Scope

Policy Statement

Faculty - Tenured Faculty Voluntary Phased Retirement Program Description

An optional voluntary retirement program is being offered to eligible Syracuse University ("University") tenured faculty members that will provide opportunities for a phased approach to retirement for those who prefer a gradual transition to a date certain full retirement. It permits them to phase down their work expectations in the final years of their career. It responds to the expressed desires of many faculty members to move into retirement gradually, and it enables departments and schools and colleges to plan for the replacement of faculty members in advance of their actual full retirement.

The Voluntary Phased Retirement Program will accomplish a number of important goals:

• It addresses a commonly expressed desire for "gradual retirement."
• It supports the retirement of eligible faculty members at an age they individually consider appropriate for them.
• It permits orderly faculty planning within academic units and the transition to new faculty during the phase-down period.
• It is sufficiently flexible to meet a variety of circumstances. ? It conforms to legal requirements and sound management principles.
• It has modest costs for the University.

ELIGIBILITY

A full-time tenured faculty member is eligible to participate in the Voluntary Phased Retirement Program if, as of the date his or her phased retirement would commence under the Voluntary Phased Retirement Program, he or she is at least 55 years of age and has completed at least 10 academic years of full-time employment at the University (as specified in payroll records maintained by the University). As an exception to the preceding sentence, a tenured faculty member who is serving in an administrative position or as a department chairperson is ineligible to participate in the Voluntary Phased Retirement Program while performing such service (the Vice Chancellor and Provost for Academic Affairs reserves the right, in appropriate situations deemed to be in the best interests of the University, to disregard this exception with respect to a faculty member as long as the faculty member otherwise satisfies the eligibility requirements in the preceding sentence).

PARTICIPATION AND COMPENSATION

1. Phase-Down Period Eligible faculty members may elect to take a reduced work load over a period of one year to three years (the phase-down period), followed by full retirement at the end of the phase-down period.

2. Work Load During the Phase-Down Period Eligible faculty members may elect to reduce their normal work load to a maximum of 1/2 time or as little as ¼ time over the phase-down period they elect. The reduced work load may be a constant fraction of the normal full-time work over the phase-down period, such as ½ time each semester for three academic years, or the work load may decrease, such as ½ time in year one, and ¼ time in year two.

3. Compensation and Benefits Compensation will be proportionate to work load. For example, an eligible faculty member with a half-time academic year appointment would be compensated by a salary equal to 50% of his or her regular academic year base salary. Participants will continue to be eligible for annual merit salary increases.

   Participants will be eligible for benefits under the University's benefit plans (including the University's contribution of 11 percent of eligible earnings under the University's TIAA-CREF Noncontributory Retirement Plan) to the extent provided by the terms of those plans and to the extent the participants continue to pay any applicable contributions for such benefits. In the isolated situations where a highly compensated participant is ineligible for a University benefit, the participant will (a) be notified by the University's Phased Retirement Coordinator of that fact prior to participating in the Voluntary Phased Retirement Program, (b) be informed of options that might be available with respect to restructuring the proposed phased retirement arrangement in order to avoid such ineligibility, and (c) if such restructuring is either not possible or is not desired by the participant, will be provided with a cash payment equal to the amount the University would have contributed for such a benefit during the applicable year(s) of phased retirement. Participants who have attained age 59 ½ may, prior to their retirement, elect to commence receipt of their benefits under the University's TIAA-CREF plans if they satisfy the applicable requirements of those plans.

4. Procedure for Participation All eligible faculty must make an election to participate in the Voluntary Phased Retirement Program by the October 15 preceding the fall semester in which they intend to begin the phase down, or by the February 15 preceding the spring semester in which they intend to begin the phase down.

   An eligible faculty member interested in participating in the Voluntary Phased Retirement Program must make a transition appointment proposal to his or her dean, and work with the dean to develop a mutually agreeable transition appointment and set of duties for one to three years leading to a date certain full retirement. The dean will consult, as appropriate, with the faculty member's department chairperson or program chairperson. Eligible faculty members with joint appointments between two or more colleges must receive approval from each of the deans.

   A dean may disapprove or alter a proposed transition appointment based on legitimate institutional need. Denial or alteration of a faculty member's proposed transition appointment by the dean, to which the faculty member objects, is subject to review by the Vice Chancellor and Provost for Academic Affairs ("Vice Chancellor"). A final determination of whether a disapproval or an alteration of a proposed transition appointment is based on legitimate institutional need will be made by the Vice Chancellor. Examples of legitimate institutional need are such situations as the unavailability of another person to offer a particular required course, or the need for the individual's exclusive expertise for an externally funded research grant.

   In order to participate in the Voluntary Phased Retirement Program, an eligible faculty member must complete a Voluntary Phased Retirement Agreement.

   When a transition appointment has been agreed to by the eligible faculty member and the dean, the faculty member's Voluntary Phased Retirement Agreement will be forwarded to the Vice Chancellor for processing (the Vice Chancellor will provide a copy of the Voluntary Phased Retirement Agreement to the Phased Retirement Coordinator). The Phased Retirement Coordinator will review the Voluntary Phased Retirement Agreement for any benefit ineligibility issues. If no such issues are identified, the Phased Retirement Coordinator and the Vice Chancellor will sign the Voluntary Phased Retirement Agreement. If the Phased Retirement Coordinator identifies any benefit ineligibility issues, he will consult with the eligible faculty member and the dean regarding possible restructuring and/or cash payment options. An eligible faculty member's Voluntary Phased Retirement Agreement must be signed by the faculty member, the faculty member's dean, the Vice Chancellor, and the Phased Retirement Coordinator in order for it to be final and binding.

ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS

The Voluntary Phased Retirement Program is effective as of January 1, 2003. The University reserves the right to amend or terminate the Voluntary Phased Retirement Program at such time(s) as it deems appropriate.

Policy Administration

• Human Resources

Date: July 2005