The interim chancellor of North Carolina State University has declared invalid a severance package approved for the former provost by the former chancellor, The Raleigh News & Observer reported. The package for then-provost Larry Nielsen would have extended the provost's pay for three years after he returned to the faculty, which he promptly did -- amid a scandal over the appointment of the former governor's wife to a highly paid position. The scandal ended up leading the sudden resignations first of Nielsen and then of James Oblinger, the chancellor who approved the deal. Jim Woodward, the interim chancellor, said that Oblinger never had the authority to change Nielsen's contract as he did, so the deal will not be carried out.