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LINCOLN — University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Harvey Perlman announced Friday a voluntary separation program that would encourage older faculty members to give up their tenured positions to save money in tight budget times.
Faculty members age 62 and older with 10 years of service would be eligible for the program. They would receive a one-year payment equal to their base salary in exchange for giving up their tenured position.
Perlman said interested faculty members will be given until November to announce their intentions. They would leave their positions at the end of August 2011, the end of the academic year.
Perlman said that about 270 UNL faculty members fit the criteria. Other universities that have implemented similar programs have had from 10 percent to 20 percent of eligible faculty members participate.
The program would be conducted as a pilot limited to UNL, although University of Nebraska President J.B. Milliken said other campus chancellors will be watching whether it succeeds with an interest in implementing similar measures at their campuses.
In response to questions by NU Regents, Perlman said the program would not prevent UNL professors from accepting faculty positions elsewhere in the country, nor would it prevent them from being rehired at UNL in a lower-paying, non-tenured position.
He also said UNL administrators reserve the right to refuse buy-outs to some faculty if their departure would cause difficulties in maintaining academic programs.
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402-473-9581, leslie.reed@owh.com
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