Kudos once again to Andy Curliss of the News & Observer for the latest installment of the NC State story. Curliss is reporting that NC State’s Larry Nielsen, the former provost who resigned over the Easley flap, is still collecting his $298,700 salary and will continue to be paid at that level until late this year when he goes back to teaching (emphasis is mine).

For the next six months, Nielsen will be on a paid “study leave” with no change in his pay, Chancellor James Oblinger acknowledged in an interview Wednesday. Nielsen’s pay will be reduced to $156,000 per year in late November as he returns to faculty work in the College of Natural Resources.

The chancellor said it’s standard practice for a top administrator who is returning to the faculty to get time to assess his future work duties. Asked why Nielsen’s salary would remain at the provost level during that time frame, Oblinger said it was part of Nielsen’s contract under university policies.

“It’s very standard,” the chancellor said. “That is something put in administrative contracts from the very beginning.”

The actual policy, however, says the leave is up to the discretion of the chancellor. The policy says the leave period can be for up to one year, though Nielsen’s is for six months.

I encourage you to read the entire story about Nielsen’s incredible deal, and then think about all the calls to raise your taxes because the state is in such a budget hole. So do you really believe there’s no fat in the state budget?