THE PROPOSAL
Below are the changes UNC System President Erskine Bowles has recommended for the system's "retreat rights" policy:
n As standard practice, retreating senior administrators who have held such a position at the institution for at least five years should be eligible for a paid leave of up to six months at an appropriate faculty salary, followed by a retreat to the faculty at that salary.
n There should be up-front agreement of what work product is expected during the paid leave, as well as what workload expectations will be following retreat to the faculty (e.g., normal teaching load and/or research activity).
n All administrator retreats and associated leaves should require approval by the appropriate Board of Trustees (if below the level of chancellor) or Board of Governors (if at the chancellor, president, or UNC vice president level).
n Before a retreat for any individual administrator is granted, the Board of Trustees (or Board of Governors, if applicable), should see a summary of ALL terms of retreat and associated costs for ALL campus administrators currently in retreat status.
n Under exceptional circumstances, paid leaves might be extended beyond six months (up to one year), but ONLY with Board of Governors approval.
Likewise, granting a leave to an administrator with less than five years of service should be done only under exceptional circumstances and should not be done without Board of Governors approval.
By Gregory Childress
gchildress@heraldsun.com; 918-1046
CHAPEL HILL -- After more than three years as president of the UNC system, Erskine Bowles believes changes need to be made in the system's "retreat rights" policy that allows chancellors and other senior administrators to collect full administrative pay while taking time off to prepare for a return to a faculty position.
While acknowledging that such a policy is needed for the system to attract and retain top academic leaders, Bowles believes the UNC system policy is too generous in terms of pay and length of leaves, has too little accountability and needs to better define what is expected of an administrator during the leave and after their return to the faculty.
"I think there are a lot of things to discuss," Bowles said Thursday during a meeting of the UNC Board of Governors.
On Thursday, the board focused on "retreat rights" for chancellors and agreed to look at the policy as it applies to other senior administrators next month.
Several chancellors were invited to share their views, including N.C. Central University Chancellor Charlie Nelms, who said that without a "retreat rights" policy, he would not have left Indiana University for NCCU.
"Had that not been an option, I would have not accepted your invitation," Nelms said, speaking to Bowles.
Nelms stressed that he did not take the job at NCCU because of money, but said the "retreat rights" policy that gives him an opportunity to return to teaching without taking a crippling pay cut helped him to make up his mind.
Other chancellors talked about the need to keep such a policy in place to recruit top talent, warning that without it, the UNC system, with its already inadequate benefits package, would lose even more of its competitive edge.
They also agreed that administrators need a full year to transition back to the classroom.
UNC Wilmington Chancellor Rosemary DePaolo said the board should think about why top administrators would leave a university with "retreat rights" to work for one without them.
And DePaolo drew knowing nods and chuckles when she said college coaches are paid more and better respected than educators.
"If we were talking about coaches, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation," DePaolo said.
Under the "retreat rights" policy, presidents and chancellors who serve at least five years are eligible to receive a one year research leave at the chancellor's or president's most recent administrative salary.
Upon their return to the classroom, a president's or chancellor's initial salary is "the greater of 60 percent of the most recent annual administrative salary or a salary that is commensurate with the salaries of comparable faculty members in comparable positions.
The two former chancellors of the system's flagship schools -- UNC and N.C. State -- are among those currently on research leave.
James Moeser, who retired as chancellor in June 2008 and is set to return to the classroom to teach music this fall, was granted a one-year research leave at his full chancellor salary of $390,835.
And James Oblinger, the former chancellor at N.C. State who resigned in June amid a scandal involving the controversial hiring of Mary Easley, the wife of former Gov. Mike Easley, has been recommended for a six-month research leave at his full ending chancellor salary of $420,000. Oblinger is scheduled to assume his tenured faculty position as a professor of food science at a normal salary for his discipline.
Board Chairwoman Hannah Gage said the discussion about retreats rights is an important one to have amid a global financial crisis that has forced the state to reduce its allocation to the university system by more than $127 million.
"We're a public system, and we've begun to lose some of the public's confidence [due to the way the system conducts some of its business]," said Gage, adding that the current policy, adopted in August 2005, was created during more prosperous times.
But Gage said the UNC system's priorities must now be sustainability and affordability. She said the policy should be fair to administrators, but also reflect the current economic realities.
"We're not talking about throwing the baby out with the bath water," Gage said.
