By Debra Erdley

Published: Tuesday, November 27, 2012, 12:01 a.m.
Updated: Tuesday, November 27, 2012

A spokesman for Penn State University on Monday issued a statement clarifying the status of former university President Graham Spanier.

Penn State spokesman David LaTorre said Spanier remains on the university payroll at $600,000 a year and collected $700,000 on a paid sabbatical year that ended Nov. 9. He said a prior statement that Spanier was receiving no additional compensation from the university referred to his position as a tenured professor, not to payments under his contract.

Spanier, 64, headed the land grant university for 16 years and was in the first year of a five-year contract when Penn State trustees forced his resignation because of the Jerry Sandusky grand jury report last November. University officials have refused to release the terms of his separation contract, saying only that he remains a tenured university professor.

Before his ouster, Spanier's compensation package totaled $937,955, according to a university report for the year ending June 2011.

University officials placed Spanier on leave and barred him from teaching or using university offices this month when the Attorney General's Office charged him with conspiring with two administrators to conceal and lie about allegations against Sandusky.

Spanier maintains his innocence on all charges, and Penn State continues to pay his legal fees.

Sandusky, a former assistant football coach, is serving a 30- to 60-year prison sentence on his conviction for sexually abusing 10 boys in and around Penn State facilities over 15 years.

Debra Erdley is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 412-320-7996 or derdley@tribweb.com.

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