Voluntary Separations (Resignation and Retirement)

Purpose:

To outline the process for what to do when faculty voluntarily leave university employment.

Relevant Definitions:

Phased Retirement: a post-retirement arrangement whereby a faculty member is hired into a part-time, non-tenure track appointment, under conditions agreed to in a formal contract. (See Phased Retirement)

Resignation: when a faculty member voluntarily decides to terminate their employment relationship with the University, generally because they plan to work elsewhere; e.g., accepted a faculty position at another university or pursuing a different career.

Retirement: when a faculty member would like to end their career at UT, has met specific eligibility requirements set by the Optional Retirement Program (ORP) or Teacher Retirement System (TRS), and voluntarily decides to terminate their employment relationship with the University.

There are situations where a faculty member may say that they are retiring, but they do not meet university retirement eligibility or they do not intend to retire with university benefits; in such cases, the separation will be processed as a Resignation in Workday.

Return Rule: A requirement related to certain research-related faculty awards (e.g., FDLs, CSEFs, and SFAs), and specified in the award letter, in which a faculty member is released from teaching but remains on the instructional budget. Specifies that when the faculty member’s award period is over, they will return to their normal FTE appointment at UT Austin for a required amount of time, typically for one academic year following the completion of their award, or they will be required to re-pay the amount of salary provided by the award.

Staff: The staff employee (or employees) in a department (or other academic unit employing faculty) responsible for handling faculty HR matters; typically in a department this is the department manager.

COLA: College of Liberal Arts; specifically the Dean’s Office. COLA HR is the dean’s office human resources team.

EVPP: The Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost, a.k.a., the Provost’s Office; specifically the offices that are involved in faculty HR and related matters.

End Job: Workday business process (BP) used to end an additional job.

Termination: Workday business process (BP) used to end someone’s employment at UT.

Dates: "Retirement" versus "Termination":

When a faculty member indicates they are planning to retire, you will want to be certain they have clearly differentiated between the last date they will be working for UT (termination) and the first date of their retirement (retirement effective date).
Retirement dates are driven by benefits, and benefits continue throughout the entire month in which an employee works, regardless of when within that month the employee separates from the university.
Termination date = the date which the employee separates from the university. In other words, the date after which the person will no longer be an active employee.
With the academic year now ending 8/15, faculty retiring will usually be terminated 8/15, but the faculty member’s retirement would not be effective until 9/1.

Process:

(Ideally) Faculty member provides department initial, informal notice, of intent to separate from university; as courtesy, department shares this information with COLA HR.
1. If retiring, Faculty member ensures all university pre-retirement requirements have been satisfied, and the University’s Human Resources office has confirmed faculty member is retirement eligible (see pre-retirement checklist).
2. Staff should help check to see if separating faculty member has an unfilled return rule owed to the University (typically following a research leave, such as an FDL or CSEF).
  1. If a return rule exists, should notify chair.
  2. If uncertain if this applies, can double-check with COLA HR.
Faculty member provides department chair written notice of intent to separate from the University and specifies their final date of employment, typically the last day of an academic semester or the last day of the academic year, though this can vary.
1. Notification can be in email, or email attachment, or letter; the important part is to have documentation from the employee that they will be leaving UT employment as of a specific date.
2. Best practice: Whenever possible, it is best for a faculty member’s separation to align with an academic calendar end date to minimize disruptions to teaching assignments and related workload matters. Standard end dates would include December 31 (end of Fall term), May 15 (end of Spring term) or August 15 (end of academic year).
  1. If a faculty member separates in the summer (between May 16 and August 15), and are not working or being paid for work during the summer, then they can choose any day they want, following the HR Date Checker rules.
  2. This is not intended to suggest that Staff or a Chair should dictate separation dates. Rather, it is typically most convenient for all parties when voluntary separations align with the end of a long semester (or the academic year), so if there is flexibility or indecision expressed, it would make sense to steer towards a standard end date.
    1. COLA HR can help sort through potential implications of different end dates for an individual faculty member, if helpful, though the HR Service Center should be consulted for employee retirement and/or benefits questions.
3. Tip: Sometimes a person’s words can be interpreted in more than one way. If there is any possibility of confusion, please seek clarification in writing from the faculty member.
  1. Example: “I will be retiring effective January 1, 2026.” This could mean either
    1. they want January 1 to be their first day of retirement, or
    2. they want January 1 to be their last day on UT payroll.
    3. This distinction is critical when it comes to determination of the employee’s benefits and to ensuring that the person’s separation is processed correctly.
Department chair responds in writing to faculty member accepting the separation and specifying the effective date of the separation (e.g., “I accept your retirement and acknowledge that your last date of UT employment will be August 15, 2026."). Chair ensures Staff receives copies of these communications.
Staff uploads the documentation for the resignation/notice of retirement and chair acceptance to the Faculty Separations portal--or forwards to COLA HR--as soon as available.
1. There are many university processes affected by faculty separations and many that COLA/EVPP need to know about (when possible or applicable) far in advance of when the Termination BP can be processed in Workday (e.g., course schedule, Budget, review schedules, salary adjustments, etc.).
Staff ensures no additional Workday processes are needed for the faculty member prior to their separation date (e.g., a summer job), and processes Termination in Workday no more than 90 days prior to effective (separation) date, attaching the faculty member’s written notice and chair’s acceptance to the BP.
1. If a faculty member has more than one job in Workday, all additional (+) jobs will need End Jobs processed prior to Termination BP.
2. If the separating faculty member has active sponsored projects at UT, Staff will need to gather information about what is happening with those awards in order to complete the Faculty Termination Questionnaire* in Workday.
If faculty member has accrued any unused paid time off that requires payout at separation (such as floating holiday hours), the department staff Absence Partner(s) will receive notification of Time Balances Required to Pay and will need to follow the process for Payouts at Separation.

Related policies:

HOP 2-2420: Modified Service and Phased Retirement for Faculty

Regents Rule 30301: Employment of Retirees

Faculty Separations

Voluntary Separations (Resignation and Retirement)

Purpose:

Relevant Definitions:

Process:

Related policies:

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