Former N.C. State University Chancellor James Oblinger just got a pay cut.

Oblinger, who resigned in early June amid revelations over his role in the hiring of former First Lady Mary Easley, had until today [Friday] been earning his full administrative salary - $420,000 annually, or $35,000 a month.

Under an agreement he forged with UNC system President Erskine Bowles when he resigned, he was to receive that full salary for six months before returning to the faculty at a lower wage.

But the UNC system's Board of Governors voted Friday to scale his pay back immediately. He will now earn $173,000 annually, a salary commensurate with other members of the NCSU faculty. He will teach food science.

"This is absolutely an appropriate salary, and after such a careful process I am completely comfortable with it," said James Woodward, NCSU's interim chancellor.

The UNC system board's vote was split, with 17 members voting for the change and 10 voting against it. Many who opposed the change said they did so in support of Bowles' decision.

The change in salary over the four months that Oblinger would have received his full pay amounts to about $82,000.

"I think the board acknowledged [Oblinger's] enormous contributions but felt there needed to be consequences for some things that went terribly wrong," said Hannah Gage, the UNC system board's chairwoman. "I think everyone is glad to put this behind us."

Oblinger resigned as chancellor in early June after admitting to Bowles that he had played a role in the university's hiring of former state First Lady Mary Easley in 2005.

Oblinger had long maintained that he wasn't involved, and in his resignation letter wrote that he had simply forgotten his involvement and hadn't intentionally done anything wrong.

Oblinger could not be reached Friday.

For more on this story, read Saturday's News & Observer.