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Retirement categories

• Full retirement: A retiree is any tenured faculty member who voluntarily terminates employment with the university and who meets the service requirements for retirement under the Teacher Retirement System or the Optional Retirement Program. TRS & ORP Overview PDF provides a comparison of the two plans. See COE: Separation and Retirement for additional information about retirement.

• Phased retirement: Phased retirement refers to reduced appointments in teaching, service, and/or scholarship to assist an individual in preparing for full retirement. A post-retirement contract is entered into for up to three years. A tenured faculty member who officially retires maintains a part-time (50% or 25%) term appointment without tenure until the expiration of the contract. See COE: Phased Retirement.

• Modified service: The Board of Regents may appoint a faculty member who has retired to modified service. Recommendation for and appointment to modified service shall be made only if the individual's service will significantly benefit the university. Appointment to modified service is without tenure, limited to half-time, and spans no more than one academic year. See COE: Retired-Active Faculty > Modified Service.

Retirement process

Instructions for the retiring faculty member

1. Contact the HR Benefits Specialist to confirm eligibility to retire. Include EID in the communication.

   1. Find the name and contact info of your HR Benefits Specialist at HR: Find Your HR Representatives.

2. Complete all steps on the Human Resources Pre-Retirement Checklist.

   1. Note that either the TRS Notice of Retirement or ORP Declaration of Retirement (depending on the faculty member’s retirement plan) must be submitted in order for HR to begin retirement processing. Links to both forms are included at step 4 of the Pre-Retirement Checklist.

3. Submit either a letter or email to department chair stating intent to retire. Include the proposed effective retirement date. Standard retirement dates are 5/15 or 8/15. 

4. The department chair must officially accept the retirement in writing through either an email or letter. The acceptance must confirm the effective retirement date. Letters should be signed and dated.

5. Copies of the retirement letter and department chair’s acceptance should be shared with the following:

   1. Department Administrative Manager and/or Academic HR Partner

   2. COE Faculty Affairs

   3. All other departments or centers where the faculty member has concurrent appointments, including courtesy or zero percent time appointments.

6. If faculty member is eligible for Medicare, they must apply for both Medicare parts A and B prior to retirement date.

7. If faculty member wishes to be considered for emeritus status, they should notify their chair and department Administrative Manager. Please keep in mind that the nomination process typically takes several months to complete.

Instructions for administrative staff

1. Before beginning, review EVPP: Faculty Retirement for guidance and Workday processing instructions.

2. Once HR has received and processed the faculty member’s TRS or ORP form, the “Retirement” reason code will become available in the Workday termination process for that faculty member.

3. Prior to processing the termination, end any additional employment via an End Additional Job BP. Contact other units as needed to end additional employment outside the home department.

7) Academic HR Partner processes Termination in Workday business process. Upload a copy of the faculty member’s retirement notice and chair’s acceptance to the BP.

8) For terminations due to retirement, the Workday BP will route to Benefits for review of retirement information, and then to APS for final approval.

9) For faculty members with endowments, APS will end the endowment in VIP as part of their review of the termination BP. The endowment end in VIP will then push to Workday and end the associated endowment in Workday.

Notes:

• The official retirement date is always effective on the first day of the month following their termination effective date. See "Important Note on Retirement Dates" on page 1 of EVPP: Faculty Retirement for more information and examples.

• If applicable, review additional information at COE: Phased Retirement

• Note that Workday access for retirees is not removed - see Duration of Worker Access to Workday.

Insurance for retired faculty

Faculty members who worked in the spring are eligible for active employee insurance coverage through 8/31, if they use 8/31 as their retirement date. If they retire effective 5/31, then their insurance will end on that date. Retiring faculty should contact the Benefits Section of Human Resource Services prior to retiring to discuss their insurance options.

Administrative information

Problem: While processing a termination business process in Workday with reason of "retirement," you receive the error "This termination reason is only available for employees pre-approved for retirement. Please contact your HR Benefits Specialist."

Solution: Either a) the prospective retiree has not yet submitted the necessary paperwork to central HR, or b) central HR has not yet processed their paperwork.

Contact your Benefits and Leave Specialist about paperwork status by looking them up at HR: Find Your HR Representatives.

Resources for Retiring Faculty

Human Resources - Benefits

Social Security

Retired Faculty-Staff Association

Retirement Programs

Please send suggested additions to this page and notifications about broken links to COE-FacultyAffairs@austin.utexas.edu.