I don't know if it was on the tour the first time Chancellor James Moeser visited the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, but after Monday it's safe to say he now knows where the woodshed is.

Moeser's handling of the departure of Vice Chancellor Susan Ehringhaus, a 30-year employee and the university's legal counsel, unfortunately put him, his campus and to some degree the entire UNC system in the line of fire from angry legislators -- who have life and death power over university appropriations -- and from alumni, faculty and staff of the Chapel Hill campus. He gave Ehringhaus nearly two more years on the payroll at her $188,321 salary; she's leaving her position Dec. 31, and after working for a couple of national higher education groups will return to the UNC-CH law school to teach.

In responding some weeks back to a News & Observer question as to where the money was coming from, Moeser said it was state money. Once the flames in the firestorm started to grow, however, his trustees said, well, no, it was private money. If they thought that was going to damp the blaze, they've never been on the business end of a hook and ladder.

The trustees backed the chancellor's decision, which was a lapse in leadership for that board and only deepened the blush on the university's cheeks.

Not so the courageous fighting words of some on the university's faculty and among students. They expressed righteous indignation.

In the meantime, there was grumbling among lawmakers about this kind of expenditure on Moeser's part even as the university was talking of cutting more classes and taking other drastic measures to reduce its budget. One could almost hear the knives sharpening on Jones Street as the incoming members of the General Assembly contemplated a little surgery on the university budget. ("Let's see, fellows, where we can get that first million...")

The person who brought in the calvary here was UNC system President Molly Broad, whose own leadership faced a test of sorts. Broad, who has demonstrated throughout her tenure a refreshing candor and an articulate appreciation and concern for the university's core mission of educating the sons and daughters of North Carolina, faced the music Monday at a meeting with the system's Board of Governors and the chancellor.

And if UNC-Chapel Hill trustees and Moeser have demonstrated tone-deafness with regard to the public's perception of their actions, Broad proved she knew the right key and all of the notes. She was plain-spoken in stating that the deal arranged by the chancellor "while legally binding, was inappropriate." She declined to say whether she would take further action against Moeser, but it's clear she is mightily displeased.

Broad understands the university system's need to answer to the people of this state in a multitude of ways, by talking to them, by appreciating them, by listening to them, by continually seeking their support. And most importantly, the president has a keen sense of what a public university's constituents have a right to expect in leadership.

Moeser, in setting up the Ehringhaus deal, seemed to view himself as a corporate chief executive officer. Let us hope it is now clear to him that such is not his role. He is an administrator, and is rightly expected to have a CEO's leadership skills and financial savvy. But he is first and last an employee of the people of North Carolina, the taxpayers who have faithfully and generously supported this university throughout its storied history. They expect, and have every right to demand, a meticulous and frugal stewardship of their university, which campus leaders like to call "the people's university."

The chancellor, after standing behind his decision for weeks, on Monday admitted his mistake. He issued an e-mail apology to the campus' faculty and staff. And he said, "I realize that I have some fence-mending to do in my relationships with faculty, staff and students at Carolina, and indeed, with the people of the state." He's right; and he might need to call in Paw, Hoss, Little Joe and Adam for some extra hands to take care of all those fences.

Moeser would be smart to hop on a bus right now and travel the state, as did the late Chancellor Michael Hooker. Hooker rightly believed that the UNC-Chapel Hill campus was perceived by some to be too far removed from the people, and he set about connecting himself and faculty and staff to the citizens of the state, all over the state -- and not just the wealthy alumni and contributors, but the average taxpayers who've done their part and then some for the university.

It would do Moeser some good, and the university some good as well, if he did likewise. And no matter how bumpy the roads, it sure beats the woodshed.