Clayton News Daily

By Curt Yeomans

cyeomans@news-daily.com

The University of Wisconsin System's Board of Regents named Clayton State University President Thomas K. Harden the next chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay during a telephone conference meeting Friday.

Harden will receive an annual salary of $216,000 per year, according to a statement released by the system.

"I greatly appreciate the Board of Regents' vote to confirm me as next Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay," Harden said in the statement. "It will be an honor to join a great system of higher education, and a campus that has achieved so much."

Harden, who has led Clayton State for nearly nine years, will remain at the Morrow campus through the end of the spring semester. He is set to takeover as Wisconsin-Green Bay's chancellor June 1.

Mark Bradley, president of the University of Wisconsin System's Board of Regents, said he believed Harden will "help us sustain and enhance the UW System's commitment to academic excellence."

Harden said he plans to meet with community members in Green Bay, and the surrounding area, to explore ways to enhance the institution.

As Wisconsin's regents approved Harden's appointment, the Clayton State community was still digesting the idea that Harden will no longer be their president after May. Darius Thomas, president of Clayton State's Student Government Association, announced Harden's departure to the student senators.

"When I announced it, the room was silent," said Thomas. "It's still very new and fresh to us. I don't think it's actually sunk in yet."