Two-thirds of Utahns oppose giving college and university presidents a year's paid leave after they retire or quit, the latest Deseret News/KSL-TV poll shows.
Dan Jones & Associates found strong opposition to the policy followed by the state Board of Regents. Sixty-four percent of the respondents told the pollster that they strongly or somewhat disapprove of the policy, while 33 percent said they liked the idea. Three percent of the 601 Utahns interviewed in the July poll offered no opinion.Two years ago, the regents formally adopted a paid-leave policy for presidents, called a sabbatical, but the policy only clarified and simplified a leave procedure that the regents had handled on an ad-hoc basis for some time.
The most recent president to take advantage of the sabbatical is former University of Utah President Chase N. Peterson. He left office July 1 but will receive his $113,000 presidential salary for one year.
The salary is being paid with state funds out of the U. School of Medicine budget, said U. Vice President Anthony W. Morgan. Peterson, who has a clinical appointment as an internal-medicine professor, has indicated he'll likely return to the medical school after his sabbatical.
Morgan said Peterson's sabbatical salary is comparable to the salary paid to a full professor of internal medicine. Part of the medical professor's salary, however, comes from patient fees, Morgan said.
Regent Chairman Douglas S. Foxley said that there are "sound reasons" for a presidential sabbatical. It allows a president to reorient himself to his academic discipline following an intensive term at the helm of the college or university, he said.
In the business world, similar transition packages are offered to chief executive officers, but they are more lucrative and include other perks such as stock options, Foxley said.
The regents did slightly alter the presidential sabbatical for Peterson. They voted that Peterson's sabbatical salary will be cut off if he takes a job.
Foxley refused to say why the regents had added that condition to Peterson's sabbatical, although he reported that a regent subcommittee may recommend its permanent addition to future presidential sabbaticals.
The policy will prevent what happened with former Salt Lake Community College President O.D. Carnahan.
When Carnahan retired June 30, 1990, the regents granted him a one-year sabbatical with his annual salary of $70,000. Six months later, Carnahan accepted a $45,000 a year job with Salt Lake School District as head of the school district's fund-raising arm, the Salt Lake Foundation. Carnahan collected two salaries for half of his sabbatical.
In the poll, opposition was spread fairly evenly across age groups, political affiliations and ideology of the respondents. Men, however, were more likely to oppose the presidential sabbatical than women. Sixty-nine percent of the men opposed it, compared with 59 percent of the women.
Less-educated respondents were also more likely to voice opposition. Of respondents with less than a high school education, 82 percent said they were opposed, compared with 62 percent of college graduates.
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(Poll)
Currently, Utah's college and university presidents are allowed a year's salary after they retire or quit. The idea that a president needs time to retrain in his or her academic profession. Do you approve or disapprove of this policy?
Approve 33%
Disapprove 64%
Don't know 3%