The elimination of mandatory retirement in 2006 will have a $12-million impact on The University of Western Ontario in 2010-11 as unexpectedly higher numbers of older professors take a pass on retiring at age 65.
Heading into 2010, 24 additional probationary and tenured faculty members who have reached the typical retirement age of 65 have chosen to continue teaching. This brings the total number to about 65.
Alan Weedon, Vice-Provost (Academic Planning, Policy and Faculty) says in 2006, when the rules were changed, the university believed about 50 per cent of faculty would work beyond age 65.
“Our projections were incorrect,” says Weedon. “It looks like the majority of faculty are choosing to work beyond age 65. This is more than we had expected, so it is causing some pressure on the university’s operating budget since they were unplanned positions.”
With the total number of years they will continue to work not known, Weedon says costs could continue to rise.
“In subsequent years it will increase if the number of people working beyond normal retirement date increases, and will also increase because of the annual salary settlements.”
Some of the positions have already been bridged by new hires, based on an assumption workers were going to retire.
A new voluntary faculty retirement program was offered to about 220 faculty members in December, designed for faculty who meet certain eligibility requirements and offering a minimum incentive of $65,000. Those who participate must retire on June 30 or July 1.
Speaking to Senate, Weedon says the hiring of probationary and tenured faculty has flattened to a level just below 1,100 employees. Recent increases were boosted by the province’s Reaching Higher program which is drawing to a close.
“The number of people who have joined us is balanced by the number of people who have left,” he says.
The university has also registered a slight increase in the number of women faculty members to 30 per cent of probationary and tenured faculty positions.
“We have seen a trend over the last 10 years of increased representation of women,” says Weedon, noting the level in 1999 was at 20.5 per cent. Still, compared to other G-13 universities, Western has a lower level of women faculty.
“We have been moving up the ranks and have managed to close the gap, but we haven’t caught up yet.”
University of Western Ontario Faculty Association President Regna Darnell says faculty have traditionally had a steeper career salary curve than most professions, reflecting the increased value attributed to their experience, especially in a research-intensive university.
“The university will certainly have to plan its finances differently because of this change in the law,” says Darnell, noting the importance of older faculty members in mentoring younger professors. “Punishing the faculties is not a productive strategy.”
Darnell adds the present statistics on professors continuing to work are skewed by the recession and its affects on their pension plan, which she says places all risk with the plan member and none with the university.
She says experience in the United States is many faculty members stay on initially but the pattern settles into a modest increase of a year or two in average retirement age.