RICE UNIVERSITY

Report of the Ad Hoc Faculty Advisory Committee on Retirement
August, 1998

IV. Faculty Retirement Survey Summary (Part 1)

Response Rates and Demographics

Survey respondents are somewhat representative of the faculty

• Surveys were delivered to faculty in a sealed envelope with stamped return envelope addressed to Towers Perrin (see Appendix F).
  
• Overall the response rate was 33%.
  
• Of 433 tenured and tenure-track faculty, 141 responded by the deadline.
  
• The percentage of respondents who are age 40 and under is considerably less than that of the faculty as a whole.
  
• The percentage of respondents who are age 60 or older is considerably greater than that of the faculty as a whole.
  
• The gender and schools of the respondents reflect the overall faculty population.

Reporting Methodology

• Results are presented for all 19 survey items and the 3 demographic questions.
• Analyses capture patterns and statistically significant differences.
• Questions 1 - 7 and 11 - 17 are reported as follows:

• Questions 8, 9 & 10 are fill-in-the-blank and 19 is multiple choice.
• Questions 18a-t are reported as follows:

Faculty satisfaction with retirement plans is mixed

• Faculty are not sufficiently aware of how Rice's plans compete with plans at other comparable universities.
• Communication with faculty about retirement benefits is ineffective.

1.Overall, I am satisfied with the retirement benefits plans at Rice.

2.The University does a good job of communicating with faculty about retirement benefits.

3.The retirement plans (the TIAA-CREF University contribution plan and the SRA faculty contribution plan) at Rice are competitive with other universities where I could be on the faculty.

Faculty expect to complete their careers at Rice

• Older faculty (age 41 and older) are significantly more likely than younger faculty to expect to complete their careers at Rice.*
• This suggests that faculty who are tenured and settled view Rice as a good place to work and want to stay.
• Male faculty age 41 - 59 are significantly more likely than female faculty age 41 - 59 to expect to complete their careers at Rice.*
• The reasons for these gender differences bear further study.

4. I will most likely complete my career at Rice University.

All Respondents

By Age (Under 31 - Insufficient Data)

Ages 31-40

Ages 41-59

60 or Older

By Gender

Male (Age 41-59)

Female (Age 41-59)

Financial and Retirement Planning. Faculty need assistance in financial and retirement planning.

Formal Planning

• Most faculty have not completed a formal financial and retirement plan, and this does not differ significantly by age or gender.

5. I have completed a formal financial retirement plan.

• Many faculty do not know what their financial needs will be when they retire through there are differences by age and gender.

6. I know what my financial needs (in today's dollars) will be when I retire.

All Respondents


By Age (Under 31 - Insufficient Data)

Ages 31-40

Ages 41-59

60 or Older

By Gender

Male (Age 41-59)

Female (Age 41-59)

• Many faculty are not confident they will have enough income in retirement although there are significant differences by age and gender.

7. I am confident I will have enough income in retirement to meet my needs.

All Respondents

By Age (Under 31 - Insufficient Data)

Ages 31-40

Ages 41-59

60 or Older

By Gender

Male (Age 41-59)

Female (Age 41-59)

• Many faculty are not comfortable with their ability to make investment decisions for retirement.

11. I am comfortable with my ability to make investment decisions for my retirement.

• Faculty want the University to offer independent workshops and consultations.

13. I would like to see the University offer independent financial and retirement planning workshops and consultations.

Forecasting Retirement Age and Replacement Income

Faculty like what they do and want to maintain active faculty status somewhat beyond the time at which they expect to be financially able to retire:

Most faculty see 65 as the age when they would expect to be financially able to retire. This may be influenced by 65 being the age at which they would be eligible for Medicare and full Social Security benefits.

 

According to a Towers Perrin analysis, typical income replacement ratios at Rice are on average somewhat higher than the mean/median response to question 10, and rank in, or very close to the top quartile in comparison with major private universities.

 

Survey Question	Range	Mean	Median	Mode*
8. At what age would you ideally like to retire?	55-75	67	67	70
9. At what age do you expect to be (or were you) financially able to retire?	40-75	66	65	65
10. When you retire, what percentage of your fiscal salary do you think will be replaced by the TIAA-CREF University contribution plan and Social Security?	7-120%	73%	75%	80%

* Mode is the number that occurs most frequently in the distribution.s a strong disincentive to retire."

To Report Home Page
To Table of Contents
To Conclusions and Recommendations
To Faculty Leadership Interviews Summary
To Faculty Focus Groups Summary
To Faculty Retirement Survey Summary (Part 1)
To Faculty Retirement Survey Summary (Part 2)
To Appendices

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