Faculty Partial Reemployment after Retirement Policy

• Example Retire/Rehire Letter

The Partial Reemployment Policy offered by the University of Washington provides eligible faculty with the option to retire and then be rehired at up to 40% FTE per year to teach, provide service to their unit, or conduct research on a reduced workload. “The faculty partial reemployment policy serves the dual purpose of providing transitional support to retiring faculty members while retaining the involvement of experienced and committed faculty members who are able to continue to support the UW’s instructional and research mission.”

The Partial Reemployment Policy dictates that decisions about teaching load and their equivalent percentages of support are made at the local (department) level, taking into account traditional teaching loads within the particular unit. The guidelines provided in the Department of Earth and Space Sciences policy (this document) supersede those in the College of the Environment Policy, which states that: “Units within the College may develop and implement their own guidelines as long as these unit-level guidelines are publicly available on the unit’s website to ensure transparency and consistency in application.”

All faculty positions in the College of the Environment (state line, without tenure, research, of-practice, teaching, and lecturers) are eligible to be considered for reemployment following their retirement from the University of Washington, and by policy, the UW has vested in tenured faculty members the right, beginning at age 62, to be reemployed up to the maximum of 40% of their tenure-backed salary at the time of retirement for instructional and/or research purposes for 5 years immediately following their retirement. Years can be skipped, but skipped years cannot be banked. Reemployed faculty must notify the Chair of Earth and Space Sciences annually, by 1 December of the preceding year, that they would like to exercise the reemployment option (e.g., in December 2021 for eligibility in the 2022-23 academic year).

If a tenured faculty member retires under an A/B salary structure and elects the 40% reemployment option following retirement, the total 40% maximum will be based on the total University base salary at the time of retirement.

Source and Amount of Funds for Reemployment

Funding for reemployment may come from any and all sources of regular salary (state funds, grant and contract funds, self-supporting budgets, professional/continuing education or extension funds, Summer Quarter, and excess compensation). Although fund types may be mixed within a year (e.g., state funds, grants funds), the total allowable compensation may not exceed the 40% FTE limit.

Faculty members who retire from a 9-month appointment are eligible to earn up to 40% of their 9-month academic year base salary; and faculty members who retire from a 12-month appointment are eligible to earn up to 40% of their 12-month academic year base salary. Forty percent represents the maximum amount of annual compensation a retiree can receive from all funding sources and compensation plans. For example, for a faculty member with a 9-month appointment, this equates to a single quarter at 100% FTE (or 33% of the 9 months) plus an additional quarter at 20% FTE (or 7% of the 9 months).

In some cases, faculty may be eligible to receive additional compensation of up to 40% monthly during the summer as well, for a maximum annual compensation of 40% over 12 months (for example, one quarter at fulltime and a second quarter of up to 60% FTE). Faculty members who retire from a 9-month appointment and who have a documented, recurring history of summer quarter compensation may petition to include summer months in the reemployment eligibility calculation. For example, a faculty member who has traditionally had 2 months summer salary from grant and contract funds, can be eligible for up to 11 months times 40% for reemployment.

Work Performance and Assessment

Division of reemployment compensation across budget sources should be relevant to work performed, in negotiation with unit leadership, and in conjunction with unit norms. To receive reemployment compensation, the faculty member must be working during the quarter in which they are paid. The type of work will depend on the source of funds and the needs of the Department. For instance, state funds may be used for reemployment compensation, but only if the faculty member is primarily engaged in classroom teaching requested by unit leadership.

Faculty may also teach for other academic units, at the discretion of that unit. For instance, a faculty member may negotiate teaching at a field station, or in the summer program. The normal rules related to faculty appointments apply during reemployment. Faculty members are expected to maintain excellence in teaching and mentoring, and collegial interactions. As with all faculty, performance will be reviewed annually.

Principles that delimit the range of negotiations are provided by UW-AHR. The most essential (but not all) of the conditions set by UW-AHR include:

• “Decisions about teaching load and their equivalent percentages of support are made at the local level, taking into account traditional teaching loads within the particular unit.”
• “Arrangements for instructional, research, or other designated duties of reemployed faculty members are made at the discretion of the appointing unit.”
• “…reemployment assignments specifically requested by retirees, […] cannot be guaranteed.”

Guidelines for Academic-based Compensation

Arrangements for instructional, research, or other designated duties of reemployed faculty members are to be made by signed agreement between the Chair and the retiring faculty member. While the December notification deadline is intended to ensure adequate time for curriculum planning, the signed agreement may be completed later if circumstances dictate (e.g., a mid-year change in the curriculum, new research funding availability, or a formal decision to retire that postdates December 1).

The Chair, in consultation with the ESS Executive Committee and Curriculum Committees, has the discretion to offer tasks that advance the strategic interests of the Department of Earth and Space Sciences, and to identify compensation levels that are unit-appropriate and maintain fair allocation among faculty for payment for identified effort. Reemployment is neither payment for minimal services (e.g., running a graduate seminar consisting of the students in a faculty member’s lab), nor is it a Herculean task no one wants (e.g., teaching two 5-credit intro courses to a large enrollment). Considerations should include the current division of teaching across the faculty in the department, as well as the arc of history of teaching of the faculty member requesting reemployment.

Attaining the full 40% rehire from state funds will typically require effort equivalent to one quarter of teaching effort from an active faculty member in the Department of Earth and Space Sciences (33%), and additional committee other service work, and student advising (7%). Non-state funds (e.g., from federal grant funding) may be used to supplement (if a lighter teaching load is agreed to, for example), or entirely replace the state funds, up to the 40% cap.

Update History

February 10, 2024; October 2021.