Penn State Fayette employees offered voluntary retirement packages
Faculty and staff at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, were among nearly 1,300 employees statewide offered voluntary retirement packages by Penn State University and expected to accept or decline the offers by the end of the month.
The extent to which the move will impact Penn State Fayette will not be determined until eligible employees make their decisions, said the campus chancellor and chief academic officer Dr. Charles Patrick.
According to Patrick, a “handful” of campus faculty and staff were some of about 1,270 Penn State faculty and non-academic staff members offered retirement packages in order to address budgetary and workforce challenges within the university.
Penn State Fayette will assess its position once those employees make a decision to accept or reject the packages, said Patrick. They have until Sept. 30.
Patrick did not have an exact number of affected employees on hand when reached for comment Thursday afternoon. Penn State employs about 90 at the campus.
According to Penn State spokeswoman Lisa M. Powers, “about 10” employees at the Fayette campus were eligible for retirement packages.
Letters and application packets were sent to retirement-eligible faculty and staff members at the beginning of the month to inform them of the voluntary retirement opportunity.
The total number of affected employees accounts for about 4.7 percent of the university system’s full-time workforce across 24 campuses in Pennsylvania. The packages offer a one-time, lump-sum payment of 100 percent of the employee’s annual base salary.
Patrick said Penn State Fayette employees who were offered packages hold both essential and non-essential positions within the university.
If all the employees accept the offer, he said, the campus would need to fill positions integral to university operations, while other positions could be consolidated or eliminated due to lack of need.
“The university is pretty clear about having those positions re-done,” Patrick said. “The university has been good about working with campuses to ensure we have these covered.”
The university said in a statement that the packages will be offered to about 590 faculty members, including research assistants and academic administrators, such as assistant deans and department chairs.
About 340 of those deemed eligible are from the university’s other campuses around the commonwealth, including more than 200 faculty and more than 130 staff.
Eligible candidates were selected based on years of service and other factors, including the university’s business needs and ensuring that educational and research activities are not interrupted.
Patrick said employees receiving offers have a tough decision to make. He said he has been in contact with several employees offered packages.
“The ones I have spoken with personally, I have advised them to very carefully review their retirement package and to consult with the university and their financial planners to decide whether this is right for them or not,” said Patrick.
“We really hate to see anybody go away,” he said. “But they’re great packages, a reward for a number of years of great service.
“There have been some who said they will take the package. Others said it’s just not their time.”
Staff who accept the package will be able to select a preferred retirement date of Dec. 31 or June 30, 2017. Faculty will have an effective retirement date of June 30, 2017.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.