RICE UNIVERSITY

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

IV. Faculty Retirement Survey Summary (Part 2)

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:

Retirement Benefits Communication

Faculty who need information about their retirement benefits have some difficulty getting assistance.

12. If I need information about Rice's retirement benefits, I can easily get the assistance I need.

All Respondents

By Age (Under 31 - Insufficient Data)

Ages 31-40

Ages 41-59

60 or Older

By School

Social Sciences

Architecture/Management/Music (Grouped because of their smaller size and number of respondents)

Engineering

Humanities

Natural Sciences

Number of Faculty Retiring

Many faculty feel the University needs to increase the number of faculty retiring.

• Those faculty age 60 or older are less likely to agree.*
• The School of Humanities faculty are significantly less positive about the need to increase the number of faculty retiring than are faculties of the Schools of Engineering, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences.*

*Differences are statistically significant.

14. To enhance our stature as a university in the long-term, we need to increase the number of faculty retiring so we can attract new talent to the University.

All Respondents

By Age (Under 31 - Insufficient Data)

Ages 31-40

Ages 41-59

60 or Older

By School

Social Sciences

Engineering

Natural Sciences

Architecture/Management/Music (Grouped because of their smaller size and number of respondents)

Humanities

Retirement Processes and Practices

The University handles the retirement process ineffectively and this perception becomes only slightly more negative with increasing age.

• Female faculty age 41 - 59 are more negative about the process than male faculty age 41 - 59.*
• Engineering faculty are the most negative about the process.*

*Differences are statistically significant.

15.Currently, Rice handles the faculty retirement process effectively.

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)

Faculty want the retirement processes, practices and guidelines to be openly communicated.

16.The retirement processes, practices and guidelines should be clearly communicated to all faculty.

• The younger the faculty member the more likely she/he is to be positive about the Dean taking a more active role.*
• Engineering is significantly more positive than the other schools.*

*Differences are statistically significant.

17. I would like to see the Deans take a more active role in retirement discussions and processes.

All Respondents

By Age (Under 31 - Insufficient Data)

Ages 31-40

Ages 41-59

60 or Older

By School

Engineering

Architecture/Management/Music (Grouped because of their smaller size and number of respondents)

Humanities

Natural Sciences

Social Sciences

Factors Important to Faculty in Retirement

18.We want to understand what factors are important to you and what kind of role, if any, you would like to have at Rice following retirement.

m. Medical insurance (4.3)

c. Connection to Rice internet (4.2)

j. Income comparable to current (4.0)

f. Continuing research (3.8)

q. Relationships with faculty colleagues (3.7)

n. Office at University (3.6)

i. Financial/retirement planning assistance (3.5)

g. Emeritus rank (3.5)

l. Lump sum financial incentive (3.3)

o. Phasing in retirement over several years (3.2)

d. Continuing to seek external grant funding as a principal investigator (2.8)

e. Continuing to teach (2.7)

r. Secretarial support (2.7)

s. Scholarship allowance for travel, books and/or equipment (2.6)

p. Postage privileges for professional purposes (2.5)

a. Advising/directing graduate students (2.4)

k. Lab space (2.1)

b. Committee and service work (1.9)

h. Faculty voting privileges (1.7)

t. Scholarship named after you (1.6)

*Factors shown in rank order by mean using a 5-point scale. The mean is shown in parentheses.

Connection to the University

Many faculty envision doing part-time teaching and part-time research when they retire

19. Which of the following best describes the type of arrangement you would envision for your retirement?

Please circle all that apply

a. Part-time teaching (67%)

b. Part-time research (80%)

c. Part-time University service (31%)

Faculty Comments

Representative Comments

• "It is too early in my career to think about retirement seriously. I receive a lot of information, but I can't judge this information as I don't consider it crucial at this point."
• "The University should attempt to encourage non-producing faculty to retire early. Active, producing faculty working in areas which the administration deems not to be 'thrust' areas should not be pressured into early retirement."
• "I feel I would have benefited from more financial planning assistance."
• "I think contributions to the retirement plan should not depend on age. The money is of more final worth when it goes in earlier and would be important in attracting and keeping younger employees. The current plan actually encourages older faculty not to retire."
• "The current situation of 'bargaining' for retirement benefits is unsatisfactory and somewhat demeaning. After many years of service to the University, that is no way to end a career."
• "Rice needs to offer specific retirement counseling services to faculty using Rice staff, rather than relying on TIAA-CREF."
• "The University's present contribution for faculty under age 50 (7%) is not adequate or competitive. The University is under funding retirement for younger faculty, and then keeping them around too long to catch-up."
• "The current system of secret deals for retirement is highly unsatisfactory. We need an open uniform program based on age and years of service."
• "The most important factor for retirees is medical insurance with substantial University support."
• "The medical insurance after retirement does not seem comparable to what other universities offer. If faculty have to pay large amounts for medical insurance after retirement, that is 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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