SICK PAYOUT: Arizona has passed a law that rewards retiring state employees who rarely used their sick leave. The law allows employees retiring after July 1 to turn in accrued sick leave for dollars, based on their salary and the number of hours accumulated. The law creates a small deduction to pay for the program, but worried University of Arizona officials say the deduction won’t begin to cover the cost, which they estimate at $3 million for the first year.

CLEANING UP: Politicians sincerely interested in running a clean campaign can turn to the University of Virginia for help. The University recently hosted a “Conference on Campaign Conduct,” which is to lead to a pilot program for a group of first-time state and local candidates. Once the program is tested and refined, it could be used by public-spirited groups around the nation.

CLUSTER PROFS: At the University of Wisconsin, they’re trying to encourage interdisciplinary work by promoting “cluster hiring.” A new initiative invited proposals for hiring faculty in groups that combine the resources of several departments to meet new needs. The university received 95 proposals for hiring under the plan and funded five. They include new efforts in genomics (two positions), an international public affairs master’s program (three positions), nanophase inorganic materials research (three positions), biophotonics (two positions) and using zebrafish as a model species for genetics research (two positions).

STAFF CONCERNS: To address the issues and concerns of the University of Wisconsin’s staff, its Academic Staff Assembly has voted to create committees in schools, colleges and divisions focusing on academic staff. The committees—called Committees on Academic Staff Issues—would advise deans and directors on policies and procedures—including personnel issues—affecting researchers, instructional staff, clinical workers, outreach employees and other members of the academic staff, which includes about 5,000 employees on campus.

MINORITY RETENTION: The University of Pittsburgh is buzzing over a new report on minorities at the school. Among first-time, full-time campus freshmen who entered Pitt from 1985 through 1992, only 17.1 percent of blacks graduated within four years, compared to 39.4 percent for whites. After six years, 41.3 percent of the black students had graduated, compared with 66.4 percent of whites. The report says the statistics show that recruitment may be doing the job but the university falls down on retention. It recommends: The provost and head of each Pitt special program for African American students should agree upon a set of goals for that program, the university should invest resources in improving minority retention rates, academic support services should be based on educational need, not race and Pitt should develop an aggressive strategy to recruit high achieving African American students. ¶