MUN offering retirement incentives in bid to cut costs, renew staff

Cash-strapped Memorial Universityis dangling a big financial carrot over the heads of olderfaculty members and other employees in order to encourage them into retirement.

All in a bid to find long-term savings in the face of a shrinking budget, and open positions up for younger, lower-paideducators.

"We're into kind of a dark, challenging place, trying to maintain the integrity and quality of our programs, to which we're committed," said Noreen Golfman, MUN's provost and academic vice-president.

• 'We're downsizing': MUN board of regents approves penny-pinching budget
• MUN has to find millions in savings, but won't introduce 'new' fees in its upcoming budget

MUN has seen its operating budget from the provincial government slowly erode over the years, with president Gary Kachanoskisaying every chance he gets that it's now lower than it was when he came to the university eight years ago.

That's despite the fact salary and other costs have gone up, and MUN's ability to raise revenue has been limited by a long-term freeze on tuition rates for Newfoundland and Labradorstudents.

It would be great if we could all just keep paying very high salaries but it's really not practical.- Noreen Golfman

So MUN has set aside $8 million for a voluntary retirement program, targeting eligible academic and non-academic staff members, including more than three dozenemployees who are over 70 years old.

Employees in this category are receiving both their pension and salary.

Applications opened June 1, and those who qualify can receive a lump sum payment up to theequivalent of a full year's salary, in addition toseverance and pension entitlements.

Program modelled after other universities

Golfman said the program arose from university-wide consultations earlier this year, and was approved by the board of regents in May.

She said the program is modelled after similar retirement incentives at other universities, and is part of MUN's ongoing effort to cut costs through attrition and other means.

She acknowledged that part of the incentive is to remove some of the high salaries paid to long-serving, full professors, and open opportunities for the next generation of post-secondary educators.

• Government cuts MUN budget again, orders review of post-secondary education

She said the job market for youngPhDsall but seized up in Canada after the law requiring mandatory retirement at age 65 was abolished.

"I would rather not be doing this," she said. "It would be great if we could all just keep paying very high salaries at the high end for people who are 71 and over, or 68 and over, but it's really not practical given our situation right now."

Program rolling out in four phases

The program is being offered in four phases, beginning with those 71 years of age and over. Phase 2 will target those between the ages of 65 and 70, with 30-plus years of service.

Phases 1 and 2 will run concurrently until July 20.

The offer will expand to other categories until the available money is exhausted.

Interest is building, says Golfman

Golfmancould not provide an estimate of how many employees might take the offer, but said interest is building.

"I think peoplewho are thinking about retiring for some time are probably, it's my hunch, quicker to respond," she said.

A full professor at MUN earns roughly $150,000 a year, so in that category alone it's possible the program could finance the retirement of more than 50 employees from a field of some 740 professors.

But Golfman stressed it's not about shrinking the number of faculty.

"There might be areas where there might be some discussions about getting smaller, and others where they should be bigger. We won't really know until we see how people respond," she said.

Meanwhile, the union representing MUN faculty members are not impressed with the program.

MUNFA the Memorial University Faculty Association has repeatedly called on the university to establish a retirement program that allows faculty members to ease their way into retirement, perhaps working part-time for several years in order to finish up projects, mentor grad students through their programs, and allow departments to plan for the future in an orderly way.

Putting that $8 million into deferred maintenance would have immediately made this campus a safer place.- Robin Whitaker

Such proposals have been rejected each time, said MUNFA president Robin Whitaker.

"Instead we've got this one-time, all-or-nothing deal which we don't think is going to appeal to all that many faculty members," said Whitaker.

Whitaker said the money would have been better spent on much-needed maintenance at the university.

"If the university's goal is to downsize, which is something we should all be concerned about, given the possible implications for programs, we're not sure this is the best way to go about it," she said.

"We think that putting that $8 million into deferred maintenance would have immediately made this campus a safer place for faculty and students and other employees."

Read more articles on CBC Newfoundland and Labrador