With the average age of faculty members going up and the number of students expected to go down, many colleges are encouraging professors to retire. That is not a universal urge--in some regions of the country, like the Southwest, colleges anticipate rising enrollments, and in some disciplines, like nursing, skilled faculty members are in short…

This article reports on the University of North Carolina's "phased-retirement" plan, which lets professors formally ease their way into retirement. The challenges of personnel planning in the North Carolina system, made tougher when higher education was stripped of a mandatory retirement age 14 years ago, have lessened because the…

Something is wrong with tenure, and one needs to make it right. Abolishing it is not feasible, but it doesn't mean that one shouldn't at least consider changing some of the ways that tenure works. In this article, the author proposes that a better way to change tenure is to offer an implied contract of about 30 years. A 30-year contract would…

Using the example of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, discusses how the economic downturn is prompting states and university systems to offer faculty members big incentives to retire, raising questions about effects on the quality of teaching. Includes a sidebar on other prominent retirees. (EV)

Higher education's largest pension companies and others involved in the faculty retirement fund market can expect to face questioning about their investment policies and long-term performance. The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association and College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) have been sharply criticized for their investment strategies…

Harvard University has found that insuring its retiring faculty for long-term health care was too expensive, blocking implementation of its planned benefits program and potentially affecting the planning of many colleges. (MSE)

An expected wave of retirements has some institutions stockpiling professors by hiring them before openings occur, while many colleges and universities worry about the dwindling supply of high-quality faculty candidates. (MSE)

New federal tax law requiring employees to pay taxes on a large sum of money at one time rather than over the course of retirement makes college retirement "buyout plans" no longer feasible and hampers colleges' efforts to thin faculty ranks after the uncapping of the mandatory retirement age. (MSE)

A second court decision supporting the payment of equal retirement pensions to men and women through the Teachers Insurance Annuities Association and College Retirement Equities Fund for retirees, effective after May 1, 1980, is discussed. This federal appeals court decision allows limited retroactivity. (MSE)

The University of California at Los Angeles has established an association for professors emeriti, their spouses, and surviving spouses that provides a setting and structure for continued participation in university life, including benefits such as office space, parking, and other campus privileges and a forum for communicating with the…

Federal legislation effective in 1994 bars colleges and universities from forcing tenured faculty to retire at age 70. Reactions of unions and professional associations, a required study of the law's impact, and a related measure requiring institutions to continue contributions to pension plans of over-65 workers are discussed. (MSE)

A federal report predicts the end of mandatory retirement for professors will not clog the system with unproductive scholars and will only affect a few research universities. It also concludes that, if federal agencies help colleges prepare, Congress should not continue to exempt tenured professors from the law beyond 1993. (MSE)

The pension-issues committee of the Higher Education Secretariat has issued a report backing an earlier proposal to permit college employees to withdraw more of their accumulated funds at the time of retirement as a one-time funds-transfer benefit, but dropping a call for potential withdrawal at any point during a career. (MSE)

The opinion of a three-judge panel in a court case involving the validity of gender-based mortality tables and the right of women to receive equal pensions from the Teachers Insurance Annuities Association and the College Retirement Equities Fund is presented, including references to the earlier, related Norris case. (MSE)

Colleges are both concerned about the effects of lifting the mandatory faculty retirement lid and interested in retaining the services of valued faculty. As a result, many are offering retiring teachers perquisites such as office and laboratory space, secretarial services, and opportunities to teach and advise part-time. (MSE)