question that Lovell's departure brings to the fore, according to faculty, business leaders and legislators: What kind of university is UWM expected to be?

"A lot of people around town are scratching their heads trying to figure out what it all means," said prominent UWM alumnus Ed Zore, the retired CEO of Northwestern Mutual.

Right now, there is frustration on multiple fronts.

University staff and supporters see themselves as trapped by an obsolete UW System funding formula, beaten up by a hostile and uninformed Legislature, minimized by an outdated public perception, and left behind by a leader who just weeks ago was professing his unwavering devotion.

"This was a complete surprise," said UWM professor Mark Schwartz, who chaired the search committee when Lovell became chancellor. "I was more worried Marquette would want our basketball coach."

Candidates to replace Lovell presumably will force lawmakers and the UW System to answer whether they are funding UWM as a major research university and an economic engine for the region, or a midlevel institution that operates more as a farm team, without enough money to consistently retain top talent in a competitive environment, said Schwartz, a climatology professor.

"The one good thing that comes from this at some level is putting it in the hands of the state and (UW) System to really define what they want us to be," Schwartz said. "We want candidates to come in with a question mark about our status and our role in the future."

'Get your thumb off us'

Schwartz, Lovell and other faculty leaders contend UWM is structurally underfunded, with resources more in line with a research institution of 16,000 students than the current 28,000. Lovell said that in just the last decade, research has more than doubled at UWM, and enrollment has increased by 25%.

Yet the funding formula for dividing state dollars among UW System campuses was developed 25 to 30 years ago. A review of that formula by chancellors and UW System officials is expected to be completed around June.

Hand in glove with the funding issue is a sense that lawmakers and educators are not on the same page — or more accurately, not even reading the same book.

University officials are still stung that lawmakers last year held back measures to give the UW System more flexibility in pay plans, purchasing and other areas.

"If you're not going to give us resources, would you please get your thumb off us so we can try to be successful with the resources we have," Schwartz said.

That animosity is all the more striking because education is integral to developing a better business environment in the state.

High-profile UWM supporter Sheldon Lubar, whose name is attached to the business school, said a reassessment is in order — not just for UWM, but for all of higher education in Wisconsin.

"The UW System is the most important — without a rival second — the most important institution in the state, and the success of our community in Milwaukee and every community in our state is dependent on a highly educated citizenry," Lubar said. "The university is not just a punching bag and a place you can take money from without any regard to what its impact is."

Lubar said he talked to Lovell before the chancellor announced his departure from UWM and understood Lovell's decision had a lot to do with his Catholic faith. Lubar has been a benefactor to both institutions.

"But he had the air let out of him by some of the budget things that happened over the past year by the Legislature and with the governor," Lubar said.

Lubar was referring to a review last year by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau that created a firestorm by revealing the UW System had hundreds of millions of dollars in cash balances that lawmakers didn't know about. A second audit found that of the $88.6 million determined to be in UWM's program revenue balances, 90% ($79.9 million) was obligated, planned or designated for specific purposes; $6.2 million categorized as "undocumented" was federal indirect reimbursement costs to support research; and less than 3% was true cash reserves.

Lovell said cash reserves are essential for the fiscal health of an institution to cover unexpected shortfalls, such as lower-than-projected enrollments. UWM had about an 800-student drop in enrollment last fall, which equated to about $8 million less than budgeted in tuition and fees.

The legislative uproar was frustrating, Lovell recalled last week, because he felt the facts were on UWM's side.

"It was a political stunt and real people got hurt," said history professor Margo Anderson, who has been at UWM for more than 30 years. "Mike feels responsible for it, and he tried to correct (the record). But our local delegation didn't support us. It was devastating."

Rep. Dale Kooyenga (R-Brookfield) said he talked with Lovell about the cash balances and said the chancellor was very open about the school's finances.

"I think a lot of folks at the university at that level were upset with the (UW) System because the system did not provide the operating systems and policies," Kooyenga said. "A lot of the blame did not lie at the individual university level; it lay at the system level."

Transforming environment

Lovell speaks proudly about what UWM has managed to accomplish with limited resources.

On the eve of his inauguration as UWM's chancellor in October 2011, Lovell called for fundamental changes in the campus culture so UWM no longer would be known as a local commuter school, but an international research institution that fuels economic growth, helps solve the region's problems and boosts the number of college graduates in Wisconsin.

Business leaders eagerly signed on to Lovell's vision.

"The school is not only transforming in terms of all the initiatives but it is also transforming from a commuter school to a school with real campus life," said UWM alumnus Gale E. Klappa, chairman and CEO of Wisconsin Energy Corp. "I think to continue down that road is very important for UWM."

Lovell built on ideas and policies set by his predecessor, Carlos Santiago.

Lovell counts among his biggest accomplishments the construction of the Innovation Campus in Wauwatosa; advances at the Global Water Center and School of Freshwater Sciences; creative industry partnerships with the likes of Johnson Controls, GE Healthcare and Rockwell Automation; and growth in innovation and entrepreneurship through the Student Start-Up Challenge, the App Brewery and the Research Foundation. He's most proud of UWM winning a gold medal at the Edison Awards for its partnership with Glendale-based Johnson Controls for research in advanced energy storage.

"These are the Oscars of innovation in the U.S.," Lovell said.

Faculty and alumni see the potential synergy of Lovell brokering partnerships between Marquette and UWM, and leveraging the strengths of both institutions to benefit the community — even though on the surface, the two institutions are markedly different.

"I know the expertise of both campuses," Lovell said in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel the day after his new job was announced.

He shared that he was first approached by a trustee and another Marquette leader about considering the job in November. But he told them he was happy at UWM and was not interested. He didn't begin thinking seriously about it until a few weeks ago, he said, when he met with Marquette's interim president, Father Robert A. Wild, to discuss how the universities could better collaborate. Wild encouraged him to keep an open mind about the Marquette presidency and to pray about it, which he said led him to the decision.

Lovell said he already has talked with Bill Cullinan, dean of Marquette's College of Health Sciences, about how Marquette potentially could partner with researchers at UWM's Innovation Campus. He sees other potential Marquette partnerships with the Global Water Center and Medical College of Wisconsin.

"I think if we can get UWM and Marquette and other institutions working in unison, the city will be much better off," Lovell said last week.

$330 million in projects

For now, though, the concerns are more concrete — literally, in some cases. UWM has $330 million in building projects coming online in the next year or so.

The first phase of the five-story Kenwood Interdisciplinary Research Complex is expected to be completed in early 2015; the business accelerator at Innovation Campus is nearly finished; and the addition to the School of Freshwater Sciences is expected to be completed next month. But other projects are still in the design or planning stages and haven't been funded, including the Innovation Campus Interdisciplinary Research Park and a new student union. Those will need a champion to move forward.

More critical is that faculty often describe their existence as somewhat schizophrenic — the tension between elite research and basic teaching; the sense of momentum one minute, lack of support the next. The unease is compounded this time of year because it's the academic raiding season, and colleagues are getting recruited away from Milwaukee.

UWM is "just below the big time," said Anderson, the history professor. "We hire very well from the best research universities in the country. But when people's careers take off, because our salary structure's not the best, other campuses that can pay more swoop in like vultures."

Asked whether he will take anyone from UWM with him to Marquette, Lovell paused and said: "I think my leaving the institution is enough. I don't need the Catholic guilt."

Whoever ultimately leads UWM also will be challenged by the school's dual mission of growing its research profile while continuing to open its doors to nontraditional and borderline students. Admitting students who are not academically prepared for college affects both remediation and graduation rates. Of this year's UWM freshman class, 53.87% required math and/or English remediation. UWM's six-year graduation rate is 40.7% — about half the rate at a private university like Marquette, which can be more selective.

"The challenge is to keep the quality of the education up there, keep the price down and make sure that the kids are prepared for what comes after school," said Zore, the retired Northwestern Mutual leader. "This isn't unique to UWM. I think UWM has a little better advantage, they basically draw from the local area. (Students) want to get an education and get on with life."

UWM's attractions

UW System President Ray Cross said "there are a gazillion things that make (UWM) attractive to a number of people," including the important, but challenging, role the university can play in serving the needs of an urban community.

"Do you want to go to the majors and play for a team you know is going to the World Series? Or do you want to go with one that has potential and turn it into a contender?" Cross said. "The latter is a real leader. That's who I want."

The salary range for the new chancellor will be between $304,000 and $456,000. Lovell got a $10,000 raise in October to bump his salary to $343,505 for the 2013-'14 academic year.

"What you don't want is people panicking," Anderson said. " If we could have kept Mike Lovell for 10 more years, we would have been in much better shape. Continuity really helps."