THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT ASHEVILLE FACULTY SENATE Senate Document Number 0397F Date of Senate Approval 10/09/97 Statement of Faculty Senate Action: FWDC 2: Phased Retirement Program UNCA Institutional Guidelines 10/9/97 1. Departmental or institutional limitations on participation in the Phased Retirement Program. There are no departmental or institutional caps on the number of participants in the Phased Retirement Program (PRP). However, an application to participate can be denied if participation in the PRP would substantially weaken academic quality of department or university programs. This finding, however, must be supported by objective measures of program quality. A judgement to deny participation on these grounds must be confirmed by the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, if first made by a Department Chair*. A judgement to deny participation must be confirmed by the Chancellor when first made by the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. * (In this document, "Department Chair" includes the Director of the Environmental Studies Program.) 2. Limits on participation because of financial exigencies. Financial exigency shall be determined according to the stipulations of The Code of the University (Section 605, A,B,C) and the UNCA Tenure Policies and Regulations (Section V, 1,2). The following conditions must be met in order for there to be any effect upon the application of the PRP. A. Funds in the "101" Faculty salary account must be insufficient to support fully the number of FTE faculty positions of the previous year. and B. A determination has been made by the Chancellor, under the conditions set by The Code, to terminate a designated program or to reduce the number of faculty members in a designated program. In the event that a financial exigency is declared according to the provisions of The Code, phased retirement for faculty in the programs being eliminated may be suspended until the financial exigency is declared at an end. 3. List of tenured faculty who are ineligible because of occupying administrative or staff roles: (as of 10/9/97) Tom Cochran, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Merritt Moseley, Dean of Faculty Development Patsy Reed, Chancellor Jim Pitts, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs 4. The number of years that participants will be allowed to remain on phased retirement. Faculty eligible to participate in the PRP may take up to 5 years to retire. Participants may, however, choose a shorter period of phased retirement. 5. Procedures ensuring eligible members are informed: A. Upon the initiation of the PRP on February 1, 1998, all full time faculty will receive a letter announcing the PRP and providing eligibility information. B. By February 1, 1998, all existing eligible faculty members, or those who will become eligible by July 1, 1998, will receive an information packet. Those who become eligible after this date will receive an information packet at least 45 days prior to becoming eligible. The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affair will be responsible for distributing the packet in a timely manner. The packet will be sent registered mail in order to document the receipt of it by the eligible faculty member. The Phased Retirement Information packet will consist of the Agreement and Release Package which includes: 1. A letter announcing the Program 2. The Program Summary 3. A copy of the Model UNC Phased Retirement Application and Reemployment Agreement 4. A copy of the Model Phased Retirement Release C. Annually, a letter will be sent to all eligible faculty reminding them of the Program and their eligibility for it. D. Annual presentations will be advertised and held to provide further information about the Program to interested faculty. E. Throughout the year, the University's Phased Retirement Committee members, three faculty who are informed about the PRP and are appointed by the Senate, will be available for questions regarding the Program. 6. Procedure used to accept, review, and approve applications: A. Faculty members intending to enter the PRP will negotiate a half-time work plan with the Department Chair. This plan will be subject to approval by the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. A faculty member who is currently serving as a department Chair will negotiate a half-time work plan with the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, who will consult with senior members of the department about the plan. This plan will be subject to approval by the Chancellor. B. The office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs will receive applications, recording the date of their receipt. The Vice Chancellor will review the application and render a decision regarding its approval. When an application is received from a current departmental Chair, the Chancellor will review the application and render a decision regarding its approval. C. If approved: 1. A checklist and the Agreement and Release forms will be provided to the faculty member. The checklist will insure and document that the eligible faculty member has received all the materials in the Agreement and Release Package. The eligible faculty member will sign the checklist, confirming receipt of these materials as well as the Agreement and Release forms. 2. Upon signing this checklist and receiving the Agreement and Release forms, the faculty member has 45 days in which to sign and return the forms to the office of the VCAA. If the Agreement and Release forms are not returned within 45 days, there is no active request to participate in the Phased Retirement Program at that time. A faculty member may reapply for the Program at a later date. 3. If the signed forms are received by the VCAA's office within 45 days, there will be a 7-day waiting period in which the faculty member has the right to revoke the Agreement and Release. If not revoked, the faculty member is officially enrolled in the Program. If revoked, the faculty member will not be eligible to participate in the program at that time, but may reapply to participate at a later date. D. If the initial application is not approved, faculty members may appeal to the Grievance Committee if they feel they have been inappropriately denied access to the Program or if they feel the Program's guidelines have not been properly followed. 7. Guidelines for half-time work plans. A. The faculty member will carry a teaching load which is reduced by one-half of the standard load, currently 24 semester credit hours per academic year. Thus, the faculty member participating in PRP will carry 12 semester credit hours per the 9 month year. Faculty members in the Program will not typically be eligible for additional time released from teaching. B. The faculty member will carry one-half of standard scholarly activity and service advising, departmental work, campus committee assignments, and community service). The faculty member will work together with the department Chair to define specific service responsibilities under (B), recognizing that these may shift from year to year during the Phased Retirement. The Work Plan will require initial approval by the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. It will be reviewed jointly by the Faculty Member and Chair at the end of each academic year and re-approved accordingly by the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. Rationale 1. Departmental and/or institutional limitations may be set on participation in the program. These limitations may vary by department in order to take into account the varying needs of different departments. Rather than constructing a rigid system of limits on participation by department size, we have proposed no set caps or limits but have allowed for each department to limit participation in relation to their needs relative to academic quality. 2. This guideline simply documents how participation in the program will be limited in cases of financial exigency. 3. GA requested the names of those who are ineligible because they currently occupy administrative roles. 4. Each institution must select a maximum period of time in which phased retirement may occur, within a 1-5 year parameter. Unlike the limits on participation, this maximum period must be the same for all departments. As was suggested by Vice Chancellor Pitts and by most chairs who responded to an inquiry, a maximum period of 5 years was selected. Participating faculty may, however, select a shorter period of phased retirement. 5 and 6. Most of the procedures specified in these sections are determined by the system policy. 7. Half time work plans will be negotiated, but will entail teaching two courses and "half" of whatever a department considers service and scholarly activity, which obviously leaves room for a great deal of flexibility.