The Arc of the Academic Research Career Issues and Implications for U.S. Science and Engineering Leadership: Summary of a Workshop (2014) / Chapter Skim
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5 Moving into Retirement
5 Moving into Retirement
Pages 37-44
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From page 37... ...
Twenty years after the new law, these issues have increasing salience on campuses across the country, because the cohorts that are nearing or have reached beyond the traditional retirement age represent an increasing proportion of the academic population. Between fall 1992 and 1998, the percentage of departures by full-time faculty because of retirement declined, at "almost every type of institution," said Valerie Martin Conley.
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From page 38... ...
The next largest group, 28.6 percent, says they will retire "late," and a slightly smaller share, 25 percent, intends to do so "early." Almost 8 percent, however, say they will work until "very late," and a tiny sliver, 1.3 percent, intends to leave "very early." More recently, a 2011 study of full-time faculty members over age 60 found fully three-quarters expecting to continue working past the customary retirement age, with 60 percent saying they would do so by choice and 15 percent citing external factors, which were "primarily financial" according to Martin Conley. 8 Because these data were collected shortly after the 2008 economic collapse, however, many people's retirement accounts may have since rebounded, she added.
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From page 39... ...
The influence of the stock market on professors' retirement intentions derives in large part from the growing importance of defined contribution plans, under which the employer and employee make set payments into the plan during the person's working life, and payout then depends on the amount of money that has accumulated in the individual's account, which in turn depends on economic conditions and investment strategy. Many public institutions and older private plans, however, offer defined benefits and pay out set amounts determined by such factors as salary and length of service, she explained.
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From page 40... ...
"Two main points of friction [exist] between the legal system and faculty retirement," said attorney Ann Franke, president of Wise Results, LLC, and author of a paper on legal issues regarding retirement for the American Council on Education.
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From page 41... ...
Princeton has what Girgus calls "a very strong merit salary system," so salaries at each rank vary substantially. Acceptance of the bonus system has been especially high among "those who received a bonus based on the average salary at their rank," she noted.
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From page 42... ...
An American Association of University Professors survey done in 2007 showed a rapid increase in such programs, she said. In a survey of 3,300 senior faculty members nearing retirement, 75 percent of respondents preferred phased retirement, Van Ummersen added.
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From page 43... ...
COSEPUP member Gordon England suggested that facilities modeled on commercial business centers might meet the needs of some retirees. An additional approach to keeping faculty connected and active are facilities for retired faculty, either associations or full-fledged emeriti centers.
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From page 44... ...
and universities maintain a reserve pool of flexible and readily available faculty resources to help institutions adapt to rapidly changing program needs in a time of fiscal constraint." He cited as an example Edward Gerjuoy, an emeritus professor of astronomy and physics at the University of Pittsburgh, who in his mid-90s continues to work in his office 6 hours a day, often including weekends, to write papers, and to do voluntary service for the American Physical Society. Universities "get so much value out of keeping their former faculty involved," Tanner added.
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