A Study of Phased Retirement Programs at Land-Grant Colleges and Universities and the Development of Phased Retirement Models for The University of Tennessee

The University of Tennessee (UT) may face a severe faculty flow problem between now and the end of the 20th Century. Seventy percent of the faculty have tenure. Seventy-five percent of the tenured faculty are between the ages of 35 and 55. If these tenured faculty remain with The University of Tennessee until mandatory retirement, there will be very few faculty slots available for young scholars.

The purpose of the study was to investigate a way for The University of Tennessee to ease this potential faculty flow problem. Specifically, this study examined phased retirement as a possible solution to the manpower problems. This study was undertaken in the following manner: (1) a content analysis of extant phased retirement plans at other institutions was conducted to determine the characteristics and effectiveness of such plans, and (2) phased retirement models were developed for The University of Tennessee faculty.

The seventy-two land-grant colleges and universities in the U.S. were surveyed to determine the prevalence of phased retirement plans. Of the sixty institutions that responded to the survey, eleven had implemented some type of phased retirement plan. The plans were evaluated, the three were found to be successful, in that they had large numbers of participants, and save the institution dollars.

The characteristics found in the successful plans were tailored to fit the UT faculty, and two models of phased retirement were developed. Fiscal implications for the institution and the participants were discussed. The study showed that phased retirement, if implemented at UT given certain stated assumptions, can, over a six-year period, save the institution between 17 and 51 percent of its total compensation cost. At the same time, phased retirement can provide participants a means to phase into retirement with dignity and grace.

The UT phased retirement policy statements are provided, as well as the assumptions used. All calculations for the institution and the participants are provided in the text, as well as explanations of how the figures used in the calculations were derived.