"Aging Professors Create a Faculty Bottleneck At some universities, 1 in 3 academics are now 60 or older," Audrey Williams June, Chronicle of Higher Education, March 18, 2012 ---
http://chronicle.com/article/Professors-Are-Graying-and/131226/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

When Mary Beth Norton went to work at Cornell University in 1971, she was the history department's first female hire. But now the accomplished professor has a different mark of distinction: She is the oldest American-history scholar at Cornell.

"I've always thought of myself as the sweet young thing in the department," Ms. Norton, who will turn 69 this month, says with a laugh. "But that's not true anymore."

A growing proportion of the nation's professors are at the same point in their careers as Ms. Norton: ­still working, but with the end of their careers in sight. Their tendency to remain on the job as long as their work is enjoyable—or, during economic downturns, long enough to make sure they have enough money to live on in retirement—has led the professoriate to a crucial juncture.

Amid an aging American work force, the graying of college faculties is particularly notable. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of professors ages 65 and up has more than doubled between 2000 and 2011. At some institutions, including Cornell, more than one in three tenured or tenure-track professors are now 60 or older. At many others—including Duke and George Mason Universities and the Universities of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Texas at Austin, and Virginia—at least one in four are 60 or older. (See chart below.)

Colleges have been talking about an impending mass exodus of baby-boomer professors for at least the past decade, but it hasn't occurred yet because people in their 60s, in particular, aren't ready to retire. But even with the preponderance of older faculty in academe, experts say that widespread retirements aren't imminent, but instead will most likely take place in spurts over the next 10 years or so as more professors reach age 70.

In the meantime, the challenges of an aging work force are especially salient for colleges. Faculty can retire at will (a perk that began with the end of mandatory retirement in 1994), and young Ph.D.'s are waiting in the wings for jobs. Institutions are also struggling to manage faculty renewal at a time when the position left behind by a retired faculty member might be lost to budget cuts.

Older professors understand what's at stake. But at the same time, they have managed to craft professional and personal lives that they're not ready to walk away from. And some administrators, who are themselves often in the same age bracket as the faculty in question, can relate. Yet their task of preparing for the next generation, while managing the previous one, remains.

Data on faculty ages collected by The Chronicle provides a window into how the shifting demographics of professors is playing out similarly at all types of colleges across the nation. The problem is more pronounced at some places, particularly at elite research institutions like Cornell, where senior professors often have particular freedom to shape their academic pursuits to fit their interests. At other kinds of institutions where the workload isn't as flexible, studies have shown, faculty members are more inclined to retire.

. . . (Insert Graph)

the percentage of professors in their 70s and beyond has doubled since 2000; they now make up 6 percent of the university's 1,500-member faculty. Other places with a sizable percentage of faculty members in their 70s and older include Claremont McKenna College and the University of Texas at Austin, both of which have 7 percent of their faculty in that age group, and the University of Florida, with 6 percent.

The issue of aging faculty is complex, in part because of the nature of academic work. The faces behind the numbers, like Ralph M. Stein of Pace University, are lifelong academics who have often crafted careers at a single institution whose reputation they have helped to build. Their work isn't just a way to earn a living, but instead a major part of their identity. And that can make it difficult for professors to give up their jobs.

Continued in article

July 20, 2011 message from a friend

Have you all heard about the latest Buy-out Proposal at my university?. I think it is that if you are over 63 and have been with the University for 5 years you can retire in January or May of the next academic year. You will get something like 1.7 X your yearly salary in a lump sum (-minus FICA, etc).

What a deal. There are 5 people eligible in our department out of 7 faculty. Three intend to do it, one isn't and one is on the fence.

XXXXX

Jensen Comment
There are many reasons for such deals. The scholastic life of a university aided greatly by infusion of new blood.

But I would certainly hate to be running a university that has to replace half of its business school, its computer science department, its school of engineering, and its half its medical school all at the same time. That's too much of a shock in one year --- and a very expensive shock in professional schools living with heavy salary compression of senior faculty.

This is probably a great deal for faculty with $2 million in TIAA and substantial other savings and a yearning to breathe free. Presumably the University will also provide health insurance until eligible for Medicare.

It may not be such a good deal for faculty having less than $1 million in TIAA and not-so-great outside savings. It may not be such a good deal for faculty with trophy spouses that will not be eligible for Medicare for another ten or more years.

It is probably not a good deal to start Social Security benefits at Age 63 unless you expect to die young. For those that anticipate a long life, the best year to start Social Security collections is probably Age 70 in order to maximize lifetime benefits, although Social Security deals are somewhat uncertain in the present legislative fight over entitlements.

Have You Been Invited to Retire ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#Retire