New Retirement Deal Could Offer Relief to Pennsylvania’s Struggling Public Colleges

Bryan Thomas for The Chronicle

Pennsylvania’s troubled system of public higher education could have newfound flexibility to respond to declining enrollments following the news that it had struck a deal with its faculty union for a new “phased” retirement program.

The agreement, ratified on Wednesday between the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, known as Passhe, and the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, the union that represents professors and coaches in the system, would qualify nearly 1,000 full-time faculty members for retirement this fall.

Under the deal, senior faculty members could taper off their workload at reduced pay for up to three years.

Other public-university systems have similar programs, but the new agreement could have significant effects for Passhe. A wave of tenured-faculty retirements would be a relief for the bottom lines of the system’s 14 universities, many of which have struggled with dropping enrollment and budget deficits. System leaders, university presidents, and union leaders have spent the past few years involved in sometimes-fractious discussions about how to revamp the system, including how to reshape or possibly cut academic programs.

The deal also is an early win for Daniel Greenstein, the system’s new chancellor, who faces a daunting task in turning around its trajectory.

When Greenstein, the former director of postsecondary success at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, took over Passhe last year, one of the challenges he inherited was a contentious relationship between the system and the union. “We do have a pretty tense history,” said Kenneth M. Mash, president of the union.

Greenstein has approached negotiations over the retirement agreement, and for a new faculty contract, using interest-based bargaining, a strategy that looks for things each party can agree on rather than staking out a position.

The agreement represents “an example of system leadership and faculty working together,” said Cynthia D. Shapira, chair of the system’s Board of Governors, in a written statement. She thanked the union’s leaders and members “for this important step forward.”

“It’s a good sign that we were able to get this done,” Mash said. “I’m hoping this is a harbinger of good things to come as far as us being able to work out issues in a collaborative fashion.”

The agreement, which is in effect for three years, requires professors be 60 or older and have 15 years of service to qualify for retirement.

David Pidgeon, the system’s director of public relations, said in an email that “what drives this program is faculty will have a creative option when they are making a decision on retirement,” but he acknowledged that the system “could potentially see savings.”

Mash said he was concerned that the deal would speed the influx of adjunct faculty members and might leave some departments short-handed. But he hopes, he said, that it will allow faculty members who love what they’re doing to take “that step from all to nothing that keeps them going from year to year.”

Lee Gardner writes about the management of colleges and universities, higher-education marketing, and other topics. Follow him on Twitter @_lee_g, or email him at lee.gardner@chronicle.com.