CHICAGO
After a year of criticism of her leadership and spending practices, the beleaguered president of Chicago State University has told her colleagues she plans to step down.
Dr. Elnora Daniel will leave the post on June 30, the day her contract is set to expire, but she will continue to collect her $241,025 salary and other benefits until June 30, 2009, as an “educational leave” clause in her contract allows.
Daniel announced her departure in an e-mail to faculty and staff at the 7,000-student South Side university, which serves more Black students than any other university in the state.
Daniel had been asking Chicago State’s board of trustees since at least June to extend her contract, but the board never acted on her requests.
Her contract requires that she give the board “reasonable notice” of her intention to seek a paid leave, which becomes an option if her contract is not renewed, according to the agreement.
Daniel’s announcement comes as federal authorities are set to audit the university’s spending on a government-funded project in west Africa, the subject of a recent Tribune investigation.
