U profs' pay cut as probe continues

By JEFF SHELMAN, Star Tribune

Last update: April 29, 2008 - 1:16 AM

Two University of Minnesota professors will have their responsibilities and salaries reduced for two months as the university looks into the "murky situation" of whether the U and Georgia Tech were paying them simultaneously.

On Monday, the husband-and-wife duo of Francois Sainfort and Julie Jacko requested and received a leave of absence from their administrative duties at the U, according a school spokeswoman. They will retain their faculty positions during those months and be paid that portion of their salaries.

"It will give them some time to focus on resolving their issues with Georgia Tech," University of Minnesota spokeswoman Mary Koppel said.

At the same time, the university continues to examine whether the two were drawing paychecks at the same time.

"It's still a somewhat murky situation here," university general counsel Mark Rotenberg said. "The disclosures by Georgia Tech leave some gaps to be filled in here. We don't have the full story yet."

The timing of the Georgia Tech payments is a significant question, Rotenberg said.

"I'm aware they continue to be on the tenured faculty there, but I have heard conflicting information about precisely what months they were paid for or are being paid for."

Sainfort and Jacko were lured to Minnesota from the Atlanta school in the fall.

Sainfort was hired to lead the Division of Health Policy and Management in the Academic Health Center, while Jacko was brought in as director of the Institute on Health Informatics.

Sainfort was receiving $20,000 for his administrative duties in addition to his $265,000 annual salary. Jacko's base salary is $204,000, and she was receiving $12,000 for her administrative duties.

Earlier this month, Georgia Tech began the process of firing Sainfort and Jacko for being on the payroll of both schools at the same time. Georgia Tech has turned the case over to the Georgia attorney general.

In a February e-mail to an administrator, Sainfort described his spring semester workload at Georgia Tech as full and added that neither he nor Jacko had signed contracts with Minnesota.

Minnesota officials, however, contend that the two signed contracts in October and are concerned with Sainfort's e-mail. Minnesota officials said Sainfort and Jacko were expected to be in "residence" on Jan. 1. Georgia Tech has said that the two signed contracts to work there for the entire school year after they signed with Minnesota.

Minnesota has a policy similar to Georgia Tech's that prohibits full-time faculty members from having full-time employment elsewhere without receiving a special exemption from the provost. Rotenberg said it is unclear at this point whether Sainfort and Jacko violated that policy. A professor in violation of the policy could be subject to sanctions ranging from a letter of admonition to suspension to dismissal.

A message left Monday evening for Marty Goldberg, the attorney representing Sainfort and Jacko, was not immediately returned.

While Sainfort and Jacko have taken leaves from their administrative duties, the two professors are doing research at Minnesota and will continue to do so. In addition, Jacko will continue to work on developing health informatics courses for the U's School of Nursing.

Jeff Shelman • 612-673-7478

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