FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 16, 2004
CONTACT:
Rudy Bell, President
Patrick Nowlan, Staff Representative
732-445-2278
Rutgers AAUP Proposes Faculty
Renewal Program
The Rutgers Council of AAUP Chapters, affiliated nationally with the American Association of University Professors, has proposed a transitional retirement program that will allow the University to fill vacant faculty positions that have resulted from recent state budget cuts. Under the proposal, senior faculty who retire will be eligible for reemployment on a part-time basis which frees up resources to hire new faculty.
Senior faculty members who retire under the proposal with 25 years in the state pension system, will receive the regular benefits of retirement which include health insurance and access to their TIAA-CREF pension accounts. They will then be reemployed on a part-time basis for 5 years at 50% salary. New hires will be eligible for regular full time employment benefits and their salaries will be paid out of the 50% savings from retiring senior faculty.
The full text of the proposal can be accessed under the heading “Get the News” at:
“The goal of the proposal is to radically rethink our commitment to younger scholars, the students we teach, and the communities we serve,” said Rudy Bell, AAUP President and Professor of History on the New Brunswick/Piscataway campus. “The proposal is radical in that it takes existing resources and employs them in creative ways. The students, the state and the University will actually receive more from current faculty salary and benefit dollars as senior faculty retire and become reemployed as part-timers. It is radical in another sense, by creating a permanent mechanism for the transition of knowledge and experience from senior faculty to their junior colleagues. It is truly a win – win – win situation for faculty, students, and the administration.”
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