October
2, 2006
As representatives of a nascent Texas State Retired Faculty and Staff
Association, we respectfully request that a special ad hoc committee be
created to study and propose revisions to UPPS 04.04.53, “Honors and
Benefits for Retired Faculty and Staff.”
This committee should include representatives from the faculty, the staff, the administration, and the retirees, that is, the major stakeholders in the policy.
The committee should be instructed to assure that all interested parties have the opportunity to make suggestions and to review preliminary drafts before the final report is issued.
Attached is a draft revision of the UPPS which reflects our current thinking. We recommend that our draft, the 7-3-06 draft originating in the office of the Special Assistant to the President, and the current UPPS be provided to the committee at the time it is charged.
Marianne Reese and Everette Swinney
Co-Chairs, Retired Faculty and Staff Association
DRAFT
10/03/2006 Ev
Swinney and
Marianne Reese, Co-Chairs, RFSA
Bold
indicates additions/strikethrough shows deletions.
Honors
and Benefits for Retired Faculty and Staff
Retired Friends of Texas State UPPS
No. 04.04.53
Issue
No. 5
Effective
Date: 6/5/02
Review:
May 1 E4Y
01. POLICY
STATEMENTS
01.01 We
at Texas State are committed to supporting the educational mission of
the institution through efficient information storage and retrieval,
appropriate auditing procedures, professional personnel services, and a
safe environment. The following procedure contributes to the
fulfillment of this policy.
01.021 Retired faculty, staff and administrators
constitute a vital part of the University community. It is appropriate
for the University to maintain and encourage relationships with retired
faculty, staff, and administrators.
01.032 Systematic relationships between the
University and retired faculty, staff, and administrators should will
be maintained through University Advancement. an
organization, Retired Friends of Texas State designed for that
purpose.
This
UPPS documents the benefits and courtesies to be made available to
retiring faculty, staff, and administrators.
01.054 In addition, to membership in the Retired
Friends of Texas State eligible
faculty upon retirement may qualify to receive the title of Instructor
Emeritus, Assistant Professor Emeritus, Associate Professor Emeritus or
Professor Emeritus in accordance with policies outlined in Regents’ Rules
and Regulations and
the procedures established by the Provost and Vice
President for Academic Affairs.
02. PROCEDURES
ELIGIBILITY
FOR MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS
02.01
Members of the Retired Friends of Texas State Individuals
eligible for the benefits described in this policy
are defined as all of those persons who have retired from faculty,
staff, or administrative positions at Texas State. and who apply
for membership. "Retired" shall be defined, in accordance with UPPS
No. 04.04.51, as those persons eligible for full retirement benefits or
reduced annuity benefits as determined under Coordinating Board
provisions. However, once a member gives up his/her retiree status
(see Section 02.04 below), the individual will no longer be eligible
for membership benefits unless an honorary status (Section 02.03) is
given.
02.02 Membership
application forms are available through the Director, Special Projects.
02.032 Some
honorary memberships benefits
are available to persons in the community who have close and
abiding ties to Texas State, such as surviving spouses of retirees who are recommended by the
Retired Faculty and Staff Association or
as defined by the organization. Honorary memberships are processed
within guidelines established by Retired Friends of Texas State and are
individually recommended by the and
approved by the
President's Cabinet of Texas State University-San Marcos. upon the
request of Retired Friends of Texas State.
02.043 Faculty on "modified or phased retirement"
employment are not eligible for membership most of
the automatic and optional benefits enumerated in this UPPS. (i.
e., voluntary modification of employment or phased retirement status).
02.05 There
shall be no fees for membership in this organization.
03. MEMBERSHIP
BENEFITS
03.01 The Director,
Special Projects University Advancement
will coordinate the provision of membership benefits,
the scheduling of meeting rooms, stationery requests and limited
secretarial services for the organization committee enumerated
below.
03.02 Benefits of
individual membership include:
[Note:
the following list should have labels or headers on each paragraph in a
format similar to that used on “Retiree Special Privileges List” at http://www.humanresources.txstate.edu/benefits.htm]
a.
University identification card provided by I.D. Services denoting
"retired staff" or denoting previous academic rank and the designation
"retired faculty." In the case
of holders of an emeritus title, the identification card shall denote
the appropriate emeritus title. University identification cards for
individuals with "honorary membership" will be approved by the Office
of Special Projects;
b. a library card privileges
with the university ID card.
c. a complimentary restricted parking
decal and gate control card,
available through Parking Services.
e. a minimum order (currently 250) of
business cards with last rank/title, "retired," and the appropriate
emeritus title if applicable printed at cost, available through the
University Print Shop and paid for by the retiree;
f. Currents Newsletter and
Hillviews magazine;
g. upon request, two (2) complimentary
season passes to Fine Arts events;
h. an office in the department from
which the individual retired, when available (availability determined
by the specific department);
i. Guardian Club newsletter and
other mail outs;
j. discounts of 10 to 20
percent
from the University Bookstore on certain most
purchases;
k. honorary Alumni Association
membership; and
l. free
semester or annual
membership to the Student Recreation
Center at the same rates as benefit-eligible faculty and staff(upon
request).
m.
One year free membership in the Texas State Retired Faculty and Staff
Association.
n. Retiree
health insurance benefits are available through the Employees
Retirement System (ERS) to employees at 65 years of age with 10 years
of service or when the Rule of 80 is met. Contact the Human Resources
Office, JCK, Suite 360 / hr@txstate.edu
/ (512)245-2557. [Comment: the
language here is from the Retirement Programs General Information page
on the HR website. Our suggestion is to use it to replace old paragraph
3.04, below.]
o. Retirees may retain their Texas State Net ID and continue
to use Bobcat Mail and other resources, subject to adherence to
University policy regarding appropriate usage (see http://www.txstate.edu/effective/upps/upps-04-01-07.html). [Comment: This
is one of our most important privileges and should be added to the
list.]
p. Informally audit courses at no charge, provided space is
available. Contact the appropriate department and instructor. [Comment:
This is done at lots of institutions. It costs nothing and,
potentially, is a wonderful source of intellectual stimulation.]
q. Retirees who request it
should be added to those university, school, and departmental email
lists which are used to send information to all faculty and/or staff.
r. Holders of emeritus titles shall retain membership (without
vote) in university, school, and departmental committees of which they
were members at the time of retirement.
s. Holders of emeritus titles who were members of the graduate
faculty at the time of retirement shall be eligible to serve on thesis
and/or dissertation committees, subject to approval of the departmental
chair and the dean of the graduate school.
t. Holders of emeritus titles shall be listed annually in the Texas State Directory and biennially in the university catalog.
03.03 The University will allow
organization of "Retired Friends of Texas State" to utilize a classroom
or other appropriate space for occasional meetings, depending upon
availability.
Retirees
may be eligible to continue certain group insurance coverage and
receive the monthly state insurance benefit. Eligibility information is
available through the University Human Resources Office.
03.03
Departments
and/or schools are encouraged to list emeriti faculty (with email
addresses if available and biographical material if desired) on their
web sites. At the University level, inclusion of retirees with Net IDs
in the txstate web people search database should be explored and
implemented if practicable. [Comment: if the institution values its
retirees, it needs to do a better of job of keeping track of who they
are and facilitating contact.]
We
have suggested no changes in Section 04 which follows. This portion of
the UPPS will need to be carefully revised after the policy issues have
been agreed upon.
04. PROCEDURES
FOR BESTOWING BENEFITS
The
Director, Special Projects, is responsible for:
a. at the beginning of each Spring
semester, securing a list of those individuals who are scheduled to
retire that term from the Vice President of Academic Affairs and the
Director of Human Resources;
b. arranging for all automatic honors,
which usually will be presented at an annual ceremony which is combined
with the service awards reception (See UPPS No. 04.04.54, Years of
Service Awards);
c. working with the Director, Media
Relations and Publications, regarding prior publicity, news and
photography coverage of the event, and post publicity;
d. preparing appropriate
correspondence, evaluations, etc., for the event;
05. REVIEWERS OF
THIS UPPS
05.01 Reviewers
of this UPPS include the following:
Position
Date
Mr. Kevin Gilley, Director, Special Projects
May 1 E4Y
Mr. John
McBride, Director, Human Resources
Ms. Sharon Nusbaum, Manager, ID Services May
1 E4Y
Chair, Staff Council
May 1 E4Y
Chair, Faculty Senate May 1
E4Y
06. CERTIFICATION
STATEMENT
This UPPS has been approved by
the following in their official capacities, and represents Texas State
policy and procedure from the date of this document until superseded.
Mr. Kevin Gilley, Director,
Special Projects; senior reviewer of this UPPS
Mr. Gerald Hill, Vice
President for University Advancement
Dr. Denise M. Trauth, President