PRINCETON, N.J.--New Jersey Governor Brendan T. Byrne is taking time off from his gubernatorial duties each week to teach a course at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Byrne's class, "Workshop on Policy and Politics," has 16 graduate and undergraduate students and covers all aspects of public policy-making in New Jersey.

Byrne has asked students for input about budget cuts and for their opinions about the federal Abscam operation that investigated him. Students say Byrne makes himself available and he says he puts a substantial amount of time into preparing the weekly three-hour seminar.

A Princeton Man

Byrne, a 1979 Princeton graduate, is also a member of the university's board of trustees. His predecessor as governor, William T. Cahill, taught a similar seminar at the Wilson School in 1974.