Larry Nielsen

Scandal follows Oblinger

bniolet — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:44:25 -0400

The Mary Easley job and its ensuing fallout is following former N.C. State University Chancellor James Oblinger across the country.

Oblinger resigned his post amid shifting stories about the severance package given to former provost Larry Nielsen. Both Oblinger and Nielsen are key figures in unravelling how Mary Easley, wife of former Gov. Mike Easley, got a $170,000 job at the university.

Oblinger is one of five finalists for the job of president of New Mexico State University. Another finalist is former University of Illinois Chancellor Richard Herman, who admitted to arranging admissions to the university for under-qualified family members of politicians and their donors, according to a report in the Round Up, a student newspaper at at New Mexico State.

At least one NMSU faculty member seems less than optimistic about the announcement of Herman and Oblinger.
"I think it is completely ridiculous that the search committee would even entertain the thought of recommending [Herman and Oblinger]," said Kevin McNelis, associate professor of accounting. "I am disgusted the search committee would even think of such candidates."

Administrators who selected the finalists defended the picks to Las Cruces Sun-News.

Del Archuleta, chairman of the committee, said the panel knew of the allegations against the two, and did its due diligence in considering the candidates.
"Even with the situation, the committee felt these two should be considered," Archuleta said. "Why? Because they are outstanding. All five of the candidates are really stellar."

Nielsen, Oblinger talked legal problems

bniolet — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:57:31 -0400

N.C. State University Provost Larry Nielsen and former Chancellor James Oblinger had a discussion on May 13 about Nielsen's imminent departure as provost. The talk that day covered legal issues.

Both men have recently appeared before a federal grand jury that has sought records about the hiring of former first lady Mary Easley, J. Andrew Curliss reports. Both were involved in that hiring decision, records have shown.

In response to a public records request, the university has produced two different severance deal letters that Nielsen and Oblinger both signed. Both are dated May 13. And both would have allowed for Nielsen to receive an elevated salary for three years.

The letters, both written by Oblinger, are addressed to Nielsen and serve as the chancellor's "acceptance of your resignation" on May 13. They outline the terms of a deal that, once it was disclosed publicly last month as being for three years, generated controversy and played a part in Oblinger's own resignation. The university has since said that neither letter holds any value; Nielsen's severance was reduced to a six-month exit plan payout that he was offered originally in 2005 upon taking the job.

There is only one difference between the two severance letters: In one of them, a six-line paragraph is added that addresses potential legal action. "This also will confirm our discussion," Oblinger wrote in the inserted section, that if Nielsen requests defense in "any civil or criminal action or proceeding brought against you in your official or individual capacity" then that request will be sent to the proper person in the state Attorney General's office.

Officials have said the state is not paying for lawyers for either man.

Nielsen actually wrote a resignation letter that was released to the public and it is dated May 14, the day after Oblinger had already accepted Nielsen's resignation, according to the severance letters. On May 14, Nielsen wrote to his colleagues, "Today I submitted my resignation..." and he writes that Oblinger has accepted.

At a news conference on May 14, Oblinger said that Nielsen had come to him to resign and that he had tried at one point to convince him to stay on.

Rand's specter halted Easley audit

bniolet — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:53:52 -0400

It appears that the influence of state Sen. Tony Rand, a Fayetteville Democrat, helped keep secret an audit dealing with former first lady Mary Easley's salary at N.C. State University.

The salary audit has never been released by new state auditor Beth Wood, a Democrat. In an interview, she said the investigative audit raised questions about whether the first lady's $170,000 per year salary at NCSU was justified — but said NCSU officials made detailed counter arguments that would have led to a "he said/she said" audit.

But it turns out that Rand's involvement in an earlier audit — one that dealt with questionable overseas travel by Mary Easley — also played a role, J. Andrew Curliss reports. The Easleys had hired Rand, who is a lawyer and the powerful majority leader in the state Senate, to represent them. The move generated lots of talk because, for one, Rand has power over the state auditor's budget.

More after the jump.

N.C. State missing top leaders

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:25:03 -0400

In less than a month, N.C. State University has lost its top leaders.

The largest public university in North Carolina has lost the chairman of its board of trustees, its top academic officer and its chancellor.

N.C. State is now missing the leaders most responsible for protecting it during a major budget crisis, and faculty worry that the controversy over Mary Easley has hurt its reputation.

"It's unnerving," said Robert Bruck, a professor of plant pathology and environmental science. "It's a perfect storm, and who's guiding the ship?

Students compared the last-minute contract adjustments for provost Larry Nielsen to the golden parachutes awarded Wall Street executives. (N&O)

Oblinger resigns over provost scandal

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:35:18 -0400

NCSU Chancellor James L. Oblinger resigned this morning after days of shifting explanations about a deal he cut for former provost Larry Nielsen when Nielsen stepped down last month.

Both men are at the heart over a controversy about how former state first lady Mary Easley gained a job at the university in 2005, then an 88-percent pay hike last year to a $170,000 salary, Andy Curliss and Jay Price report.

Last month McQueen Campbell, a friend of the Easleys who Gov. Mike Easley had appointed to the NCSU board of trustees, admitted to UNC system President Erskine Bowles that he had told Oblinger that Easley was looking for work.

Nielsen, then interim provost, then hired Easley.

After Erskine called for him to resign, Campbell did. Nielsen quickly followed, citing the stress of media scrutiny of the deal.

Then came the changing stories about Nielsen's benefit package, as reported over the weekend in the N&O.

Update: Bowles says that former UNC-Charlotte Chancellor Jim Woodward will serve as interim chancellor.

Provost received extra severance

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 09:41:31 -0400

Former N.C. State University Provost Larry Nielsen's severance package was increased last month.

Records show that Chancellor Jim Oblinger cut a deal to boost Nielsen's severance the day before Nielsen resigned.

The terms show he will receive more than was previously disclosed — $310,255 in extra pay above his faculty salary.

The documents directly contradict public comments that Oblinger made after Nielsen left as chief academic officer at the state's largest university. The university released the information late Sunday after days of requests from the N&O.

They also show that Oblinger changed the severance in apparent violation of university rules. (N&O)

N.C. State provost steps down

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 14 May 2009 12:04:22 -0400

Dr. Larry Nielsen, the provost at N.C. State, has resigned amid questions about his role in the hiring of former first lady Mary Easley.

A news release from the university says he is stepping down effective May 22.

"I have chosen to resign because of the intense public attention and criticism from my hiring of Mrs. Mary Easley and now because of questions surrounding the way I was hired as provost," Nielsen said in a letter to the NCSU community.

A report in the N&O Sunday showed that Nielsen hired Mary Easley in May 2005 while he was interim provost — and was about to be replaced, Andy Curliss reports. A public search process involving four other candidates began on the same day that Mary Easley faxed her resume to Nielsen.

Nielsen waived a job search, created a new position and hired Mary Easley for it two weeks later.

Nielsen has said the idea and the decision was his alone, but people involved in that search and university life say a temporary provost would not create a new position and fund it without consulting others.

Nielsen has refused all requests for interviews since March 31.

Last summer, Nielsen awarded Mary Easley a five-year $850,000 contract that touched off months of controversy.

Mary Easley's pay would be in top

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:11:45 -0400

If Mary Easley's $170,000 salary is approved this week, she will make more than all but 94 of 3,455 N.C. State faculty and administrators.

An executive in residence who runs a lecture series, the state's first lady received an 88 percent pay increase earlier this year along with new duties. The changes drew criticism at N.C. State and other state universities.

Pay raises that large are supposed to be reviewed by the UNC system's Board of Governors, but N.C. State did not present it initially.

Many of those with higher salaries include Chancellor James Oblinger, who earns $390,835, and Provost Larry Nielsen, who earned $290,000. Others were current and former football coaches.

Just 23 employees who made more than $170,000 were faculty members without administrative duties.

If approved, Easley's pay would put her in the top three percent. (N&O)

Provost: Easley has 'unmatched experience'

bniolet — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:34:34 -0400

Larry Nielsen, provost and executive vice chancellor at N.C. State, defended Mary Easley's new salary.

"Mary Easley brings unmatched experience to our students at N.C. State, and we are fortunate to have her as a member of our faculty," Nielsen said in a statement released Wednesday.

Easley, wife of Gov. Mike Easley, got a pay increase of $79,000 on Tuesday. Her new salary as a executive in residence and senior lecturer in the provost's office at N.C. State University will be $170,000.

In that job she has run the university's Millennium Seminar Series, among other duties. Her new five-year commitment with the university will expand her duties, Nielsen said. She will expand a program that will train public safety leaders, first responders and other security professionals. Her new duties also will include co-directing the pre-law services program and building partnerships with legal professions and area law schools.

"Mrs. Easley's experience in the legal profession and commitment to public service make her uniquely qualified to direct these efforts at N.C. State," Nielsen added. "Her salary is within the range of similar management and law faculty and administrators at N.C. State and other universities."