Faculty Council: Proposed early retirement incentive could be greater

The Faculty Council likes the idea of a proposed early retirement incentive, but says the offer would be a bigger success with a greater financial benefit.

The council on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution initiated by the council's budget committee, a response to a proposed early retirement incentive for tenured faculty. E. Jill Pollock, senior associate vice president and chief human resources officer, presented her review of the university's early retirement programs at last month's Faculty Council meeting.

"We were very pleased with the general tone of what they were trying to do," said Mark Malone, chair of the budget committee. "This (resolution) is just a recommendation to the people working on this."

Malone said the committee recommended a "richer tool" than the proposed offer of two years' base salary to be paid over five years after a retirement date agreed upon by the faculty member and university administration. Though the amount paid ultimately would depend on what each campus can afford, the resolution suggests the potential payout be as high as three years' salary to be paid over five years.

Council chair John McDowell told the council he would bring the resolution to university administration.
Also at Thursday's meeting at 1800 Grant St., Denver, the council again discussed input on the presidential search process, specifically composition of the search committee. The Board of Regents is gathering comments on the topic. With such groups as the regents, students and staff members each seeking as many as four members on a future search committee, McDowell noted that such a committee could wind up as large as 23 members. R L Widmann, immediate past chair of the Faculty Council, has noted that any search committee larger than the 16-member group convened for the most recent search would be unwieldy. Five of those 16 were faculty members.
Widmann said by phone it would be a mistake for the Board of Regents to insist on having four members on the presidential search committee. Roxanne Byrne, vice chair of the Faculty Council, said faculty members should comprise at least half the search committee; McDowell will take the recommendation to the regents' laws and policies committee next month.

In other business, the Faculty Council:

• Gave unanimous approval to proposed changes that clarify the university's administrative policy statement regarding intercampus transfer of students among campuses.
• Approved an administrative policy statement on conflict of interest and commitment. One member, Bruce Neumann, voted against the motion from the Educational Policy and University Standards committee, stating that "it seems like the university is intruding into people's right to privacy."
• Heard an update on the Task Force on Efficiency from Dan Montez, director of the Office of Policy and Efficiency. He spoke to the council about the start of a new round of policy reviews by the task force. The first phase was successful in streamlining policies and enabling more electronic processes that reduce paperwork — objectives that he called "low-hanging fruit." "It's time to put the ladder up the tree and see what else we can find," Montez said. The task force seeks suggestions from employees throughout the system; feedback may be provided by going to this link.