UM: Study in Italy

A report in the New York Times looks at how study abroad programs in Florence for several universities, including the University of Michigan, treat their faculty. UM is being sued by Lucrezia Sarcinelli, who taught courses for the university’s Center for Global and Intercultural Study program at Villa Corsi-Salviati near Florence. From the report: “In April, Ms. Sarcinelli learned that the University of Michigan was closing the program. Despite her long service of 22 years, she was offered no severance pay. And because her employer was a U.S. school, if she decided to retire, her state pension would only pay about €100 a month. So Ms. Sarcinelli decided to file suit asking for the benefits that would have been due her as a normal employee: a sum in excess of €210,000.” [Source]