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)

UNC-Chapel Hill has too many supervisors, bloated administrative costs and a bureaucracy that hamstrings everything from assigning courses to classrooms to purchasing supplies, a consultant has concluded.

Bain & Company, an efficiency expert hired to examine the university's financial processes, will present a 107-page report Thursday suggesting an institution with too many layers, Eric Ferreri reports.

UNC-CH officials hope the analysis leads to millions in savings. A campus task force will soon begin discussing the recommendations, though changes could take years to implement.

"The economic crisis is probably not over, and we want to shelter research and teaching as much as we can," Chancellor Holden Thorp said Tuesday. "The more we know about our research and teaching and how it's funded, the better we can protect it."

The report found that the campus, with an annual operating budget of about $2 billion, spends more on administrative costs than it does on academics, a balance Thorp said he'd like to flip-flop.

Supervision is 10 layers deep in some areas. The consultant was hired with private funds donated anonymously.

In the wake of the disruption of former Congressman Tom Tancredo’s speech, conservative groups plan to bring to Chapel Hill next week another major critic of illegal immigration.

Former Rep. Virgil Goode if Virginia is scheduled to speak at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Wednesday April 22nd at 6:30 p.m. at Gardner Hall, Rob Christensen reports.

Goode has been invited by the same campus group, Youth for Western Civilization, who brought in Tancredo, who was prevented from speaking on Monday night by protesters. His speech is being arranged by Team America, Tancredo's political action committee.

The subject of his talk is "Hate Speech, Free Speech and the Multiculturalism."

UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp apologized to Tancredo for the disruption.

A speech by Tom Tancredo at UNC-Chapel Hill ended prematurely Tuesday.

Hundreds of protesters converged on Bingham Hall, shutting down a speech by the former Colorado congressman opposing in-state tuition benefits to illegal immigrants.

Campus police released pepper spray and threatened to Taser a student, while a protester pounded a window of the classroom until the glass shattered.

Tancredo had been brought to campus by the local chapter of Youth for Western Civilization., a national organization whose members oppose mass immigration, multiculturalism and affirmative action.

Campus police removed two women who stretched a banner across the classroom that read "No dialogue with hate." Other students screamed curses at Tancredo and the campus president of Youth for Western Civilization.

Chancellor Holden Thorp said he was "disappointed" that Tancredo was not able to speak. (N&O)

Spotted at last night's NCAA championship game in Detroit:

Gov. Beverly Perdue
U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre
UNC President Erskine Bowles
UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Holden Thorp
State Sen. Don Vaughan
Former UNC Board Chairman Jim Phillips
Lobbyist Johnny Tillett
Former Treasurer candidate Michael Weisel 

See any other political types at the game? E-mail dome@newsobserver.com. 

What did Holden Thorp do in Atlanta?

A schedule provided to Dome shows the UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor was pretty busy up through this morning.

On Wednesday, he flew to Atlanta on a state jet with his wife, two kids and three staffers. (One of the staffers then rode the plane back to Raleigh.)

That afternoon, Thorp toured CNN's headquarters, though a similar tour of the ABC News headquarters was canceled due to breaking news. That night, he was the guest speaker at an alumni reception.

On Thursday, Thorp toured The Westminster Schools, had lunch with philanthropist Charlie Loudermilk, met with the president of the Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation and then the CEO of SunTrust Banks, and went to a dinner party hosted by the CEO of the Marcus Institute and his wife.

This morning, he attended a three-hour meeting of heads of the other Atlantic Coast Conference schools, the last event on his schedule.

Thorp and his family return Sunday.

The chancellors of UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State University are in Atlanta, but university officials say it's not just for the basketball.

Along with attending the Atlantic Coast Conference men's tournament, UNC-CH Chancellor Holden Thorp met with the CEO of a bank, gave a speech at an alumni reception and schmoozed with university donors.

N.C. State Chancellor Jim Oblinger has a similarly busy schedule.

Stephanie Parker, a spokeswoman for Oblinger, said many college events are scheduled around the basketball tournament, which draws college boosters from around the country and substantial media attention.

The heads of the ACC schools and their athletic directors also hold a three-hour annual meeting, alternating between the men's and women's basketball tournaments.

Thorp flew to Atlanta on Wednesday on a state jet usually used by the governor and other top state officials. Also on the flight were his wife, teenage son, pre-teen daughter and three employees who work in fundraising and university relations.

More after the jump.

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If board meetings had movie titles, Friday's get-together of the UNC system's Board of Governors might be called "The Long Goodbye."

The board spent much of its two-hour meeting Friday morning bidding adieu to various board members, administrators and campus leaders. Speeches were authored. Resolutions awarded. Hugs given and received. Kind words all the way around, Eric Ferreri reports.

Much of the praise Friday was directed to James Moeser, the retiring chancellor at UNC-Chapel Hill. Moeser came to Chapel Hill in 2000 from the University of Nebraska to fill the void left by the death of Michael Hooker.

UNC system President Erskine Bowles said Moeser arrived to find a campus with room to grow.

"He took a very good university and, in his quiet but firm manner, demanded we make it great," Bowles said, pointing to Moeser's successes in leading a $2.4 million fundraising campaign, shepherding a massive construction boom, and defending the university’s decision to select a book about the Islamic holy book as the summer reading selection soon after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Moeser’s successor is Holden Thorp, a chemistry professor and current dean of UNC-CH's College of Arts and Sciences. He begins work July 1.

Holden Thorp will be named the university's next chancellor today.

Thorp, 43, is a North Carolina native and UNC-Chapel Hill alumnus who has spent the bulk of his career at the university, climbing the ranks to become chairman of the chemistry department and, last summer, dean of arts and sciences, Jane Stancill and Eric Ferreri report.

He currently is a chemist and dean of UNC's College of Arts and Sciences.

He holds a coveted Kenan professorship and was director of the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center from 2001 to 2005.

He will succeed James Moeser, who will step down later this year.