A policy that guarantees administrators a one-year leave at full pay when they step down from their posts is a critical recruitment tool, the chancellors of five of North Carolina's public universities said Thursday.

The group, which included UNC-Chapel Hill's Holden Thorp and N.C. Central University's Charlie Nelms, defended the 4-year-old "retreat rights" policy Thursday at a workshop for members of the UNC system's Board of Governors. Still, the board will consider scaling back in the coming months.

The policy is one of two under scrutiny for doling out paid leaves to administrators returning to teaching. In the past five years, taxpayers have paid about $8 million to 117 administrators who either returned to the faculty or left the university. In 24 cases, the payouts were for $100,000 or more.

A News & Observer review published Sunday found that these agreements, along with other transitional payments, offered sizable sums of money with few or no strings attached, in at least three cases violated UNC system policies. (N&O)

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan will hold a roundtable on the stimulus.

The Greensboro Democrat and other local, state and federal officials will discuss how female- and minority-owned businesses, small companies and nonprofits can access federal stimulus funds.

State stimulus czar Dempsey Benton, Lee Cornelison of the U.S. Small Business Administration, David Heinen of the N.C. Center for Nonprofits and N.C. Central Chancellor Charlie Nelms, among others, will also speak.

The forum will be held at 10 a.m. on Monday at the Mary Townes Science Complex at N.C. Central University in Durham.

Hagan said the forum was inspired by complaints from the state NAACP executive council about the challenges of minority-owned businesses.

She has also posted an online resource guide about the stimulus package.