Retirement and Leave Options

Retirement and Leave Options  

Please note:  

• There is no IU-wide incentive for early retirement.  A school might consider its own but must consult with IU HR to ensure that such a plan complies with IU policies and federal rules.  
• When to retire?
  • 10-month faculty can retire effective June 1 or January 1 working their last day of May 31 or December 31.
  • 12-month faculty can choose any date for retirement, but probably still want to work the last day of a month to make a better transition to retiree healthcare.
• If you are planning to retire, notify your dean or department chair as soon as possible.
• Faculty should contact IU HR as soon as possible for a pre-retirement counseling meeting to understand all the ages for Medicare and Social Security. IU retiree status also needs to be confirmed before a retirement date is set. 

IU-wide Policies and Programs

ACNP: Academic Appointee, No-Pay

• With this designation, someone can maintain their IU systems access for a predetermined time. This is most useful when someone who is resigning needs time to transition graduate students, mentees, and research collaborators.
• People must be sponsored by a specific academic unit  to have this status: this is not a status provided by the campus or the university as a whole.

Leave Without Pay

• Eligibility: Any faculty member may request a partial or full leave of absence for up to one year without pay from their dean.  The time period must be pre-defined.  
• Benefits: While a faculty member is on a leave without pay, IU continues to cover the employer-paid portion of the health benefits for six months provided the employee pays the employee portion of premiums. Please note that there are no retirement contributions while on a leave without pay. IU HR can provide more information about benefits while on an unpaid leave.  
• Approval: A leave of less than one year is at the discretion of the dean; a leave for a whole year requires campus approval (Executive Vice Chancellor). Leaves after one year may be approved by the EVC, for only one year at a time, and are very rare. 
• Time on unpaid leave normally does not count towards sabbatical eligibility or IU years of service; contact ude[dot]ui[at]rhdaca if you think it may qualify as a "prestigious leave."  For any leave of absence, create an MOU and have a date by which the faculty member MUST indicate he or she is returning.    
  

IU Retiree Status

• Eligibility: Faculty qualify for IU Retiree Status when they have a minimum combination of age and years of service, such as age 55 plus 30 years of service through age 64 years and 12 years of service.    
• Benefits: IU Retiree Status provides certain benefits (for the most current information see the link above):
  • Access to IU-sponsored healthcare for Under-65 Retirees (Anthem HDHP PPO) and a Medicare supplement option for retirees age 65 and older (Blue Retiree Plan).  
  • A $6,000 Retiree Life Insurance Policy.
  • Continued access to IU Tuition Benefit. 
  • Other perks and benefits, including access to some UITS systems. Emeritus faculty have slightly more access to Microsoft Office 365. Please see this Knowledge Base document (scroll down that page for details).
• Approval: IU HR must certify Retiree Status eligibility for faculty; ask your school's HR business partner for assistance.

Faculty Phased Retirement Program

• Eligibility: Beginning at age 62, full-time faculty who qualify for IU Retiree Status may remain in their current full-time position while taking a partial leave without pay of 1 to 3 years, or up to the end of their appointment if less than 3 years. During this time, the faculty member reduces their workload to. 50-80% of normal, with compensation pro-rated accordingly. Note that faculty eligible for 18/20 are not eligible for the phased retirement option.  
• Participants make a binding commitment to resign at the end of the phased retirement period.  They may retire completely before that date.  
• Benefits (see this page): in brief, during Phased Retirement, the faculty member:
  • Continues participation in medical, dental, and other IU-sponsored benefits at the employee premium rates.    
  • Continues to receive retirement contributions from IU, prorated based on actual wages paid.  
  • May supplement income with early retirement account withdrawals for their 403(b) plans. 
• Approval: An agreement is created and mutually agreed upon by the faculty member, Unit, Campus Faculty Affairs, and IU Human Resources. The agreement includes:
  • What duties are expected for a given phased period, settled in writing between the faculty member and the unit: for example, only teaching and no service, or, more service including mentoring, less service, or, solely research.    
  • A formal retirement date.  Applying for phased retirement includes an irrevocable commitment to retire by a certain date. While the date cannot be extended past the formal retirement date noted in the agreement, a faculty member may retire sooner than that date if desired.

Resignation

• If a faculty member does not qualify for IU Retiree status, from IU's perspective, they "resign" rather than "retire."  IU language about "retirees" pertains specifically to IU Retirees.  
  
• A faculty member may be awarded Emeritus/a status by their unit and campus even if they do not qualify for IU Retiree status.  
• Faculty who resign before completing three years' service forfeit IU retirement contributions, which vest after 3 years.
• A resignation notice is considered final, even if the effective date is in the future.  

Other Notes

• Any faculty member who has had a sabbatical must return full-time for one academic year (or 8 months for a 12-month faculty member) after the sabbatical.  
• Faculty on phased retirement may not be awarded a sabbatical. Under very unusual circumstances, they may be eligible for externally funded prestigious leaves. These leaves would not extend the retirement date.   
  
• Faculty on phased retirement may have medical leave if needed but units must contact ude[dot]ui[at]rhdaca for this to be appropriately handled.  

All options except IU Retiree status must be approved by the school. For questions, contact Faculty Affairs at ude[dot]ui[at]rhdaca. 

Reviewed and revised: 3/2024.