Issue: Some faculty members contemplating retirement wish
to continue teaching but no longer wish to carry the other obligations of a
full-time position (e.g., meetings, research, committees, advising).
Possible Solution: The establishment of a new
category of part-time instructor category through which a full-time faculty member
would be guaranteed the opportunity to offer courses after retirement but
not have the other obligations of a full-time position
Advantages: The faculty member could continue to teach, and the
department/college/school would keep an experienced faculty member.
Questions: How can this be done fairly to the faculty member
and to the department/college? How can
this be done in a financially feasible way?
A few basic points about
this new position:
1)
The faculty member has retired from full-time status
and cannot change her/his mind.
2)
Since the faculty member has
retired from full-time status, she/he would have part-time status.
3)
The retired faculty member
would, however, differ from other part-timers by being guaranteed the chance to
offer classes every semester for a specified time.
4)
A part-time load is maximum
six hours per semester, so the faculty member could teach no more than six
hours per semester.
5)
The faculty member would be
eligible for retirement benefits.
Problems and Questions:
1) How long could the faculty member have this special part-time status after retirement?
Few if any faculty would be interested in teaching just one year. Why give up a full-time salary for just one more year of teaching? On the other hand, allowing someone to teach for four years or more could become burdensome to the department and possibly prevent the department from getting a full-time replacement.
The committee believes a term of three years, that is, six consecutive semesters, starting the semester after the faculty member’s retirement, is most reasonable, and we recommend that time period.
This time can be shortened at the faculty member’s request or s/he can decide not to teach for a particular semester, but the total time cannot be lengthened.
N.B. When this special status has expired, the faculty member could continue to teach as a regular part-timer, that is, with no special status.
2) Who would be eligible
for this program? When?
All tenured faculty with at least ten years of full-time service to the university would be eligible.
If this program is approved by the faculty and administration during the 2001-2002 academic year, it would go into effect in the 2002-2003 academic year.
3) How would the retired faculty members’ salaries be computed? What about
other compensation?
If faculty taught six hours per semester for two semesters, they would make one-third of their final full-time year’s salary. Since they are part-timers, they would be paid by the credit hour, that is, each credit would be equal to 1/36 of their final year’s salary and twelve credit hours per year would equal one-third of that salary. It is the committee’s expectation that the twelve credit hours would normally be reached via two three-credit courses per semester, but we are allowing for courses for other than three credits.
a)
If faculty in this program
do not wish to teach six credit hours per semester, they would be paid for the
total number of credit hours they do teach.
As noted above, faculty can also opt not to teach at all for a
particular semester, and they would receive no salary for that semester.
b)
Retired faculty whose
courses do not attain sufficient enrollment and are thus cancelled may not take
over the courses of other part-timers, a privilege reserved for full-time
faculty.
c)
Retired faculty taking part
in this program are eligible for benefits available to retired faculty as well
as to those available to part-timers.
The Proposal:
The Finance Committee of the Faculty Forum (Jonathan Ivec, Jerry
Moreno, Walter Simmons, Earl Spurgin, Joseph Kelly, Chairperson) recommends
that the university establish a new category of part-time faculty, open to
retired full-time faculty with tenure and at least ten years of full-time
service to the university, for a period up to six consecutive semesters,
starting the semester after their retirement. This time can be shortened at the
faculty member’s request or she/he can decide not to teach for a particular
semester, but the total time cannot be lengthened. Retired faculty who choose this status would be guaranteed
the opportunity to
offer courses. Faculty would be paid by the credit hour, and each credit would
be equal to 1/36 of their final year’s salary.
They could teach as many as six credit hours per semester; twelve credit
hours per year would equal one-third of the final year’s salary. Retired
faculty whose courses do not attain sufficient enrollment and are thus
cancelled may not take over the courses of other part-timers, a privilege
reserved for full-time faculty. Retired faculty taking part in this program are
eligible for benefits available to retired faculty as well as to those
available to part-timers.