As he wraps up tenure, Tommy Thompson hopes UW System seen as 'the problem-solvers'
Tommy Thompson is set to leave the University of Wisconsin System on Friday, closing a 20-month presidential tenure in which he brought stability and some momentum at a time of internal and external challenges.
The state's longest-serving governor and former U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services came to the system at its board's behest in July 2020, after the first attempt to replace former UW System President Ray Cross ended in failure and embarrassment. Faculty and other constituents felt burned by the board's former leadership, which had rebuffed the faculty's demands to have more of a voice in the presidential search process.
Further, the COVID-19 pandemic brought an array of challenges, as campuses, students and parents tried to navigate health concerns, and institutions' financial losses mounted. A consequential budget cycle loomed, leaving Thompson with the work of convincing his fellow Republicans to invest and trust in the university system.
Thompson brought swift and ambitious changes that went beyond reacting to problems. He started with a $10 million budget cut to the central office, reinvesting the savings into scholarships and college advising for prospective students. He turned campuses into COVID vaccination hubs, and appeared in humorous videos on social media to encourage vaccines.
Though his headlining budget proposal — a statewide promise program to cover tuition for low-income students at all UW campuses — never got off the ground, the system made progress in other areas, including the end of the freeze on in-state undergraduate tuition imposed by the state Legislature for nearly a decade.
"The Legislature was really hard to deal with," Thompson told reporters Thursday. "I've changed the attitude in the Legislature. Didn't get everything I wanted by any stretch of the imagination, but I certainly have improved the relationships with the Legislature because I was a member of the body for 20 years."
Thompson leaves behind several projects, such as the effort to restructure campuses' administrative programs including human resources, information technology and finance. He said he wants the system's next president, Milwaukee attorney and law firm CEO Jay Rothman, to continue the push for expanded online education options, and for a statewide commission that would look at the structure and future of higher education in the state.
Above all, he encouraged system leaders to keep "bragging" about the UW System.
"We're not a problem," he said. "We're the problem-solvers."
He will be succeeded by former Regent President Mike Falbo, who will lead the system as an interim until Rothman starts June 1.
Asked what's next for him, including if he'd made any decisions about if he'd jump into the upcoming race for governor, Thompson balked.
"I made a commitment (that) I'm not going to be partisan at all while I'm president of the university and I've adhered to that solidly," he said. "I'm not going to break the promise when I've only got 48 hours left to be president."
Contact Devi Shastri at 414-224-2193 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @DeviShastri.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Tommy Thompson wraps up University of Wisconsin System presidency
