Phased Retirement

Purpose:

To describe the College of Liberal Arts policies and procedures for initiating and executing a phased retirement contract on behalf of a faculty member.

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. As differentiated from Modified Service.

Associate Dean: For purposes of this article, refers to the Associate Dean for Academic and Faculty Affairs.

APS: Academic Personnel Services; an area of the Provost's Office that oversees faculty appointment processes & other related matters for UT.

Process:

Faculty member notifies Department Chair of interest in phased retirement.
Department Chair:
1. Reviews HOP 2-2420 on Phased Retirement, refers faculty member to the HOP, and reviews the HOP with the faculty member to ensure responsibilities and procedures are understood
2. Refers faculty member to the university’s general retirement checklist
Department Chair contacts the Associate Dean to request phased retirement for the faculty member. In particular, the Chair will need to be prepared to make the case as to why granting phased retirement for the faculty member is in the best interests of the university.
Department Chair notifies faculty member of discussion's outcome.
1. Additional negotiation among faculty member, Department Chair, and Associate Dean, may occur, as necessary.
Once faculty member decides to proceed with request, they should complete the contract template (Attachment A from HOP 2-2420, at the bottom).
Three items should be submitted via the Faculty Separations Portal for COLA HR review (items 1 & 2 may be combined in a single document):
1. Draft contract;
2. Department Chair approval;
3. Associate Dean approval.
COLA HR will review the draft and return to the department with any changes.
The faculty member should sign the contract, and then the signed contract should be uploaded to the Faculty Separations Portal, along with the memo from the department chair including acknowledgement of:
1. the faculty member’s request for phased retirement;
2. the faculty member’s submission of the signed agreement; and
3. the effective date of the phased retirement contract (normally 8/16 of the following academic year).
COLA HR processes request in Service Now, which will route via the chair and associate dean for final approval by the Provost’s Office.
Meanwhile, the faculty member should proceed with their retirement plans, following the steps of the UT pre-retirement checklist.
The next Workday process varies, depending on the intended start date of the phased retirement agreement:
1. If the faculty member intends to separate at the end of an academic year (8/15), beginning their phased retirement in a new academic year (8/16):
  1. Because retirement dates are always the last day end of a month, APS will initiate a Change Job effective 8/16 to reduce faculty member’s SWH to align with the FTE on the approved phased retirement agreement (usually 20SWH) from 8/16 to 8/31.
    1. If faculty member has an endowed salary supplement continuing into the phased retirement period, the compensation amount would be adjusted proportionally.
  2. Once the Change Job approves, APS will process the Termination BP for the faculty member, effective 8/31, with reason of “Retirement.”
2. If the faculty member intends to separate at the end of the calendar year (Fall semester), 12/31, beginning their phased retirement on 1/1:
  1. The Department Manager (or delegate) processes the separation (Termination BP) in Workday, following normal separation procedures, and provides additional assistance to the faculty member as necessary.
Once the Termination>Retirement BP is approved, APS initiates the Phased Retirement Hire BP in Workday, (effective 9/1 or 1/1) according to the terms of the approved phased retirement contract.

At the end of the phased retirement contract:

The department processes faculty member's final separation in Workday at end of phased retirement contract (Reason: End of assignment).
Note: if the faculty member has been awarded an Emeritus title, the Termination step must be final-approved before the Emeritus assignment can be processed. (See also Emeritus)
Note: Amendments to phased contract appointment dates require special handling. If a faculty member wishes to change their contract dates (i.e., end the agreement early), contact COLA HR and also refer to the Provost guidance on faculty retirement.

Note on Governance:

Departments may choose to require governing body review of faculty phased retirement requests. Department governance documents should specify whether phased retirement requests are reviewed by the department chair only or the department chair and the faculty governance committee.

Points of emphasis:

One of the most important things for faculty seeking phased retirement: They ought to proactively initiate their retirement process with Central HR. Faculty often lack awareness that phased retirement involves at least two distinct steps that must happen sequentially: 1) formal retirement, and then 2) re-hire into a phased-retiree job.
- Delays and complications most often occur from issues on the retirement end of things, rather than on the phased retirement contract side.
The key department responsibilities are
- To read the HOP on phased retirement and ensure communications with the faculty member comply with the requirements set forth in the HOP.
- Follow up with the faculty member to ensure the formal retirement process is underway.
- Ensure the draft contract, along with chair and associate dean approvals, are submitted to COLA HR for review.

Policies:

COLA faculty will be approved for phased retirement contracts only following careful consideration by the dean, and only when a request is demonstrated to be in the college’s best interest.
Phased retirement requests in excess of one-year contracts will be considered in exceptional circumstances only.
HOP 2-2420 Modified Service and Phased Retirement