The University of Victoria will pay outgoing president David Turpin more than $1.1 million over the next 3 1/2 years while he embarks on a series of research leaves.
Turpin, who earned $373,700 a year, has accumulated four separate leaves since becoming president 13 years ago.
He steps down June 30.
Turpin will receive his full president’s salary for two of those leaves over 20 months and $250,000 annually for the final two years, according to a copy of his employment contract obtained under B.C.’s Freedom of Information Act.
The university said Turpin, 56, was owed three years’ leave by Queen’s University when he was hired at UVic in 2000. The university’s board of governors gave him credit for one of those years, and he forfeited the other two.
He accumulated a further 2 1/2 years during his three terms as UVic’s president.
Board chairwoman Susan Mehinagic said it’s standard practice at universities for faculty members to earn research leaves. But since administrators forgo their leaves while in office, they are permitted to defer the time and use it once they step down.
“I know that Mr. Smith on the street does not understand that, because he understands that if he quits his job, he does not get two years’ leave at pay to figure out what his next career is going to be,” she said. “But in academic institutions — you can check all of them — I think you’ll find it’s absolutely standard practice.”
Mehinagic said Turpin will be required to file a research plan and submit regular reports while on leave.
“It’s not like leave is to do nothing,” she said. “It needs to be for the betterment of the university, to enhance its reputation and to enhance his ability to re-integrate into the faculty.”
Turpin, who was elected to the Royal Society of Canada in 1998 for his work in plant biology, said he has been working on a number of projects and will write a few papers while considering his next move.
“Twenty years ago, I had 20 people working for me in my lab,” he said. “Today, I don’t even have a lab. So part of what I’m going to be doing over the coming years is sitting down, doing a lot of reading, a lot of thinking, and going, ‘Right, where am I going intellectually?’ It’s going to be an interesting time.”
Melissa Moroz, a labour-relations officer with the UVic branch of the Professional Employees Association, whose members include counsellors, instructors, scientists and advisers, said the amount that Turpin will earn while on leave stands in “stark contrast” to recent budget cuts at the school.
The board of governors recently approved a plan to eliminate 82 positions, raise tuition by two per cent and trim four per cent from all departments. Dozens of people received layoff notices.
“The contrast and the disparity is problematic,” Moroz said.
The Canadian Association of University Teachers says it objects to the “gross inflation” of salaries for senior administrators but takes no issue with their ability to accumulate research leaves.
“It’s difficult to take a year off while you’re in the midst of your presidential job, but it’s unfair for them to lose it if indeed they’re carrying on their academic careers,” said James Turk, executive director.
“They should be paid at their ordinary pay, but it really, in our view, is inappropriate that university presidents are paid in a manner that’s so out of keeping with what their senior academic colleagues are paid.”
According to Statistics Canada, the average salary in 2010-11 for full professors at UVic was $130,514.
Jamie Cassels, who will replace Turpin as president on July 1, will accumulate 12 months of research leave over the next five years, the university says. The leave will be paid at his full presidential salary of $350,000.
