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Battle's leave pay angers alumni

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

(Updated 4:33 pm)

By Joe Killian
Staff Writer

GREENSBORO — James Pettiford says he has a hard time describing his anger when he learned N.C. A&T Chancellor Stanley Battle will collect his chancellor’s salary during a six-month sabbatical after he resigns — and then take a tenured faculty position at the school.

“I can’t even put it into polite words,” said Pettiford, an A&T alum from the Class of ’65. “At this time, when not just A&T but all of the schools are having to have layoffs, when the economy is so bad and schools are in financial trouble — why in the world would we agree to pay him all this money just to quit?”

Pettiford and other alumni are expressing shock as the A&T community talks about the terms of Battle’s resignation, which came suddenly and without explanation in February. Battle has been in the job for fewer than two years.

According to a resolution drafted for the UNC Board of Governors, Battle’s resignation will become effective June 30. He will then go on “research leave” from July 1 to Dec. 31 while continuing to collect his chancellor’s salary of $273,156 per year.

Battle will then spend at least nine months in a tenured faculty position in the school of sociology and social work at “a normal salary for his discipline.” The UNC Board of Governors will discuss the terms of Battle’s resignation at its meeting Thursday in Chapel Hill.

Pettiford said he wouldn’t donate to the school until it began spending its money more wisely.

“If Battle couldn’t handle the heat then he should have gotten out of the kitchen,” Pettiford said. “But we shouldn’t keep paying him like he’s doing a good job.”

Arthur Spears, an A&T alum from the Class of ’72, said he felt the same way.

“You tell me what excuse anyone could have for paying a man to quit a job he was chosen to do, that he asked for, that should be an honor?” Spears said. “And to go on paying him six months after he quits? Aggies should be ashamed of this.”

Some A&T faculty and staff also said they were unhappy with the terms, but most said they would not speak publicly for fear of reprisal.

Some staff said the school shouldn’t be giving such generous exit packages to departing executives at a time when state budget cuts are causing faculty layoffs.

Battle has repeatedly declined to discuss his resignation since it was announced. A&T officials and members of the school’s board of trustees have also declined to discuss Battle’s resignation or his performance in the job.

But board Chairman Franklin McCain said Monday that the school is contractually bound to give Battle these things upon his resignation.

“Doing anything else would be unprincipled,” McCain said. “We made an agreement, a gentleman’s agreement, and we have to honor that.”

McCain said Battle’s contract wasn’t unusual.

“Of course I’m not in favor of throwing money away, but a contract like that is pretty standard when you’re hiring true executives,” McCain said. “These are not exactly minimum wage workers. They get perks and benefits, and a tenured position is often one of them, in case being a chancellor doesn’t work out for them.”

Contact Joe Killian at 373-7023 or joe.killian@news-record.com

Accompanying Photos

File photo (News & Record)

Photo Caption: Stanley Battle

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Lakeshia

May 5, 2009 - 3:26 am EDT

Just how seriously are we to take happenings @ the circus known as A&T? On January 22, 2008 the News & Record reported that beginning in the fall of 2009 entrance requirements @ A&T will be RAISED to a high school GPA of 2.0 and a SAT score of 700 - that news can only make one wonder about the current entrance requirements. In the larger world what is the value of a diploma granted by a college or university that requires no more than a high school GPA of 2.0 and a SAT score of 700?

AggieGrad

May 5, 2009 - 8:54 am EDT

Lakeshia, please take the information that was provided in the N&O in 2008 under critical review. Yes, beginning in the Fall of 2009 those requirements are to be the baseline admissions requirments for ALL UNC System Schools. Meaning, no school in the UNC System will be allowed to admit students with a GPA below a 2.0, or a SAT Score lower than 700. Likewise, many other universities have raised their standards higher than that any ALREADY. Such is the case at A&T, and it has been that way for a while now.

Having worked at several universities and two of those being in the UNC System I understand the importance of a student's qualification for entering a college or university.

If you need future clarification on that please review the UNC MCR, and admissions requirements.

cyclone10

May 5, 2009 - 11:56 am EDT

Lakeshia:

One must wonder when large PWIs admit athletes who barely make the admission standards, then what would the value of a degree from a university like UNC, NC State, etc.

Food for thought...

Paul J

May 5, 2009 - 6:32 am EDT

Why would anyone expect anything different from a&t? It is no more than a waste of trees to make books out of.

AggieAlum

May 5, 2009 - 9:30 am EDT

The saga continues....going from the sublime to the ridiculous! Once again A&T has demonstrated a total lack of regard and sensitivity to the students, staff, and faculty who have experienced the repeated failures of poor leadership while continuing to observe how it is rewarded. Given the selection pattern of leaders, the prospects appear dim. Unless and/ or until competent leadership and sound monetary stewardship is demonstrated, I won't contribute another dime!

madTGrad

May 12, 2009 - 4:42 pm EDT

I agree with you...All of us are abused by the old crew. The crew of administrators including Battle who sit behind their desks with no concern for how their apathy and ignorance impact other people. Student concerns are ignored. Staff file grievances only to have them ignored by Human Resources. Students appeal to the Chancellor and he hides he head in the sand.... If you speak out, you get picked off. It is a cancer that continues to go. Do I love my Alma Mater-yes I do.. I would not have stayed after I graduated. Is it sick, yes.. It has cancer. Cancer of the morale, spirit and administration. A cancer that is curable. Lets take our loved one to the doctor.

Chancellor Battle told us at his opening speech that he was aware of the atmosphere of retaliation and personnel issues..and then he did nothing to remedy the problem. To make matter worse, he bought in an unqualified politician who lies, detroys paperwork, and does everything she can to make it appear that she is doing her job. The students and staff have suffered because of this person with a BA that has no knowledge of state policy, ethical human resource practices or even common decency. I am glad to see Dr. Battle go.. He is arogant, out of touch and willing to sit back and let the Indians run the village into the ground. And lets get real, he did not quit...he was let go... How many contracts even in sports do people sign, renig on and then get paid.... A&T is like the Matrix and Battle is one of the machines. Take the other pill people and wake up.

whyus

May 5, 2009 - 10:07 am EDT

Maybe if A & T received any government assistance (such as TARP) they would think twice about this outrageous misuse of funds.

jeed

May 5, 2009 - 10:47 am EDT

You would think Lakeshia would stop following these HBCU articles around and posting the SAME THING under all of them. Obviously there's an obsession with the schools. Entrance requirements and exit criteria are two different things. It's a Carnegie I Research Institution. That's right, you didn't know that.

cyclone10

May 5, 2009 - 12:05 pm EDT

I'm an alumni, but I am not upset at the exit compensation that Dr. Battle is receiving. He, just like many other state employees exempt from the State Personnel Act received contracts that were approved by their various governing boards. Therefore upon termination of employment we are obligated to hold up our end of the contract.

It would be counterproductive for alumni to withhold donations at a time like this. Instead, continue to give and become more active in your work for the institution. It is alumni who fuel the fires of discontentment who are making it difficult for employees like Dr. Battle to operate the university and implement plans for the future.

Panacea

May 5, 2009 - 12:22 pm EDT

It may be a contractual obligation, but alumni (and I am not one) are not obligated to condone stupidity in contracts by continuing to donate to a school that follows policies that they don't agree with.

To give means it's a gift, not an entitlement.

AggieGrad

May 5, 2009 - 12:26 pm EDT

Cyclone10, I agree. As a state employee understands what it means to be EPA employee. I started out as an SPA employee. When you sign these contracts you have to understand it's easier to go with what is in the contract verses breaking it. It would be far more costly to do so.

As a proud Aggie, and being employeed at a university I understand the need for dollars. Alumni should not hold back money. If you ever wonder why the UNCs, NCSUs, and other public PWIs in NC, and across the country have what they have think about the impact of their alumni dollars and influence. With dollars comes seats on boards, and influence over those who do make decisions.

whyus

May 5, 2009 - 1:31 pm EDT

I have one word for Dr. Battle... FURLOUGH

madTGrad

May 5, 2009 - 5:31 pm EDT

Lets be real Proud Aggie. You and I both know that two many people at A&T have been doing things so wrong that they do not know how to do it right. The Chancellor talked about the HR retaliation issues, misuse of funds and other things that he knew about during his opening speech to the campus. What has he done to correct any of these things. His ask the chancellor is a joke-it falls on dead ears. The internal auditors report to him so they are not going to give an honest report to the state, and last but most importantly; the HR Vice Chancellor that he hired has a BA degree and no experience with state HR policies. She has hidden grievances, had people fired and had to bring them back. Perhaps some of the money the Chancellor is receiving should be funneled to fully staffing an organized HR department so that the University can get away from its old time ways. Chancellor Hackley said it best: Many folks at A&T have been doing it wrong for so long, they do not know how to do it right. He had the right idea...........GOT ETHICS?

Still a Proud Aggie

AggieGrad

May 5, 2009 - 9:26 pm EDT

Fellow Aggie please look into Hackley's record. If you are looking to him as a moral compass then you will be misguided. Ask those at Fayetteville State who were there under his leadership prior to his most recent sint how they felt about him.

madTGrad

May 13, 2009 - 8:29 pm EDT

I am not looking at Hackley as a moral moral. I am simply saying that Hackley admitted the issues existed.
Battle has done the same...

99Softy

May 5, 2009 - 1:48 pm EDT

Just seems like the times we live in. Money-hungry people are running the show these days, so what's the harm in paying someone close to $300K to leave? With all the that the alumni have donated over the years, why not pay him to leave? Even though it's a beautiful campus, image what $300K could do. I mean, think about it...another $700+ billion dollars in bail out money, when we're so far in debt. So what's the big deal in throwing $300K out the window? I really enjoy forums like this, the only problem is they have NO effect. We've become a "lazy" nation. Not lazy, as it pertains to working, but lazy in the fact we prefer to be laying down while we're being screwed! What ever happen to PROTESTING? Since I am losing my job, I have plenty of time, and drive to be on the front line. Please help me to regain what being an American is all about, because for the life of me, this certainly isn't it! Sorry, didn't mean to wander off there, but enough already.

Laura

May 5, 2009 - 3:26 pm EDT

A "gentlemen's agreement" indeed. Most of our larger institutions, whether church, business or government, are rotten at the top. Cheaters and shysters and swaggering blowhards rise to the top.