Rough financial seas had been buffeting many colleges and universities for years before the recession that began in late 2007. Then in mid-September 2008, an economic tsunami crashed into campuses, challenging their ability to provide the accessible, high-quality education necessary to achieve long-term national goals. As the economy weakened at…

Grow Your Own (GYO) educator programs are a potential strategy for districts and universities to employ to help recruit and retain teachers of color. When designed within an asset-based framework, they emphasize equitable approaches and critical perspectives that combine the powerful roles of "homegrown" teachers, culturally-relevant…

Like many states, Minnesota has incurred large budget deficits during the past two years. Those deficits have, in turn, led to changes in a number of areas of state government, particularly higher education. Faculty have incurred pay freezes and layoffs, programs have closed, and tuition increased. Campuses within the MnSCU system have been…

In the late 1990s, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation made grants to study people's attitudes toward retirement and to determine what factors influenced their decisions to retire. Although faculty were not talking to college administrators or human-resources departments about health care, the researchers found to their surprise that when they…

To offset declining enrollments, financial constraints, younger faculties, and high tenure ratios, some institutions are considering early retirement programs to facilitate faculty turnover. A University of Virginia faculty committee reviewed several early retirement options and selected a cost-effective bridging program with ample incentives and…

Between April 29 and December 31, 1982, 244 community college employees in Washington retired. Of that group, 85 exercised an option to retire under a special early retirement program enacted by the 1982 state legislature. The net effect of the early retirement program was a 53.4% increase in the number of retirements over the number that might…

A survey of current early retirement programs and faculty age distributions was conducted among 23 colleges in the Consortium on Financing Higher Education and 13 universities in the Association of American Universities. Tabular data and narrative descriptions are presented in two major sections. The first section presents data on the number of…

A study examined effects of early retirement plans (ERP) at Canadian Universities. In response to current conditions within Canadian universities and a Canadian Supreme Court decision upholding mandatory retirement requirements, many universities have sought to encourage faculty retirement through ERPs. In order to study the cost of such programs,…

This case study examines the impact of Early Retirement Incentive Programs (ERIP) on Ohio's two-year public colleges through a single case study analysis at Monticello Community College. Data came from interviews and an examination of college documents. This study specifically sought to address: (1) the financial impact (savings versus costs) of…

Retirement plans and concerns of tenured faculty 40 years old and older were evaluated in 1979. For the sample of 26 member institutions of the Consortium on Financing Higher Education, 1,193 faculty members returned usable questionnaires. The evaluation focused on the following: characteristics of the faculty respondents, current circumstances…

Almost thirty years ago, Justice William Brennan saw clearly that American higher education was coming under the same pressures to "cut costs and increase efficiencies" to which market forces were subjecting businesses. Since Justice Brennan's observation, employers generally have sought to maximize their "flexibility' by creating a…

The current downturn has the potential to be more severe and longer lasting than the recessions of the 1970s, '80s, '90s, and early 2000s. By now, rivers of ink have been spilled documenting the financial and economic crisis afflicting the United States and much of the globe. While numerous articles have examined the impact on higher-education…

The likely impact of the new mandatory retirement age of 70 on the future financial situation of the University of the District of Columbia was considered. In order to simulate the policy's effect on the 1979-80 university budget and retirement policies, four alternative plans were developed utilizing three groups of personnel (faculty,…

Presents guidelines for colleges on selecting employee health insurance carriers and retirement investment programs. Reviews types of insurance programs, presenting examples from several states. Discusses mechanisms for reducing insurance premiums, including claim reduction, self-funding, mail-order pharmaceuticals, and forming consortia with…

The effects of the October 1987 stock market crash on older faculty pension funds, gifts and capital drives, endowment funds, and foundation losses and cutbacks are examined. (MSE)