UC Berkeley has adopted a new changes to its retirement policy for chair-holding professors beginning this week.
Vice Provost for the Faculty Janet Broughton sent out a campus message Feb. 6 outlining the details for the new policy, which applies to faculty chair-holders whose retirements are effective June 2012 or later.
Broughton said in an email that the new policy differs from the old in two main ways. First, the new policy requires all emeriti to relinquish their endowed chairs, unless Chancellor Robert Birgeneau approves a written request for an extension — which will only be approved in highly exceptional circumstances, according to the campus message.
Broughton said in the email that this change “eliminates an inconsistency in our old policies.” The previous policies, which Broughton noted were “confusing,” said faculty members could never continue to hold a chair after retirement, unless they became “professors of the graduate school.”
Secondly, the new policy allows retired professors with research needs to be nominated — by the dean of their appropriate school — for a Chancellor’s Emeritus/Emerita Professorship for up to three years. The professorship will cover research expenses such as equipment costs, special acquisitions for library collections, travel to conferences and undergraduate or graduate student research assistants.
“These Professorships are a new way to recognize and support the research of our distinguished emeriti faculty,” Broughton said in the email.
According to the campus message, the annual research funding for a professorship will be restricted between $6,000 and $15,000, and one-third of the total will be provided by the executive vice chancellor and provost.
The message also states that endowment payouts not spent by June of a given fiscal year may be put into a “carry-forward” fund for a chair-holding faculty member to retain after retirement, to be used in accordance with university policies and dean approval.
“Emeriti are warmly encouraged to direct a portion of carry-forward to the collection account of the Librarian who is the liaison for the relevant field, or to support campus libraries as appropriate,” the message states.
Broughton said in the email that the new retirement policy should not have a significant effect on faculty.
Amy Wang covers academics and administration.
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this article is useless without pertinent information such as the money allotted for research expenditures by Professors Emeritus prior to the policy change
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