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Important: If a faculty member is retiring 8/15 and returning 8/16 under either a Phased Retirement Agreement or Modified Service, additional processes are required. See FA/APS ServiceNow > Knowledge > Changes to Faculty Employment > Process Guide for Phased Retiree and Modified Service Appointments.

Retirement categories

Full retirement: A retiree is any tenured faculty member who voluntarily terminates employment with the university and who meets the service requirements for retirement under the Teacher Retirement System or the Optional Retirement Program. TRS & ORP Overview PDF provides a comparison of the two plans. Any UT employee can view their retirement plan type and other details in Workday - go to the “Benefits Dashboard” app on the Workday home page.
Phased retirement: Phased retirement refers to reduced appointments in teaching, service, and/or scholarship to assist an individual in preparing for full retirement. A post-retirement contract is entered into for up to three years. A tenured faculty member who officially retires maintains a part-time (50% or 25%) term appointment without tenure until the expiration of the contract. See COE: Phased Retirement.
Modified service: The Board of Regents may appoint a faculty member who has retired to modified service. Recommendation for and appointment to modified service shall be made only if the individual's service will significantly benefit the university. Appointment to modified service is without tenure, limited to half-time, and spans no more than one academic year. See COE: Retired-Active Faculty > Modified Service.

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Retirement process

Instructions for the retiring faculty member

Contact the Human Resource Service Center via the HRSC HR Portal to confirm eligibility to retire.
Complete all steps on the Human Resources Pre-Retirement Checklist.
1. Note that either the TRS Notice of Retirement or ORP Declaration of Retirement (depending on the faculty member’s retirement plan) must be submitted in order for HR to begin retirement processing. Links to both forms are included at step 4 of the Pre-Retirement Checklist.
Submit either a letter or email to department chair stating intent to retire. Include the proposed effective retirement date. Standard retirement dates are 5/15 or 8/15. Health insurance remains active through the end of the month.
The department chair must officially accept the retirement in writing through either an email or letter. The acceptance must confirm the effective retirement date. Letters should be signed and dated.
Copies of the retirement letter and department chair’s acceptance should be shared with the following:
1. Department Administrative Manager and/or Academic HR Partner
2. COE Faculty Affairs
3. All other departments or centers where the faculty member has concurrent appointments, including courtesy or zero percent time appointments.
If faculty member is eligible for Medicare, they must apply for both Medicare parts A and B prior to retirement date.
Prior to their retirement date, faculty who wish to retain access to their UT email account should submit a help ticket to ITO. See UT systems and email access for retirees on this page.
Prior to the last day of employment, review both Eligibility to serve on graduate committees and Systems access for retirees on this page, and take any necessary action. Please keep in mind that these are time-sensitive.
If faculty member wishes to be considered for emeritus status, they should notify their chair and department Administrative Manager. Please keep in mind that the nomination process typically takes several months to complete.
To ensure that any University communications are received, it is important that both current and former employees keep their contact information current in Workday. Instructions on updating contact information are available at Edit Personal Information - WIG.

Instructions for administrative staff

Before beginning, review EVPP: Faculty Retirement for guidance and Workday processing instructions.
Once HR has received and processed the faculty member’s TRS or ORP form, the “Retirement” reason code will become available in the Workday termination process for that faculty member.
Review and complete relevant steps at COE: Termination and Offboarding - Faculty > Termination process.
For terminations due to retirement, the Workday BP will route to Benefits for review of retirement information, and then to APS for final approval.

Problem: While processing a termination business process in Workday with reason of "retirement," you receive the error "This termination reason is only available for employees pre-approved for retirement. Please contact HRSC via the HRSC HR Portal or via email at HRSC@austin.utexas.edu."

Solution: Either a) the prospective retiree has not yet submitted the necessary paperwork to central HR, or b) central HR has not yet processed their paperwork.

Contact the Benefits Office about paperwork status via the HRSC HR Portal.

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Insurance for retired faculty

See HR: Retiree Insurance Overview and HR: Change of Status for Retirees.

For 9-month faculty, retirement effective dates should align with Workday academic semester dates: 12/31 (end of fall), 5/15 (end of spring), or 8/15 (end of summer). Summer benefits eligibility is matched to benefits status for the immediately preceding spring semester.

If a faculty member retires effective 5/15, they will retain active employee benefits through 5/31. If they retire effective 8/15, they will retain active employee benefits through 8/31 whether they hold a Summer Additional Job or not.

Note that for faculty retiring effective 8/15 and returning to work 8/16 via Phased Retirement Agreement or Modified Service, additional administrative processes are required in order to retain benefits eligibility. For Phased Retirees, these additional processes are handled by APS; for Modified Service, these processes are the responsibility of the department Academic HR Partner.

Retiring faculty should contact the Benefits Section of Human Resource Services prior to retiring to discuss their insurance options.

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Eligibility to serve on graduate committees

See Graduate School: Advancing to Doctoral Candidacy > Forming the Dissertation Committee.

Retired faculty who have been nominated or granted emeritus status and who were members of the GSC upon retirement may request continued membership on the GSC with approval of the Dean of Graduate Studies. Such requests should be accompanied by the recommendation of the appropriate GSC, and be submitted to the graduate school by the GSC chair. If approved, the continued membership will be reviewed annually.

Such faculty may serve on student committees as a GSC member or as a co-supervisor, but may not serve as a sole supervisor.

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UT systems and email access for retirees

Email

See Microsoft 365: What happens after I leave the University?.

Prior to their retirement date, faculty planning to retire and who wish to retain access to their UT email after retirement should submit a help ticket to COE ITO at help@education.utexas.edu. ITO is unable to manage retiree email mailboxes but can work with University ITS to ensure a smooth transition and assist with questions and concerns.