SU offers faculty ‘voluntary’ retirement, targeting low-enrollment programs
SU reached out to faculty members with either 35 or more years of tenure, as well as those working in a closing undergraduate program. Meghan Hendricks | Senior Staff Photographer
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Around 175 Syracuse University faculty members received an offer to voluntarily retire from the university, per a Friday message from Vice Chancellor and Provost Lois Agnew.
Agnew wrote that the Voluntary Faculty Retirement Incentive aims to provide eligible faculty with a “voluntary pathway to retirement” that includes “financial recognition of their many years of service.”
Eligible faculty include those with 35 or more years of tenure or those primarily working within a school or department with a closing undergraduate program, according to Agnew’s message.
Professors in programs “experiencing sustained low enrollment” or demonstrating a “significant” 5% or greater decline in enrollment over the past 10 years also received an offer. Agnew did not name the faculty members who received an incentive message.
This definition of a “decline” is something philosophy professor Robert Van Gulick, who received a retirement package offer, said raises concerns.
“That’s not much at all over a 10-year period, if you went down half percent a year for 10 years, nothing,” Van Gulick said. “Five percent is almost like the noise in the system. So it seems like the administration chose to define that category in a way that covers an awful lot of programs.”
In the message, Agnew noted that eligibility depends on “objective criteria,” meaning it does not reflect “individual faculty performance.”
Those who choose to participate in the incentive package would receive, according to Agnew’s message:
- Two weeks of pay for every year of “credited service” through a lump sum
- $500 per year of benefits-eligible service, up to $15,000, through a supplemental payment
- Retiree benefit access, including health insurance through SU, tuition assistance programs and other post-retirement resources
Faculty members with pre-existing retirement agreements and a planned retirement date are also invited to participate in the incentive program or keep their current agreement, Agnew wrote.
“Schools and departments will work to ensure continuity in teaching, advising and program delivery,” Agnew wrote in the message. “Where replacement hiring is appropriate, we will prioritize tenure-track faculty in alignment with academic needs and strategic priorities.”
Though Van Gulick, who received an email after working at the university for over 35 years, said it feels “voluntary” to make his own decision on taking the package, he said he feels “worried” for faculty in different positions.
Though he did consider it, Van Gulick said he decided to decline the offer, which would have allowed him to retire one academic year ahead of his planned retirement. He said it felt it was too “abrupt” an end to his time at SU.
“I like teaching. I’ve imagined how I’m going to teach my last year,” Van Gulick said. “I’ve enjoyed these courses for many years and I want to have a kind of proper farewell, as it were, and so the idea of just sort of stopping abruptly didn’t appeal to me whatsoever.”
Particularly for those who may have had their programs closed, Van Gulick said he could foresee a future round of retirements where participation isn’t voluntary if an initial quota isn’t met in this first round.
Faculty who received a retirement incentive have until May 15, to opt into the program. Those who decide to take part are set to retire Aug. 15, according to Agnew’s message.
