{"id":24175,"date":"2018-03-23T14:06:57","date_gmt":"2018-03-23T18:06:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/college.unc.edu\/?p=24175"},"modified":"2024-07-02T16:54:29","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T16:54:29","slug":"faculty-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/?p=24175","title":{"rendered":"Faculty group studies for the next stage in life"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Hyde Hall is home to the Institute for the Arts and Humanities, which developed the Retired Faculty Program along with the Retired Faculty Association. (photo by Donn Young)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The assigned text for the day\u2019s seminar session, \u201cThe Realities of Aging and Mortality,\u201d was from Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End<\/em> by Atul Gawande. The seminar students also brought their homework, a written reflection on the book\u2019s impact on their thoughts about aging and end-of-life issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so touched by this book and his father and the way he aged and died,\u201d one student said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it would have been very helpful if a pack of Kleenex came along with it,\u201d another observed.<\/p>\n

This wasn\u2019t a seminar for college students. It was for professors, specifically the eight retired and semi-retired academics enrolled in the Retired Faculty Program, a seminar developed by the Retired Faculty Association and the Institute for the Arts and Humanities in the College of Arts & Sciences.<\/p>\n

Somehow it\u2019s not surprising that faculty members would prepare for retirement by taking a semester-long class, complete with a syllabus, assigned readings, homework and discussions led by a facilitator. They have thrived in this kind of learning environment for most of their lives, so why not use that setting to prepare for the major life stage of retirement?<\/p>\n

Time to think and talk<\/h3>\n

That\u2019s part of the rationale behind the Retired Faculty Program. Two pilot seminars in the fall of 2016 and spring of 2017 were so successful that it is now offered annually in the fall. So far, the seminar is run on a small scale, with only eight faculty members per semester, by invitation, to ensure a good mix of disciplines and experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur mission is to empower Carolina\u2019s faculty,\u201d said Mark Katz, director of the Institute for the Arts and Humanities. \u201cWe realized that there was a group that we had not been serving: our retired faculty. We believe that their continued presence on campus only enriches the life of the university. And so we launched the RFP, which has proved to be a natural and very successful extension of our work to create community among faculty across all ranks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\""Our
“Our mission is to empower Carolina’s faculty,” said IAH director Mark Katz.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Program participants come to eight 2\u00bd-hour weekly sessions that include a catered lunch at Hyde Hall. While there, they discuss all aspects of faculty retirement: academic life, physical condition, financial condition, physical environment, family and social support, use of time and quality of life. The fall 2017 co-facilitators were faculty who participated during the 2016-17 year \u2014 Barbara Wasik (School of Education) and Barbara Moran (School of Information and Library Science).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been good to take some time to think about retirement,\u201d said Virginia Gray, a political science professor in her second year of phased retirement. She participated in the most recent seminar. \u201cThe books and discussions have been very helpful to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Comparing notes<\/h3>\n

In their discussions about retirement, the faculty participants found that each had received a slightly different version of the process in their departments. \u201cThere should be a list of things to do by a certain date,\u201d Gray suggested.<\/p>\n

Others agreed that information about the faculty retirement process should be standardized across the University and available in written form. Social Security benefits, changes in health insurance and availability of other resources (office space, library, online access, etc.) are all items to be considered during the process of separation, they said.<\/p>\n

Some participants have opted for phased retirement, working part-time for three years after resigning from a tenured position. They said they were glad the University offered this option so that they could ease out of work slowly and continue to work with their doctoral students.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could see how some people might like that psychologically,\u201d said Karl Petersen, a mathematics professor in his third year of full retirement. \u201cI disagree. I decided it was a bad deal. I looked at it in terms of what it would do for me, financially, and a small arithmetic calculation shows it is a joke.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why every group needs a mathematician,\u201d Moran quipped.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next?<\/h3>\n

Finance, health insurance and other issues like these get discussed at the seminar, but the faculty members also talk about the big picture. What does it mean to be retired? What kind of community is the best fit? What should they do with their free time? How can they stay connected to the University? And, at this particular session, how should they discuss end-of-life issues with friends and family?<\/p>\n

\"Political
Political science professor Virginia Gray said, “It\u2019s been good to take some time to think about retirement.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIn the earlier part of the seminar, we started with the pros and cons of retiring and picturing how we\u2019re setting ourselves up for that next stage of life,\u201d said Catherine Marshall, in her second year of phased retirement from the School of Education. \u201cIn contrast, with a book like Being Mortal, it\u2019s more like \u2018How is it all going to end?\u2019 So it\u2019s been a nice progression for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gwen Sancar, retired from the department of biochemistry and biophysics, said she retired \u201ccold turkey\u201d a little over a year ago \u201cand I\u2019m actually quite enjoying it.\u201d In contrast, \u201cmy husband is not retired, and I don\u2019t think he has any plans to retire.\u201d Far from idle, she and her husband, biochemistry and biophysics researcher Aziz Sancar, have established a home for Turkish students on Franklin Street and are raising money for a larger Turkish cultural center, also on Franklin Street.<\/p>\n

Sancar may be retired, but she\u2019s still close to the University, literally. \u201cI can walk three blocks and be on this campus, amongst the young people here. That is still so important to me, to get that young vibe, to keep me young,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hate to think of walking through this beautiful campus and no longer feeling like I am part of it. That\u2019s a major loss,\u201d Marshall said.<\/p>\n

While some participants have begun to travel more in their newfound leisure time, Petersen said he\u2019s getting tired of travel. \u201cFor the moment, I\u2019m keeping up with my research and more reading and thinking that I didn\u2019t have the time for when I had administrative and teaching duties,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve started doing art,\u201d Marshall said. \u201cThe nice thing about it is that I can say that I\u2019m accomplishing something, without having any deadlines. No monitoring or year-end reports. Woo-hoo! I can just play.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have more time to read,\u201d said Anselmo Lastra, retired from the computer science department. He held up his copy of Being Mortal. \u201cThis book was on my stack, and I hadn\u2019t gotten around to it for two years.\u201d But now, Lastra has finally finished the book. After all, he had to do his homework.<\/p>\n

For more information, contact the Institute for the Arts and Humanities at 919-962-0249.<\/p>\n

By Susan Hudson, University Gazette<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Retired Faculty Program, a seminar developed by the Retired Faculty Association and the Institute for the Arts and Humanities, helps faculty members plan for the next stage in their 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