Retirement incentive proposal goes to regents

Iowa State will present a proposal for a specialized retirement incentive program (SRIP) to the State Board of Regents when it meets next week in Ames. If approved, the SRIP would be limited to tenured faculty in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) or in one of the six departments LAS jointly administers with the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

The retirement option is one of the first components announced in LAS' multiyear plan to resize its budget to reflect changes in student enrollment and demand for academic programs. The intent is to meet its budget goal by June 2026.

The board will meet in the Reiman Ballroom at the ISU Alumni Center Wednesday afternoon, April 6, and Thursday morning, April 7. The agenda is online, and open portions of the meeting will be livestreamed on the board's website.

As proposed, the application window for the retirement incentive program would be Oct. 3-Dec. 2 this fall, with retirement required by June 30, 2023. Besides tenure, other proposed eligibility requirements are:

• Age plus continuous service (on retirement date) total at least 70 years
• Minimum age (on retirement date): 60 years
• Eligible for Iowa State benefits
• Employee isn't already participating in a retirement plan and didn't previously receive permission to retire or resign

Participants would select from two incentive options:

• Two years of health and dental coverage (employer and employee costs) up to the self and spouse/partner level; and two years of monthly employer's retirement contributions. IPERS plan participants would receive all contributions in one up-front payment.
• Three years of employer's retirement contributions (again in one payment for IPERS plan participants).

These mirror two of the three options in Iowa State's 2021 retirement incentive option program, which 318 faculty and staff participated in as part of a broader university plan to trim operating budgets in the face of reduced state appropriations and tuition revenue.

An estimated 127 tenured faculty would be eligible for the focused program. Actual savings would depend on how many faculty participate and which incentive option they select. The university would report participation and savings data to the board at its September 2023 meeting.

Promotion and tenure requests

Iowa State leaders also will seek final approval for promotions for 76 faculty for the 2022-23 academic year. That compares to 69 requests (33 female, 36 male) a year ago and 98 (49 each) in spring 2020. Once the board approves the promotions, the full list will be posted on the provost's website. The recommended promotions are:

ISU faculty promotions: 2022-23

In anticipation of board discussion about fiscal year 2023 salary increase parameters at the June meeting, representatives of the three universities for employees not covered by a union contract will share comments with the board. At Iowa State, those include supervisory and confidential staff, professional and scientific staff, and faculty.

Iowa State requests

In other business, Iowa State will seek board permission:

• To add two graduate degree programs: a master of entrepreneurship in the department of management and entrepreneurship, and a master of community development in the College of Design.
• To close the Center for Catalysis in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences on June 30.
• To add a new major, professional studies, to the Bachelor of Liberal Studies program at all three regent universities. Each school would be able to have select areas of emphasis, minors or certificates available to its professional studies students.
• For parking permit rates for the year that begins July 1.
• For student housing and dining rates for the year that begins July 1.
• For a $3 million project to replace the 24-year-old roof and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) rooftop system at the Administrative Services Building, and tie in the new HVAC system to the campus chilled water system. If approved, the project could begin this summer and conclude in fall 2023.

Presentations

These ISU faculty and staff will participate in presentations to board members:

• Dean of library services Hilary Seo, update on library collaborations, to the academic affairs committee (Wednesday afternoon)
• Vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion Sharon Perry Fantini, annual update from university diversity officers, to the campus and student affairs committee (Wednesday afternoon)
• Director of student wellness Brian Vanderheyden, presentation on campus substance abuse support, to the campus and student affairs committee (Wednesday afternoon)
• Professor of electrical and computer engineering Hongwei Zhang and professor of mechanical engineering Baskar Ganapathysubramanian; joint presentation on two new ISU research centers that support Iowa families and industries, to the full board (Thursday morning)