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 productivity, the changing institutional financial environment, and the human resources impact of retirement incentive programs. The second part of the study is based on interviews with 20 full-time tenured faculty at a medium-sized private university (10 men and 10 women, ranging in age from 55 to 66). Interviews covered such topics as satisfaction of faculty with their careers, timing of career changes, alternatives to full-time work, and retirement benefits. Analysis of the interview findings led to ten policy recommendations for changing the fundamental relationship between institutions and faculty. The recommendations include developing a culture of collegiality, becoming involved in faculty career guidance, encouraging faculty to reassess personal and professional goals annually, providing financial planning information to faculty of all ages, making retirement incentive programs more generous, developing predictive models for faculty demand, broadening leave policies, facilitating informal retirement planning, developing alternative retirement program models, and encouraging retired faculty to remain engaged with the campus. (Contains 26 references.) (CH)