Taking the "Taboo" Out of Retirement: Reimagining Later Academic Life

In the spring of 2017, in partnership with the Academic Advancement Network at Michigan State University, Professor Roger Baldwin sponsored a free symposium to explore senior faculty development and retirement in higher education. The symposium was framed by the research and collaborations of Dr. Baldwin, who currently holds the Dr. Mildred B. Erickson Distinguished Chair in Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education. The purpose of the Chair position is to enhance scholarship and to support activities consistent with the values and ideals of Dr. Mildred Erickson, a former higher education doctoral student and eventual assistant dean for lifelong education programs at MSU. Every three years, a HALE faculty member is selected to hold this Chair and receives endowed funds for research. Dr. Baldwin has dedicated his recent scholarship to the later stages of the academic career, including the retirement and emeritus phase, as well as the role of retired staff. He has surveyed higher education retirement organizations and colleagues at institutions across the country to learn how to ease the transition to retirement and amplify the value of retiring faculty and administrators to their institution. 

In recent years, discussions surrounding the roles, contributions, and professional pathways for senior faculty have been on the rise. Research has shown that senior faculty who remain actively engaged in their work beyond the traditional retirement age gain both physical and mental benefits from continued work, through issues surrounding delayed and forced retirement of tenured faculty have made pathways to retirement a taboo topic in many higher education institutions. Retired Faculty Organizations (RFOs) and Emeritus Colleges, however, have begun to appear in universities and colleges throughout

In recent years, discussions surrounding the roles, contributions, and professional pathways for senior faculty have been on the rise. Research has shown that senior faculty who remain actively engaged in their work beyond the traditional retirement age gain both physical and mental benefits from continued work, though issues surrounding delayed and forced retirement of tenured faculty have made pathways to retirement a taboo topic in many higher education institutions. Retired Faculty Organizations (RFOs) and Emeritus Colleges, however, have begun to appear in universities and colleges throughout the United States as a way to provide personal and professional services to senior and retiring faculty. These organizations provide an opportunity for colleges and universities to engage their most experienced and dedicated employees in ways that foster meaningful, productive relationships for both faculty and institutions.

Keynote speakers for the symposium included Fernando Torres-Gil, Professor of Social Welfare and Public Policy and Director of the Center for Policy Research on Aging at UCLA, and Carole Goldberg, Vice Chancellor of Academic Personnel at UCLA. These speakers were joined by Baldwin and fellow MSU faculty member Ann Austin to facilitate group discussions on senior faculty development and retirement in higher education and explore organizational models that can be used to foster productive collaboration between senior faculty and their affiliated universities. HALE graduate assistants Brett Say and Angie Belin attended the event to relay their experience with designing the RO study and analyzing the data collected, as well as their interactions with higher education ROs across the country over the past year.

The symposium took place in MSU’s Henry Center for Executive Development on March 22nd, 2017. Group breakout sessions covered topics ranging from senior faculty career pathways to how administrative leaders can utilize the expertise of senior faculty. The day concluded with a session titled “Moving Forward” in which a panel of deans, chairs and academic administrators across MSU addressed the university's efforts in supporting retiring faculty.