TUSCALOOSA — The University of Alabama is still paying ex-President Guy Bailey $535,000 a year, even though he resigned after just two months on the job.

Bailey, who cited his wife’s health in unexpectedly quitting in late October, remains on the university payroll and will be classified as being on “developmental leave” through next August, Kellee Reinhart, a spokeswoman for the three-campus University of Alabama System, told The Associated Press on Friday.

Bailey, a linguistics expert, was granted tenure as an English professor when he was hired and could return to the university in a teaching position once the leave ends, she said.

System Chancellor Robert Witt said Bailey would be a “tremendous asset” to the university if he decided to move to the classroom, and that was part of the reason he was given paid leave.

“To that end, I felt that the right thing for the university to do was to give him the same kind of developmental leave appointment he would receive if he had been here for a longer period of time,” Witt said in a statement sent to the AP.

While Bailey’s annual pay package was worth as much as $652,000 including incentives, he will receive only the base salary amount until the leave period ends. Reinhart said Bailey’s salary would drop to a level in line with that of professors if he remained in a teaching role.

A native of Montgomery and a two-time Alabama graduate, Bailey was hired away from the presidency at Texas Tech University in July and took over at Alabama in early September.

He quit about two months later, citing the health of his wife, Jan Tillery-Bailey, a two-time cancer survivor.

Bailey and his wife moved out of the presidential mansion this week but remain in Tuscaloosa, she said. It’s unclear when Bailey might decide whether to return to teaching.

“Right now his first priority is to take care of his wife, Jan, and we wholeheartedly support him in doing so,” Witt said.

Bailey has not commented publicly on his departure, and university officials have declined to discuss details behind his decision to quit or his wife’s health.

The university’s faculty handbook says tenured or probationary faculty members can apply for leaves of absence for a period of as long as one year. The school offers several types of paid leave — sick, maternity, military and jury duty leave — plus voluntary leave without pay. The handbook doesn’t mention developmental leave as an option, but Reinhart said it was the same as a paid sabbatical offered to faculty members.

The Family and Medical Leave Act provides unpaid leave for some workers to deal with health or other family problems, according to the handbook, but employees must have worked at least 1,250 hours during the previous year and have used all paid sick leave. Bailey likely would not have qualified because of his short tenure at Alabama.

Bailey was replaced by Judy Bonner, a former provost who became the university’s first permanent female president. Reinhart said her compensation package is identical to Bailey’s.

Bonner, who previously served as interim president before Bailey was hired, is the sister of U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Mobile.

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