Revised FRIP and One-Time Retirement Incentive for Eligible Tenured Faculty

 

To: Tenure-track faculty

From: Ka Yee C. Lee, Provost

Subject: Revised FRIP and One-Time Retirement Incentive for Eligible Tenured Faculty

Date: December 9, 2021

 

I write to inform you of changes to the Faculty Retirement Incentive Plan (FRIP) and to announce a separate, one-time faculty retirement incentive, each as described below. These changes resulted from recommendations by the FRIP Review Committee. A detailed FAQ, Early Retirement Agreement, and Half-Time Agreement for the revised FRIP as well as the One-Time Retirement Incentive Program documents (expired link removed), which include the One-Time Incentive FAQ, Agreement, and Tables, are available on the FRIP page of the Office of the Provost website.

 

Currently, the FRIP Early Retirement Option [expired link removed] is available to faculty members with at least 10 years of continuous tenured service at the University of Chicago who provide two years’ prior notice of their commitment to retire between the ages of 65 and 69, with notice of retirement made effective by completing a FRIP Early Retirement Election and Agreement.

 

As of January 1, 2022, FRIP will be revised so that tenured faculty need provide only one year’s prior notice of their commitment to retire between the ages of 65 and 71. Additionally, tenured faculty members who sign an Early Retirement Election and Agreement on or after January 1, 2022, will receive a Retirement Subsidy Benefit of between 2.0 and 0.2 times the average of their last three years’ base salaries (in accord with the table below, which also shows the current multipliers). All participants in the Early Retirement Option will continue to receive paid premiums for self and spouse/civil union spouse/University-registered domestic partner under the University’s Retiree Medical Plan (as that plan may be amended from time to time). They will also continue to receive reimbursement of up to $3,000 for financial planning services.

 

 

65:                      2.0x                                 2.0x

66:                      1.7x                                  1.8x

67:                      1.4x                                  1.6x

68:                      1.1x                                   1.2x

69:                      0.8x                                 0.8x

70:                      0.5x                                  -

71:                       0.2x                                  -

 

In addition, faculty members who attain 10 years of continuous tenured service on or after turning age 66, including faculty who do so at the age of 71 or older, will have an opportunity to receive the maximum (2.0x) subsidy benefit factor (together with the Retiree Medical premium and financial assistance benefits). To receive this maximum benefit factor, they must notify the University of their commitment to retire at least one year prior to the date they complete 10 years of continuous tenured service and must retire on the day before their 10-year anniversary. Faculty members who currently have attained 10 years of continuous tenured service on or after turning age 66 prior to January 1, 2023, will be contacted directly by the Office of the Provost in January 2022 regarding their opportunity to similarly elect to retire with this benefit. Faculty members who have not yet completed 10 years of tenured service and who will do so on or after turning age 66 will be contacted in advance of their eligibility for this opportunity.

 

Should a faculty member attaining 10 years of continuous tenured service within the age 66 to age 71 range prefer to retire on or after their 10-year anniversary of continuous tenured service, their retirement subsidy will be based on the Retirement Subsidy Benefit Factor table. Additional details of these benefits and examples are available in the FAQ.

 

The FRIP Half-Time option will remain unchanged.

 

For faculty members with at least 10 years of tenured service at the University who are also at least age 71, the University is offering a one-time incentive to have their and their spouse’s/civil union spouse’s/University-registered domestic partner’s premiums under the Retiree Medical Plan (as that plan may be amended from time to time) paid for life.

 

Faculty who wish to retire under this one-time incentive will need to deliver an agreement between January 1, 2022 and February 28, 2022, irrevocably committing to retire by a retirement date of their choice between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023.

 

I wish to thank the FRIP Review Committee again for its report, which recommended changes to FRIP, and the Faculty Retirement Oversight Committee for carefully monitoring FRIP and proposing that I appoint such a committee. Other recommendations from the report, such as improving communications on retirement benefits and augmenting support for the emeriti faculty, garnered widespread faculty endorsement and are moving forward.