mid-career change and early retirement

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Important qualitative changes in thefacuZty may be obtained through increased attention to mid-career change and early retirement program. mid-career change and early retirement car1 v. patton This chapter is drawn from a report on a recently completed project that was supported by the National Science Foundation. The project examined pro- grams in academic institutions, businesses, industry, and government that were specifically designed to encourage early retirement or mid-career change. f i t l y retirement is defined as leaving a position before reaching the age of mandatory retirement with some guarantee of retirement income, either from the institution or from a retirement plan. Early retirement gen- erally takes place no earlier than age fifty-five (although it may occur as late as age sixty-ninewhere retirement is mandatory at age seventy), and it may or may not involve a move to another job. Mid-career change always implies a major shift of responsibility or position, but it does not necessarily involve a change of employer. In other words, moving from one university to another would not be considered mid-career change if one’s responsibilities and posi- tion were no different; however, moving from one department to another within a university might be considered mid-career change. Our major con- cern here it with the role that career change and early retirement programs might play in increasing the performance and vitality of faculty. Readers interested in industry and government programs, the financial and legal details of the options discussed here. or people who have taken those options, are referred to Academia in Transition (Patton, 1978). New Dircctiom for Insthutionid Research, 20.1978 69

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Page 1: Mid-career change and early retirement

Important qualitative changes in the facuZty may be obtained through increased attention to

mid-career change and early retirement program.

mid-career change and early retirement

car1 v. patton

This chapter is drawn from a report on a recently completed project that was supported by the National Science Foundation. The project examined pro- grams in academic institutions, businesses, industry, and government that were specifically designed to encourage early retirement or mid-career change. f i t l y retirement is defined as leaving a position before reaching the age of mandatory retirement with some guarantee of retirement income, either from the institution or from a retirement plan. Early retirement gen- erally takes place no earlier than age fifty-five (although it may occur as late as age sixty-nine where retirement is mandatory at age seventy), and it may or may not involve a move to another job. Mid-career change always implies a major shift of responsibility or position, but it does not necessarily involve a change of employer. In other words, moving from one university to another would not be considered mid-career change if one’s responsibilities and posi- tion were no different; however, moving from one department to another within a university might be considered mid-career change. Our major con- cern here it with the role that career change and early retirement programs might play in increasing the performance and vitality of faculty. Readers interested in industry and government programs, the financial and legal details of the options discussed here. or people who have taken those options, are referred to Academia in Transition (Patton, 1978).

New Dircctiom for Insthutionid Research, 20.1978 69

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interest in career options

Current interest in early retirement and mid-career change programs correlates with the budgetary and manpower problems now threatening many colleges and universities. During the anticipated period of so-called “steady state,” some institutions wil l find that they are able to hire few young professors- the very people they depend on substantially for new ideas and rejuvenation. This problem will be particularly acute for institutions with large percentages of tenured faculty, schools experiencing slow or no growth, and those having few retirements. And it is already compounded at many institutions by other contributing factors, such as the relative youth of the present professorial force. Many professors. recruited en musse during the education boom of the 1950s and 1960s when they were in their late twenties and early thirties, are at least a decade or two away from retirement but may be in fields that are no longer in demand. The problem is further exacerbated by the work histories of some current faculty members. Although most were hired for a variety of purposes- teaching, research, advising students-some of them performed only a few of these tasks until recent retrenchments required them to shoulder more responsibilities. Now some of these faculty are proving unequipped for their new duties, but because the steady state has affected administrative posi- tions too, traditional procedurse are not automatically available: they cannot be simply “kicked upstairs.” Other problems might be addressed by early retirement and mid-career change programs as well. Such arrangements might be uxd to respond to declining enrollments. changes in knowledge, numerical redundancy (too many faculty performing the same tasks), budgetary shortages, the demand for faculty positions for women and minori- ties, and the need for faculty rejuvenation.

Most universities have early retirement provisions as part of their regu- lar retirement plans. Employees who have reached a certain age and who have contributed to the retirement system for a minimum number of yean may begin to draw annuities, but less than they would draw if they retired at the mandatory age. Primarily for financial reasons, few persons retire more than a couple of years early under this option. Thus, institutions have consid- ered increased benefit or incentive early retirement schemes. Under these arrangements, those who elect to retire early are provided increased annuities that are, in some cases, as large as those due them at the mandatory retire- ment age. This incentive is intended to encourage more faculty to retire early and thus release their positions sooner than expected.

Programs to encourage or facilitate mid-career change among faculty have not been as widely implemented among institutions. However, two types of related programs are discussed later in this chapter. These include intern- ship and fellowship programs, which occasionally lead to mid-career change (although this is not their main objective), and programs that retrain faculty members for other disciplines or specialties.

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early retirement in academia

During the growth years of the 1950s and 1960s. few colleges and uni- versities had reason to consider ways to encourage employees to retire early: they were having a difficult time recruiting and retaining them. Most faculty who wanted to stay on after mandatory retirement were permitted to do so. Some universities and colleges still permit extensions beyond mandatory retirement, but in recent years the trend has been toward lower retirement ages and f&er extensions.

In late 1972, the Teachers’ Insurance and Annuity Association of America-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) sent a question- naire to 2,533 colleges and universities in order to obtain information about their early retirement practices (TIAA-CREF, 1973). Among the 1,294 insti- tutions that responded, over fifty reported providing some type of severance payment-including lump sum payments, a year’s salary, a percentage of accrued sick leave, or a contribution to the pension fund to bring the early retirement annuity up to what would have been received at mandatory retire- ment. A reduced workload option was reported by forty-four institutions. They were using this alternative both as an incentive for faculty to enter early retirement gradually and as a way to supplement the incomes of those retiring early at reduced bendit rates. Some institutions also provided fringe benefits, including continued contributions to the pension fund until the mandatory retirement age, as part of this option. Twenty-nine institutions reported pro- grams that provided supplemental monthly retirement income for early retirees. Benefits (beyond those that early retirees would receive anyway) were provided by payments from current operating funds, additional premiums to individual annuities, group annuity arrangements, and special retirement funds and reserves. Other incentives included continued payment into social security, payment of health and life insurance premiums, and continued pen- sion fund contributions until the mandatory retirement age.

About the same time that TIAA-CREF administered its early retire- ment survey, the Ofice of Institutional Analysis at the University of Vir- ginia conducted a similar survey of the forty-eight member institutions of the Association of American Universities (Coolidge and Taylor, 1973). This survey uncovered plans for reducing the mandatory retirement age to sixty- five in about half the institutions. Most of the remaining institutions either already had begun, or were intending to begin, incentive early retirement plans.

A follow-up survey of the University of Virginia sample was conducted in 1975 by the Office of Institutional Studies at the University of Southern California (Tincher, 1976). This survey found that early retirement plans in universities had not changed much since the original study was made. Four universities had begun early retirement programs, but eight had dropped their plans or were using them sporadically.

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early retirement alternatives

Judging from our research, the variations on special incentive early retirement schemes seem unlimited. However, we selected several variations for analysis.

Full Salary Annuity. Institutions offering this alternative pay a steep price to get some of their employees to retire early. During the period between an employee's early retirement and his or her mandatory retirement date, the institution pays a supplement to the regular early retirement benefits, which brings his or her total retirement income to full (or nearly full) salary level. Also, by purchasing a supplemental annuity to take effect on the mandatory retirement date. the institution assures the individual a future retirement income at least equal to what he would have received had he remained employed until the mandatory retirement age.

Seuerance Payment. This alternative means that an organization makes a limited, direct cash payment to an employee who leaves before his mandatory retirement date. This settlement, which is typically a multiple of the employee's annual salary, may be paid in one lump sum or spread out over a year. The employee might also receive an early retirement pension if he is eligible for one under the standard retirement plan.

IndiM'dual-Based Early Annuity. Under this alternative, employees who retire early receive benefits comparable to those they would have received had they retired at the mandatory retirement age and had they received normal (or nearly normal) salary advancements until that age. To accomplish this, the organization supplements the individual's regular early retirement benefits with direct payments. The organization also purchases a supplepen- tal annuity to take effect at the mandatory retirement date, after which the direct payments cease. The difference between this alternative and the full salary annuity is that here the early retirement income is equal to the pro- jected mandatory retirement benefit. not the individual's preretirement salary.

Group-Baed h r l y Annuity. Assuming that the more highly paid employees within a group of individuals of the same age and yean of service are more highly valued, a group-based early annuity might be considered reasonable. This plan is similar to the individual-based early annuity, except that the supplemental benefits provided by the institution both before and after the mandatory retirement age is reached are established in relation to the median projected mandatory age benefits of all employees in the same age-and-service group. Those below the median receive a relatively larger supplement than do those above it. Therefore, the incentive for them to retire is greater than for the higher-paid employees, whom the institution might prefer to retain.

Individual-Based Early Annuity with Partial Employment. As with the individual-based early annuity, this alternative assures the individual a retire- ment income after the mandatory retirement age equal to what he would

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have received had he not retired early. The organization also purchases a sup- plemental annuity to take effect on the mandatory retirement date. But dur- ing the period between early and mandatory retirement, the retiree is retained in a parttime position that supplements his early retirement benefits. There might be an upper limit on compensated employment, say 33 percent or 49 percent, of fulltime work.

Group-Based &rZy Annuity with pbttial Employment. This scheme also pairs parttime employment before the mandatory retirement age with supple- mental benefits after that age. however, both the supplemental employment and the supplemental benefits are calculated in relation to the median pro- jected mandatory age benefits for one's age-and-service group. This alterna- tive could be modified to provide supplemental employment only to those em- ployees whose salaries are above the median, again assuming that they are the employees the organization would most like to retain.

Continued Annuity Contribution. An organization may continue pay- ment into the annuity fund, or otherwise supplement the future annuity of an employee who retires early. Such payment is continued until the mandatory retirement age is reached. Note that under this option the early retiree defers all retirement benefits until he reaches the mandatory retirement age.

Severance Payment with Continued Annuily Contribution. This option is similar to the preceding alternative, but, in addition to the contin- ued annuity payments, the early retiree is provided a severance payment. Under this option the employee may not need to find another job.

Liberalired Benefits Schedule. Under this scheme, the normal benefits schedule for persons electing early retirement would be liberalized, typically through an across-the-board increase of all benefit rates.

Continued Perquisites. Employees retiring early under this alternative would not forfeit certain perquisites-for example, the use of an office, secre- tarial services, photocopying services, health services. and membership in group health and life insurance plans.

evaluation criteria

In order to judge the effectiveness of an early retirement alternative, it is necessary to consider it in relation to a set of evaluation criteria. Seven criteria were derived during our study.

Potential Funds Freed by the Alternative. Will sufficient funds be freed to hire replacement faculty members? How long will thesc funds remain available?

Employee Replacement Rate. Another way to express the amount of funds freed is to translate them into the number of new employees that could be hired with them. One option might free more funds per early retiree, but another option might appeal to more employees and thw free more faculty positions.

Retirement Income and Annuity Level. The level of the retirement annuity is perhaps the most important criterion from the Perspective of the

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potential early retim. Since some of the early retirement options include a parttime employment provision, retirement income and retirement annuity income must be distinguished.

Admintjttcrtive Feasibility. Administrative considerations include the possible need for changes in pension legislation or basic personnel policy, the identification of the source of funds to finance the plan, the delegation of authority to reallocate released funds. and so on.

Legal Feasibility. Any early retirement plan must be designed with an eye to possible legal difficulties. Will the proposed alternative invite charges of discrimination from persons who feel that they are being forced to quit working because of age? Such suits could be brought against an employer under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. How do the alternatives stand in relation to Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974 and to Sections 40S(b) and 415 of the Internal Revenue Code? Specifi- cally, how may supplements be purchased and paid to employees? What are the potential tax problems?

Political Fean'bility. Institutions must recognize potential political difficulties. On the one hand, employee unions and faculty associations may react against an early retirement provision if it appears to infringe on job security. On the other hand, they may support early retirement as an employee bendit. Certain early retirement options might require approval from external sources.

Market Feasibility. Options that include parttime employment provi- sions must also be evaluated in terms of the labor market's ability to absorb program participants. Although an early retiree may not plan to reemploy on a parttime basis, the potential availability of employment may influence his acceptance or rejection of early retirement.

meeting the criteria

Although each institution must develop its own analysis of the pros and cons of various early retirement alternatives. we attempted to evaluate the alternatives presented in this chapter by the criteria just discussed. Table 1 summarizes the degree to which each alternative meets the criteria.

midcareer change alternatives

Alternative careers primarily for untenwed academics have been out- lined in various publications, such as A Guide to Career AIternatives for Academics (Zambrano and Entine. 1976). Our intent was to locate career change programs for tenured faculty members. Such programs would stimulate and facilitate career change by faculty not induced to move to other careers by the threat of unemployment.

In a previous study of mid-life career redirection sponsored by the National Science Foundation, most of the programs described were relevant only for blue-collar and lower-level white-collar occupations (Pascal and

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Tab

le 1

. Sum

mar

y Eva

luat

ion

of E

arly

Ret

irem

ent Options

Cn

len

bn

Pote

ntia

l E

mpl

oyee

R

etir

emen

t A

dmin

irtm

tiw

Le

gal

Polit

ical

M

arke

t O

ptio

n Fu

nds F

reed

R

epla

cem

ent R

ate

Inco

me

Leve

l F

easi

bilit

y F

easi

bilit

y F

easi

bilit

y F

easi

bilit

y

Full

Sala

ry A

nnui

ty

Seve

ranc

e Pay

men

t

Indi

vidu

al-B

ased

Ann

uity

G

roup

-Bas

ed A

nnui

ty

Indi

vidu

al A

nnui

ty w

ith

Part

ial E

mpl

oym

ent

Gro

upB

ased

Ann

uity

w

ith P

artia

l Em

ploy

men

t C

ontin

ued

Paym

ent t

o Em

ploy

ee's

Ann

uity

Se

vera

nce P

aym

ent P

lua

Con

tinue

d Pa

ymen

t to

Ann

uity

L

iber

aliz

ed B

enef

its

Sche

dule

C

ontin

ued

Perq

uisi

tes

LO

W

Med

ium

to H

igh

Med

ium

M

ediu

m

LOW

to M

ediu

m

Med

ium

Hig

h

Med

ium

to H

igh

LO

W

Hig

h pe

r Acc

epta

nce

LO

W

Hig

h

Med

ium

M

ediu

m

LOW

to M

ediu

m

LOW

to M

ediu

m

LO

W

Hig

h

LOW

LO

W

Hig

h

LO

W to

M

ediu

m

Med

ium

M

ediu

m

Hig

h

Hig

h

No In

teri

m

Ann

uity

M

ediu

m

(Litt

le C

hang

e)

Med

ium

(L

ittle

Cha

nge)

M

ediu

m

(Litt

le C

hang

e)

Hig

h

Hig

h

Med

ium

M

ediu

m

Med

ium

Med

ium

Hig

h

Hig

h

LO

W

Hig

h

LO

W

Hig

h

Med

ium

M

ediu

m

Med

ium

Med

ium

Med

ium

Med

ium

Hig

h

Hig

h

LO

W

Med

illm

Med

ium

Lo

w to

M

ediu

m

Med

ium

to

Hig

h M

ediu

m to

H

igh

Med

ium

Hig

h

Hig

h

Hig

h

Not

A

pplic

able

M

ediu

m

Med

ium

M

ediu

m

Low

Low

LO

W

Med

ium

Med

ium

Med

ium

Low

Pro

babi

lity

of A

ccep

tanc

e

Page 8: Mid-career change and early retirement

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others, 1975). One significant carer change endeavor examined in that study involved individuals at an occupational and educational level comparable to that of college professors: the massive layoff of engineers and scientists that occurred when government-financed aerospace efforts were cut back. Find- inga from a study of programs to assist these engineers and scientists showed that retraining programs failed as vehicles for career change and reemploy- ment; information services that directed individuals to alternative job oppor- tunities were more effective (Pascal and others. 1975). This is similar to our finding that programs that bring academics in touch with alternative careers are more likely to effect career change than are overt efforts to encourage such change. (It must be remembered, however, that our finding involves tenured faculty members under no constraint to change careers.)

Institutions have little incentive to become involved in retraining either junior faculty members, whose contracts they can merely choose not to renew, or tenured faculty members. few of whom can be expected to give up secure positions in a contracting job market. Furthermore, a substantial minority of faculty has always moved easily between academic and nonacademic settings. Those who make such moves either require no retrain- ing b e c a w they already possess the skills needed for operating in a new environment or are sufficiently sophisticated about educational opportunities to acquire new skills without intervention by a third party. Although we failed to locate any programs directed toward retraining tenured faculty for differ- ent substantive areas in new work situations, our search did reveal two types of programs relevant to our interests: (1) internship and fellowship programs that sometimes lead to career changes and (2) programs that retrain faculty for work in new academic specialties or disciplines.

Intermhip and Fellowship Progrime

Programs such as the Economic Policy Fellowship of the Brookings Institution and the Congressional Science and Engineering Fellowships of the American Association for the Advancement of Science offer professors oppor- tunities to experiment with new kinds of work in new settings. Although the programs are seldom directed toward career change (their overt goals are the enrichment of the experiences and capabilities of professors and their host organizations) a substantial minority of recipients remains with the host orga- nization or with similar organizations outside the academic world rather than returning to faculty positions.

Since these programs arc generally administered by outside agencies, colleges and universities have little control over the selection of grantees. The selection criteria used by funders and host agencies may be counterproductive from the perspective of institutions that would like to encourage career change. The former may select candidates from among the more creative and promising faculty, while the latter would prefer to encourage career change among the less productive faculty. If this is so, then only institutions inter-

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ested in encouraging gross turnover among faculty should find these programs attractive. However, it is equally possible that the creative people who elect to stay on in new jobs would no longer be as valuable to their former academic departments as they had previously been because of changes in their interests as a result of retraining. In either case, it is unlikely that intern- ship and fellowship programs would be of much help to institutions that want to encourage career change among their least-valued faculty members.

Retraining Programs

The desire to reduce or abolish selected academic programs while maintaining employment commitments to faculty members has prompted several institutions, including the State University System of Florida, the Pennsylvania State Colleges. the State University of New York, and the Uni- versity of Wisconsin, to establish retraining programs. Although the retrained professors remain in the same institutions or systems, such programs do give institutions the flexibility to reallocate resources to more productive w.

Recognizing the declining growth rate of student enrollments in the Florida State University System, the Florida board of regents authorized funds to be used for faculty development or retraining. The funds were intended to help tenured faculty members in departments of declining demand to retrain in areas needing faculty manpower. Retraining grants were made available within the state university system for retrainees' relocation, tuition, and other expenses associated with graduate study. The grantees, selected by campus- wide screening committees, were released from teaching and research duties for two to four quarters. During the retraining period they continued to receive their full salaries, agreeing to return to their universities to teach for at least one year or to repay the university system one half of their salaries during retraining and the full amount of their grants. In return. the universities involved agreed to find them appropriate tenured appointments. In selected cases, the retrainee's institution was provided funds to help pay for a replace- ment faculty member; in other cases. retraining was parttime and spread over more than one academic year. The program operated from 1974 until 1977.

The Pennsylvania State Colleges program operates similarly but with several differences. The program is not limited to tenured faculty members, and retrained faculty members are assured reassignment within their same institutions. Furthermore, funds for expenses other than retrainees' regular salaries are administered by a separate entity- the Pennsylvania State College Educational Services Trust. This program was begun in 1975 and is still operating, though at a reduced scale.

In 1977. the State University of New York (SUNY) adopted faculy retraining as one way to deal with possible layoffs. A program was devised to permit tenured faculty to retrain in fields more in demand than their original fields. Candidates are submitted to the central administration and selected upon recommendation of an advisory committee. Those chosen typically

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spend one Semester in retraining, usually at a state university. They receive their regular salaries, partial support for books and travel, and tuition waivers (if they study in the SUNY system).

The Wisconsin program was launched in 1974 when the university was threatened by possible retrenchment. The program has varied in content and in the number of persons enrolled. Initially, candidates were selected on a person-by-person basis at individual campuses. Now recommendations are made by the campuses and selections are made on a system-wide basis. Trainees are provided salary and tuition, and they usually study for two Semesters in an institution within the state.

During the field stage of our project, only the Florida and Pennsylva- nia programs were actually in operation. The Wisconsin program had only one person engaged in retraining, and the SUNY program had not yet begun. Our analysis of the Florida and Pennsylvania programs revealed a number of issues important both to institutions that might enact similar programs and to individuals who might participate in them.

Issues in Faculty Retraining. 1. Financing. Very little new funding is involved because the major

cost is in retrainees’ salaries, which continue to be paid out of regular budgets. This may appear to be a straightforward solution to the funding problem, but it may also affect the willingness of institutions, schools. and departments to participate in programs with their own resources. However, if a position is slated for elimination, little is lost by temporarily allocating funds to retraining. Indeed, there may be a net gain in morale among faculty within affected departments.

2. Program Content. The focus of retraining in these programs varies from preparation for an allied specialty within the same discipline to training for an entirely new, unrelated discipline. In some cases advanced degrees are earned, but this is not always a program goal. The content of retraining programs is worked out on an ad hoc basis for each participant.

3. Application and Selection Process. The programs we studied began with centralized application and screening procedures but now rely on campus-based initial screening. In each case, participating units perceive a benefit in retaining some degree of local autonomy in the selection of partici- pants; nevertheless, the prerogative of a central authority to allocate resources and approve lower-level decisions has been retained.

Under some circumstances, interest in the retraining program depends on position within the system. For example, a department may be indifferent to retraining decisions if it is slated to lose positions in any case. Or an institu- tion within a system may oppose retraining if it operates with a fmed faculty allocation and if participation in retraining means having some faculty mem- bers on leave with pay. But a system’s central office may favor retraining because the additional costs are small and the prospect of increased future productivity is attractive.

The programs formally receive applications from interested individuals, but third parties often begin the process by encouraging particu-

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lar individuals to apply. This “encouragement” sometimes has consisted of notice that one’s position is to be abolished.

4. Placement. Generally, candidates for retraining are selected only if a new placement has already been negotiated for them. Sometimes, though, details about joint appointments, courses to be taught, seniority, and so forth, remain unsettled even after the major decisions about retraining and place- ment have been made. These are potential trouble spots. When a person may join a department only with its consent, as ia the case in most academic institutions, some mechanism for negotiating transfers of faculty membm must be worked out. Such programs are appealing in concept, but one over- riding question remains: Does any institution have the incentive to pay for these efforts? Just as business and industry see little benefit in financing pro- grams that would retrain workers for employment elsewhere, current university- based programs tend to be internal efforts; retrained professors continue to work within their former institutions. Where would institutions obtain the funds to support programs that would retrain faculty for careers in business and industry? It seems unlikely that colleges and universities wi l l use their own resources for that purpose. Obviously, encouraging academics to retrain in mid-career will be a formidable task. Not only have early experimenters found it difficult to attract faculty to retraining programs, but, as we have seen, the arrangements may be difficult to finance, and there may be status problems as well.

principal findings

The study from which this overview is taken examined a number of issues in retirement and retraining not able to be discussed hem. Our findings are outlined below.

early retirement

The belief that there is a large bulge in the age distribution of Ameri- can academics in the 50-60 age range, and that this is an opportunity for extensive early retirement, was not supported by examination of national data and selected institutional data. Faculty age tends toward a normal distri- bution, with greater concentrations at the younger ages. Although specific institutions and specific disciplines may have different age distributions, and therefore may be exceptions, early retirement is not a way to create sizeable quantitative changes in the number of available faculty positions.

Although early retirement is unlikely to open up many academic posi- tions, it can have significant qualitative impact in selected institutions and departments, by permitting a small number of important new appointments, by facilitating the departure of a few individuals who desire to leave, and by creating a climate in which career options are broadened.

Academic institutions have relatively little experience with incentive early retirement programs. A number of institutions which have formal

0

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programs have actually retired only a few individuals. As might be expected, an incentive early retirement program will have different consequences for different institutions, depending upon their salary scales, the age distribution of their faculty, the accumulated years of service credit of the faculty, the amount of funds accumulated in pension accounts, and so on.

Interviews with incentive early retirees from four universities and two corporations revealed that half of thew “early” retirees had retired at age sixty-five or older. Most of the early retirees had retired an average of four to five years More the mandatory retirement age. But long-range planning for early retirement is rare; 58 percent of those interviewed said they had not begun thinking seriously about early retirement until they were within four years of actually retiring.

The principal reasons given for choosing early retirement were, in order of frequency: financial feasibility (61 percent), a desire to pursue other interests (49 percent), and loss of interest in or fatigue from work (49 per- cent). Among those interviewed, the availability of the special incentive to retire was most often mentioned by the youngest retirees (ages fifty-five to fifty-nine), which was also the group most likely to mention dissatisfaction with their work or with their organization as a reason for leaving. Nearly all those interviewed expressed satisfaction with the decision to retire early, most expressing the feeling that they were financially well-off. In fact, 84 percent claimed to have experienced no change in their standard of living after retire- ment.

midtareer change

We found no academic retraining programs aimed at preparing pro- fessors for nonacademic employment. There are, however. a number of academic institutions that have initiated retraining programs for tenured faculty members with the intent of moving them out of low-demand special- ties into high-demand specialties within the same institutions or systems of institutions. These programs, in principle, reallocate existing resources in a more efficient manner. although they do not necessarily open new positions for younger academics. The following points emerged from our study of these programs.

1. The principal institutional expense was the retrainee’s salary; this was financed from the retrainee’s regular budget line. Thus, the cost was born principally by the retrainee’s home department, school, or institution. In a few instances additional funds were allo- cated for a portion of the cost of a replacement faculty member.

2. The retrainee received reimbursement for the major costs of under- taking the retraining program, such as tuition, fees, and moving expenses.

3. Problems attendant upon shifting an individual from one specialty to another were related to the “academic distance” moved. Move- ment to another specialization within the same discipline or profes-

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sional field was relatively easy, but shifts involving a change of department or school encountered more resistance. Such moves also gave rise to issues of status and seniority.

4. Faculty members who were retrained were virtually unanimous in their approval of such programs, in spite of significant hardship endured by many of them in the process.

A number of academics who take part in internship and fellowship programs that involve a period of work in a nonacademic setting choose to remain in the host organization or in a related nonacademic setting. This includes tenured faculty members. Though career change is not the principal intent of such internship and fellowship programs, they nevertheless perform this function. However, we found no business and industry programs of career retraining for high-level technical or managerial personnel persons considered to be of occupational and educational levels comparable to faculty members.

conclusion

Institutions may find advantages to increased benefits early retirement plans. While this scheme alone will not dramatically change the nature and composition of an institution’s faculty or save a great deal of money, it may permit a few important replacements. For a modest expense, several poor performers could be encouraged to leave, thus permitting the hiring of new faculty members during times when staff additions would not otherwise be possible. Furthermore, incentive early retirement could make it possible for some individuals who want to retire early to obtain the financial means to do so. Saving money should not be the primary reason for adopting an early retirement scheme, but if an institution wants to make a few qucrlitatiue adjustments, early retirement can help.

Mid-career change is another story. Institutional programs for faculty retraining are a recent development, and it is yet unclear what their effects might be. Again, it may be that programs to encourage mid-career change would be useful in making a few important adjustments but would not induce dramatic changes in the faculty.

Each institution considering an induced early retirement or mid- career change option should examine such variables as its current faculty age composition by field, its tenure-granting rates, and its outmigration rates and use these findings to calculate the potential impacts of various mid-camr change and early retirement options. An institution may find that its staffing problems will be ameliorated by the natural aging of the faculty during the next five to ten years, or it may find that one of the options would indeed be useful and worth its cost.

ref ecences

Coolidge, H. E., and Taylor, A. L. Considtrorion for Faculty Retirement PolicicJ in a Steady-State Condition: A Report to the Provost. Charlottde: Office of Institu- tional Analysis, University of Virginia, 1973.

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Pascal, A. H., and others. An Eualution of Policy-Related Research on Rogmnu for Mid-LYe Career Redirection. Vol. 1 and 2. Santa Monica, Calif.: Rand Corpora- tion, 1975.

Patton, C. V. Rcademka in Tramition: Mid-Career Change or Early Retirement. Cambridge, Mass.: Abt Associates, 1978.

TIAA-CREF. Survey of Eorly Retirement Aoctices of Colleges and Universities. New York: Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America-College Retirement Equitiea Fund, 1973.

Tincher, V. Early Retkement Plans in Higher Education. Los Angela: Office of Insti- tutional Studies, University of Southern California, 1976.

Zambrano, A. L., and Entine, A. D. A Guide to Career Altemutives for Academics. New Rochelle, N.Y.: Change Magazine Press, 1976.

Carl V. Patton is associate professor of urban and regional planning and director of the Bureau of Planning Research at the Universilj of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Hir other work in educational policy includes an examination of the producttidy of academics who engage in paid consulting and extended university education.