Three full-time SIUC employees called to active duty to support the Bosnia-Herzegovina peace-keeping mission will continue to receive state salaries and benefits, state and University officials say.

Judy Pardonnet, spokesperson for the Department of Central Management Services, said Gov. Jim Edgar signed an executive order that guarantees full-time state employees in agencies, boards, universities and commissions under his control to continue receiving their salaries and benefits while on active duty.

Pardonnet said the benefits offered to the state employees while on active duty are there to insure that the people do not receive less money because they are serving their country. She said the added salaries and benefits will not surpass what the employee would have made at their state job. But she said the additions will make up the difference in salary amounts as if the employees were still working their state job.

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State employees won’t be denied any benefits while serving their country, Pardonnet said. The benefits offered make up the difference if they were still here working.

SIUC Chancellor John Guyon said the issue of protecting University employees’ salaries and benefits for up to one year is also on the SIU Board of Trustees agenda for February.

Guyon said during Desert Storm, the board passed a resolution protecting its employees’ salaries and benefits. He said the resolution resembles the governor’s executive order for the Bosnia-Herzegovina mission and that SIUC would have taken care of its own employees again without the governor’s executive order.

I’m sure we would have done something to help the people who are serving our country, he said.

Lt. Col. William Patula, commander of the 347th Replacement Battalion out of Marion and an SIUC mathematics professor, said he and two other SIUC employees, Jonathan Newman from zoology and Ronald Cook from General Stores, were in units that were activated for the peace-keeping mission.

Patula said he, Newman and Cook are supporting the mission by processing the paperwork needed to send troops out of Fort Benning, Ga. to Bosnia.

If army wages are less than University wages, the University makes up the difference, he said. I do know the University will do all they can. The University’s been very good to us.

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