2009 WSU retirements double with early incentive

By Communications staff, Washington State University
 
The number of WSU faculty and staff who retired during spring semester nearly doubled in 2009. Part of that trend was precipitated by the economy and the offering of an early retirement incentive package by WSU.

During the first seven months of the year, 96 WSU employees retired, including 45 faculty, 27 administrative professionals, and 24 classified staff.

Ann Monroe, a WSU senior human resource consultant, said 47 people took advantage of the Voluntary Early Retirement Incentive (VERI) program this past spring. (Click here for details on VERI.)

The purpose of the program was to help WSU deal with a 10.38 percent, $54 million cut in state funding for the 2009-2011 biennium.

VERI was available to active participants in the WSU Retirement Plan who were utilizing TIAA-CREF as their retirement program vendor. To be eligible, employees needed to be at least 55 years of age and had to have participated in the plan for at least 10 years. As a retirement incentive, WSU provided a one-time payment of $18,000 into a tax-exempt medical expense plan. Eligible and interested employees were required to apply for VERI between March 1 and May 31, with a retirement date of no later than June 30, 2009
 

Overall, the number of retirements this past spring was much higher than normal, Monroe said. For the period April through June, a total of 74 people retired in 2009, compared with 36 in 2008, 34 in 2007, and 42 in 2006. (See graphs for past 10 years.)

Who retired? You might be surprised
Following is an alphabetical list (6 pages) of WSU Employees retired from WSU between Jan. 1 and July 31 of this year, including the date their date of hire and the date of retirement.  To view the full 6 page list as a PDF file, click here or click on the table below.
 
 
(Please note, below is the first of six pages)
 
 
Related article:

07-29-09 Chronicle of Higher Education – The Graying of the Campus-Facilities Work Force: Who’ll Keep the Lights On?

07-25-09 Chronicle of Higher Education – More Retirement Woes

06-10-09 Chronicle of Higher Education – The Coming Wave of Retirements

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