Terminal Leave Policy, Procedures and Forms
- Before the faculty member negotiates arrangements for a terminal leave,
the faculty member should meet with a with a Benefits Office staff member
to discuss retirement eligibility, income options, benefits coverage, required
paperwork, post-retirement employment constraints, and the optimum date of
retirement. A letter confirming
the meeting has occurred is signed by the Benefits Office staff member and
forwarded to the chair/unit head of the faculty member’s tenure home.
- The department chair/unit head and the faculty member draw up a draft of
the Terminal Leave
Agreement. If the faculty member has a joint appointment with funding
of the terminal being the responsibility of both units, each unit head must
be consulted in drawing up the terminal leave agreement. Note
that terminal leave agreements usually preclude other preretirement arrangements
such as boosts to salary and postretirement returns to employment. See the University's
Policy on Terminal Leave for additional guidelines.
- The draft of the Agreement and Benefits letter
must be forwarded to the Associate Provost for
Faculty Affairs who will, after consulting with the Legal Office and the
Office of Personnel and Budgetary Affairs, offer guidance to the faculty
member’s
unit head. Terminal leaves are not offered routinely. Strong
justification is required for the granting of such leaves and the unit head
may wish to include a memo stating these justifications.
- Once preliminary agreement has been obtained, the unit head gives the faculty
member the Resignation and Retirement Agreement. He/she has 21 days to sign
and submit the agreement to the chair. However, the faculty member
may withdraw from the agreement at anytime prior to submission of the material
to the president.
- The chair signs the agreement and forwards it and the benefits letter to
the dean. (When the appointment is joint, all participating unit's chairs
and deans must sign the agreement.)
- The dean signs the agreement and forwards it and the benefits letter to
the Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs, 1119 Main Administration Building.
- The president's signature of the terminal leave agreement
creates a binding agreement between the faculty member and the university. Copies
of the terminal leave are distributed to the faculty member, chair, dean,
and the payroll and personnel officers. The original material is
kept in the Office of the Provost. If the president
fails to approve the terminal leave, a new retirement agreement may be
negotiated.
