Former UAlberta president’s compensation package draws CAUT criticism

The common practice of offering paid administrative leave to university presidents has garnered recent criticism from the Canadian Association of University Teachers. Speaking to the executive compensation of former University of Alberta President Indira Samarasekera, CAUT Executive Director David Robinson argues that paid leave has “been obviously distorted recently, and seen as a perk, and a way of attracting people to the job.” Robinson argues that the original purpose of paid leave was to give professors time to re-enter their research activities after serving in an administrative role. UAlberta’s board of governors has stated that Samarasekera returned to research after serving as president and pursued “select academic activities” during her leave. Edmonton Journal