Not long after Diane Lee retired from the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, she ran into the university’s president, Freeman A. Hrabowski III. How’s retirement going?, he asked her. “It’s harsh,” she said. She explained that she had lost the sense of close community she experienced at the place where she had worked for 30 years, most recently as vice provost and dean for undergraduate academic affairs, and the ending felt too abrupt.
With that encounter was born the idea of reviving the Wisdom Institute, which helps UMBC’s retirees stay linked to the university community as volunteers and occasionally as temporary workers, as well as providing them with opportunities to continue teaching and learning. Lee now runs the institute part time from South Carolina, where she moved to be near her grandchildren.
In resurrecting the institute, UMBC joined colleges around the country that have programs to help retirees stay engaged. The programs that are campus-funded are often run by people like Lee, who are filling a role after their own retirement from the institution.
“It’s been a wonderful opportunity and a great way of bringing to life the whole notion of lifelong learning,” says Lee, who became director of the institute when it restarted, in early 2018. She looked to the Association of Retirement Organizations in Higher Education, which offers guidance to its more than 100 members through conferences and newsletters. Among the members are many volunteer-led retiree associations that may collaborate with the university but operate separately from it. Others are campus-supported centers, like the one at UMBC, which is run through the provost’s office. Several others are emeritus colleges, which promote continued scholarship and research by professors emeriti.
The Wisdom Institute can help former faculty and staff members accept the losses that make retirement scary — loss of engagement, a sense of belonging, purpose, and identity, says Lee. At UMBC, retirees teach first-year seminars, judge student-essay contests, and mentor students. The admissions office has asked retirees to be budget coaches for students dealing with financial independence for the first time. While much of the retirees’ work is done on a volunteer basis, some of it is paid. “We don’t expect everything to be done for free,” says Lee.
Not only does the institute keep retirees involved, but it’s also a resource for full-time faculty members who need experienced assistants in the classroom and for students who hope to find a mentor. “People support us, and people come to us for support,” says Lee.
The Wisdom Institute was founded in 2012 by two professors, Leslie Morgan and Craig Saper, with the help of a grant, but was discontinued less than two years later, after funding ran out. Backing from UMBC’s provost and president as well as from departments including human resources and IT has made the revival possible, Lee says. Through IT, for instance, retired staff members gained the option to keep their university email accounts.
From South Carolina, Lee relies on phone and video calls to coordinate the institute’s work. She travels to Maryland every other month to attend meetings and events. Her former administrative assistant, who works part time for the institute, makes arrangements that retirees cannot, like paying for food with a university account or reserving spaces on campus. Her role makes all the difference, Lee says.
At Clemson University, a more established effort is led by another retired administrator. Debra Jackson became director of the university’s Emeritus College, a part-time job, in January, a year into her retirement. She’d been vice provost for academic affairs and assistant to the president. With a full-time program coordinator, Jackson takes the requests of the program committee and tries to make them a reality. She also acts as a point of contact for student groups and current faculty members who request the services of Emeritus College members. These include helping graduate students meet English-proficiency requirements through the Language Skills Program or improve their writing.
At the Emeritus College, retirees are encouraged to explore new disciplines and find new passions. Artworks by retirees are exhibited at the college, and retirees choose the topics for seminars. Events held at the off-campus building that houses the college have included social-media workshops and IT-support days, when the university’s IT workers visit to help retirees with their computers.
Being off campus has practical benefits, like the availability of free parking and temporary office space for retirees, which would be at a premium on campus. Some of them have been able to continue their research with the support of the Emeritus College, and one has written two books as an emeritus faculty member, says Jackson.
She reaches out to faculty members when they begin to talk with human-resources staff members about retirement. Parts of the job that some employees found less enjoyable, like grading papers or sitting on committees, may end, but opportunities to stay intellectually active can continue. “Sometimes in retirement,” she says, “you can actually do things that maybe you didn’t have the time to do when you were fully engaged at work.”
In turn, by retaining the involvement of retired faculty and staff members, the university does not have to lose that history and experience. Clemson’s most recent class of Emeritus College members share 410 years of service to the university among 17 people.
“That’s the beauty of retirement in higher ed: You don’t have to quit,” says Jackson. “I won’t say that retirement isn’t scary, but I think when you know that there’s an opportunity for you to continue to be engaged at whatever level you want, there’s some comfort in that, so that you don’t feel like you just all of a sudden won’t have anything to do, that you’re going to sit around in your housecoat and watch 24-hour news channels.”
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