CUPA-HR's survey of benefits for higher education employees has been conducted since 2003. Prior to 2020-21, data were collected on healthcare benefits in odd years and non-healthcare benefits in even years. This year, we collected data on all benefits: healthcare benefits, including healthcare plans and wellness programs; and non-healthcare…

Given the right incentives, many college faculty will retire early. With mandatory retirement of tenured faculty soon to be abolished, institutions may need to revamp their pension plans and introduce voluntary retirement-incentive options. These options include phased- and full-retirement programs. (Author/MSE)

Recent legislative and regulatory actions have made retirement policies more complicated. Six major elements appropriate for retirement policy review are addressed: normal-age benefits and goals, mandatory retirement, early retirement, phased retirement, auxiliary retirement savings programs, and retirement counseling. (MLW)

The California Faculty Association (CFA) seeks to secure and maintain sound retirement options that encourage phased faculty retirement. Their experience in negotiating and administering retirement options are discussed. Defined benefit plan and defined contribution plan are described. CFA agreements are appended. (MLW)

Institutions must provide good counseling regarding retirement program benefits, since when in doubt about their financial position faculty members are inclined to remain employed. Colleges should consider offering nonfinancial incentives for early retirement as well as financial. (MLW)

The 1986 amendments to the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and tax reforms from that year will require changes in retirement policies in higher education, especially pension plans, because of the extension of nondiscrimination rules to all tax-deferred annuities. (Author/MSE)

The Committee on Retirement of the American Association of University Professors initiated its first retirement policies survey in 2000 to address a lack of reliable and systematically collected information on retirement policies and practices across U.S. institutions of higher education. At the end of the 1990s, there was a sense that…

This report contains selected considerations for faculty retirement policies. The first section consists of selected issues pertaining to faculty retirement policies (when to retire, retirement income, early retirement issues, salary costs, and retired faculty at the University of Virginia). The second section contains a report of the findings of…

Although even a few years ago researchers were suggesting that faculty aging and the resulting retirements would result in a huge demand for new hires, job opportunities have become scarce for recent graduates of doctoral programs. It is important, however, that colleges be able to hire new personnel to bring new ideas into the institution. In…

An incentive early retirement program is an arrangement between employer and employee that provides tangible inducement or reward for voluntary early retirement. It may be a formal program or an ad hoc agreement negotiated with the institution. The most common incentives include severance pay, liberalized actuarial reduction, annuity enhancements,…

This essay attempts to do the following: first, offer a definition of early retirement in order to establish boundaries for the discussion. Second, sketch some of the background and reasons why early retirement may be desirable; also it suggests why early retirement might not always be a constructive practice. Then the essay turns to the main…

Finds a broad range of college reactions to the needs of retirees. Formulates a "model program" of services, benefits, and perks--beyond pensions--colleges should be expected to give to retired faculty. (RS)

Greater attention has been focused on the role that employer-sponsored retirement plans and individual savings must play in ensuring retirement income security. Alternative tax retirement planning opportunities currently available to college personnel are explored. (MLW)

The impact of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act Amendments of 1978 (ADEA) and possible options for adjusting to the impact were estimated for members institutions of the Consortium on Financing Higher Education (COFHE). Questionnaire information was gathered on active, departed, and retired faculty from 27 individual COFHE institutions.…