Professors opt for early retirement

Twelve senior faculty members will be retiring at the end of this semester as a result of the Faculty Retirement Incentive Program (FRIP), a program  implemented to achieve further staff reductions in order to cut costs at the College.

The College announced this program last fall, offering tenured faculty members over the age of 62 and who had been employed by the College for at least 10 consecutive years incentives to retire at the end of the fall 2010 semester. The incentive program offered eligible faculty members a lump-sum payment equal to one and one-half times his or her stated annual salary. Additionally, faculty who are under 65 will continue to receive medical and dental benefits until the age of 65, and those who are over 65 will receive six months of coverage at the College’s expense. Roughly 30 faculty members were contacted last spring, and 12 professors have accepted and will retire in December.

The faculty members who have accepted the package have asserted that they are retiring willingly, and are under no pressure from the administration.  FRIP, like other aspects of the staff reduction goals, was intended to decrease staff levels through voluntary separation as to avoid lay-offs.

Terry Aldrich, assistant athletic director and head cross-country coach, said, “I was honestly not even thinking about retirement until the package became available, but after spending substantial time talking with my family and friends, it seemed to be in the best interest of my family and myself.”
Professor of Economics Michael Claudon voiced similar sentiments about his retirement.

“I’m 67, so it was beginning to be time to start thinking about it,” he said. “But … once I saw [the package], it took me about 30 seconds to say, ‘I think its time.’”

President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz, in his most recent financial address to the College on September 22, explained, “We chose the slow and deliberate path — the one that gave our staff members the choice to retire or separate voluntarily, and gave the rest of us some much needed time to think through how we would best meet the College's mission with a smaller staff.”

Throughout the process of reducing staff and faculty levels, the administration has sought to avoid lay-offs, maintain the student-faculty ratio of 9:1, continue to recruit new professors and preserve the benefits package the College provides for current faculty and staff. FRIP allows for voluntary retirement of senior professors, which eliminates the need for lay-offs and allows for the possibility of hiring new professors at entry-level positions. Entry-level positions earn significantly less than senior level tenured professors, so the College will be able to maintain its faculty-student ratio at a much lower cost.

While FRIP will reduce costs for the College, C.V. Starr Professor of Russian and Eastern European Studies Michael Katz, expressed concern about the effects on the academic environment as a result of this plan.

“This plan means that a lot of the senior faculty, in one fell swoop all across the campus in different departments, will suddenly be gone,” he said. “They’re losing a top-tier of senior, very experienced teachers who have been around a long time, and who are very good teachers.”

Next semester, departments will continue to the offer introductory and core courses that were previously taught by a retired professor, but specific advanced courses of the professors’ own devising will not be offered. Alternative, new advanced courses will be offered instead.

“In a time of belt-tightening there will of course have to be some compromise made in terms of course offerings and class sizes; that will force departments to revisit their needs and priorities, a hard thing to do but not a bad thing to do,” said Lois Watson Professor Emerita of French Nancy O’Connor.

Many professors expressed positive opinions regarding the retirement package, and agreed that it was both attractive to eligible faculty members as well a good solution for the College’s financial and academic future.

Claudon, who has been a professor at the College for 41 years, expressed confidence in the plan.

“This is a vibrant, rich institution, and my colleagues in and beyond my department are every bit as capable as I am. They’re going to keep motivating, intimidating and driving students to do their very best, I have no question about that.”

Others hope that the sacrifices the College is making now will be recovered in the next couple of years.

“What will undeniably be lost is the ‘institutional memory’ we represent,” added O’Connor.