The advantages and disadvantages of the Teachers Insurance Annuity Association (TIAA) and College Retirement Equities Fund (CREF) as investment vehicles for college faculty are examined, and guidelines for faculty to use in evaluating their investment options are offered. Some data on TIAA-CREF performance are included. (MSE)

The debate about the "cashability" of faculty pension benefits raises questions about intent, fairness, and who controls what. Boards must weigh whether to allow faculty and staff to withdraw or transfer pension funds such as TIAA-CREF (Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund). (Author/MSE)

Those who address questions about phased retirement policies should see them in a larger context of needs for flexibility in the terms of faculty employment. (Contains 2 figures.)

More than a decade ago, as the end of mandatory retirement for faculty approached, many academic administrators were concerned about its negative impact on their institutions. With the assistance of a variety of incentives put in place to encourage voluntary retirement, a significant number of senior faculty retired during the 1990s. Now, the…

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…

This paper, one in a series about the priorities of the professoriate, examines the retirement decision-making of senior faculty, along with some of the key questions faced by administrators in light of the elimination of mandatory retirement. The first part of the paper reviews some general institutional issues, such as faculty turnover, faculty…

Until the beginning of 1994, federal law permitted mandatory retirement of tenured faculty at age 70. The Committee on Mandatory Retirement in Higher Education, formed by the National Research Council, was charged by Congress to examine potential effects on colleges, universities, and faculty members of ending the exemption for tenured faculty…

This report discusses whether the special circumstances of tenured faculty in higher education justify a continued exception to the national policy prohibiting age discrimination in employment, and examines a number of practical steps that are available or could be made available to address the problems raised by the elimination of mandatory…

Changes in retirement patterns at colleges and universities can be expected because of demographic reasons and because of federal and state legislation uncapping mandatory retirement. Institutional policies that will encourage reluctant older faculty to retire need to address the three fundamental components of successful employee retirement: (1)…

This report describes recent hiring and retirement patterns as well as tenure-related changes and actions taken by public and private not-for-profit postsecondary institutions that offered an associate's or higher degree in fall 2003 and participated in federal Title IV student aid programs. The 2004 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty…

This qualitative study probed into (a) the sense of fulfillment, (b) fears and anxieties, and (c) life trajectories of aged working professors recruited from one comprehensive university in the Philippines. Interestingly, findings of the study reveal that respondents were fulfilled and felt successful through the life outputs of their students;…

Views of members and key pension plan administrators concerning the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) were assessed. Attention was focused on perceptions of the organization's strengths and weaknesses, and the importance of these characteristics in creating its reputation. Telephone interviews…

Faculty members of America's universities and colleges, it is suggested, are finding the real world of academic life increasingly out of tune with the careers they prepared for. Seven faculty members are profiled whose careers illustrate difficulties academics may face at several stages of their lives. (MLW)

Options available to college faculty for planning their retirement benefits are described, including defined benefit plans, defined contribution plans, and methods for customizing a pension plan. Data for 1993 on American households owning interest-earning assets (passbook savings, money market deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, checking…

Political, social, and legislative forces outside higher education orchestrated and directed congressional action to uncap the mandatory retirement age, paying little attention to the special nature of higher education. Lobbyists for higher education did not greatly affect the ultimate resolution. (Author/MSE)