Seventy-seven faculty members could retire early this semester in return for a lump sum payment equal to their yearly salary.
The Voluntary Separation and Retirement Incentive Program is currently being offered by two colleges and the ASU Libraries, and will enable the academic units to recruit new faculty that could be paid at lower wages, an official said.
The Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, the Mary Lou Fulton Institute and Graduate College of Education, and the libraries are conducting the program, which began Jan. 19 and will end on Friday.
“We thought this was an opportune time to give those institutes the option of this [retirement incentive] program,” said Mark Searle, vice president for academic personnel.
Last year, the Herberger and Mary Lou Fulton Institutes eliminated and merged schools that saved the University an estimated $2.7 million. The ASU Libraries are also putting greater emphasis on electronic collections and services.
“[The program] gives the University the chance to rebalance its skill sets,” said Kevin Salcido, chief human resources director.
Searle said the program enables the schools and libraries to replace their senior faculty with junior faculty, who will be paid lower wages.
However, not all replacements will be junior faculty members, he said, and new senior professors might be hired.
“Some, not all, will be less expensive,” Searle said.
Eligible faculty members are those who are at least 60 years old, in senior positions and have been employed by the University for 10 or more years. Those approved for the program will be given a one-time payment equal to their yearly salary.
“It gives faculty who might be contemplating retirement an incentive to do that,” Searle said.
According to a University fact sheet, 77 out of 304 faculty members from the three academic units are eligible for the program.
In fall 2003, an identical retirement program was offered to faculty University-wide. Approximately 80 people participated in that program, Searle said.
The number of participants for the c urrent program will not be available until at least Friday — the last day that eligible faculty members can turn in paperwork. They are then given seven days to withdraw from the program following Friday’s deadline, Searle said.
Gerald Tomek of the Education Business Office said the decision to retire is a personal one and depends on a person’s current situation.
The incentive, however, is appealing, he said.
“I wouldn’t mind it,” Tomek said.
Reach the reporter at kjdaly@asu.edu
