University policies on faculty retirement and emeritus/emerita status may be found in the BU Faculty Handbook. As the policies note, “Emeritus status shall be based upon the recommendation of the faculty member’s department and dean.” Appointment at Emeritus/Emerita Professor status, therefore, begins with a vote of the senior faculty in the department (tenured faculty at the rank or above of the retiring faculty member). The department then makes a recommendation to the Dean of CAS, to whom the President and Provost have delegated authority to approve recommendations for emeritus/emerita status.
Emeritus/emerita faculty members may serve as readers of GRS dissertations or on examination committees within two years of their retirement date without a special service appointment, as long as the faculty member is already acting as a reader or committee member at the point of retirement. A special service appointment is required from the third year after retirement and is required for all situations where a faculty member was not working with a particular student prior to the faculty member’s retirement date. Faculty members are not eligible to serve as first readers where they were not acting in this capacity prior to retirement.
Emeritus/emerita faculty members may, on occasion, be appointed to teach courses after retirement. An extension of service appointment form, which may be found here, must be completed and signed by the department Chair. Compensation is at the standard part-time per-course rate that applies in the department or program where the teaching will take place.
To learn about the perks and resources available to you as a retiree, please visit the Retiree Perks section of the Boston University Human Resources website.
Retirement Resources
The College of Arts & Sciences is committed to working with faculty members as they contemplate retirement, recognizing that each faculty member’s experience is unique. We have gathered resources here, in the form of questions and answers, that are intended to be helpful to faculty members at any stage in their careers, whether retirement is a distant goal or a near-term plan. Much of this information is most applicable to tenured professors. However, some of it also applies to those valued members of our community who are full-time lecturers.
The decision about when to retire is a big one. There are questions of identity post-retirement and of how and whether to continue contributing to the discipline to which you have devoted your professional life. Finances are, of course, also a consideration.
Although we have tried to be as comprehensive as possible, we have probably missed some items of interest. This will necessarily be an evolving document, and input on your own experience or on information you need is welcome.
What questions should I ask myself?
As you think about your future, you will undoubtedly worry about the practicalities, but it’s also important to think about your values and goals. For example,
- Where do you see yourself in five years? How do you want to be spending your days, and where do you want to be living?
- If you are contemplating retirement, do you envision continuing to be professionally active (e.g., through research, writing, advising, mentoring, involvement in professional societies, occasional teaching)?
- Will it be important to you, post-retirement, to maintain connections with members of your department, your discipline, and/or Boston University?
- Do you have non-scholarly interests that you are eager to pursue with more time at your disposal?
Whom should I talk to about retirement?
There are many things you will want to consider, and various people to consult with. In addition to your family and friends, you may start an exploratory retirement conversation with your chair at any time. In other words, you don’t need to present your chair with your decision to retire as a fait accompli but can instead begin a discussion of your plans, including how you want to spend your time until you are fully retired. Relevant considerations might include how much longer you want to continue advising graduate students or teaching particular courses. Other resources include your colleagues and associate dean.
If you have questions about health care options, Human Resources can provide information about long-term health care and health insurance post-retirement.
If you need additional help thinking through your options for the future, you might meet with a representative of the Faculty & Staff Assistance Office.
What have other people written about the transition to retirement?
Other retiring faculty members have written about the experience, addressing practical financial questions as well as more philosophical considerations, such as their obligations to their departments and the continuing vitality of their fields. Here are several of their articles about retirement:
The following two articles come from a different perspective but may also be useful:
What university and college procedures and policies apply to faculty retirement?
The retirement page of the Human Resources website explains the impact of retirement on your BU benefits and includes information on Medicare. You should also set up a meeting with HR when you first start considering retirement so that you understand your options.
Information on retirement and emeritus/emerita status is included in the University faculty handbook and the CAS faculty handbook. Please note that some university benefits are limited to those with emeritus/emerita status. You may want to speak with your chair about being considered for emeritus/emerita status.
A person who leaves BU at the age of 55 or older, with 10 or more years of service at BU, will be considered a retiree.
What is a retirement agreement?
In some cases, retiring professors reach a signed legal agreement with the University about the terms of their retirement. Such an agreement is the culmination of a series of conversations with your chair and the dean’s office. It sets out the date of your retirement, as well as the terms of your employment until that date (fully employed, half-time at half salary, full teaching duties, reduced teaching load, a period of time on paid or unpaid leave, etc.).
The fact that you have signed such an agreement is kept confidential, as are the terms. Your department chair, the dean’s office, and the provost’s office will have the information, but you decide what to let your colleagues know about your plans and when.
Retiring professors who do not pursue a signed legal agreement with the University must submit a resignation letter at least 1 month in advance of their retirement date.
When will I have enough money to retire?
The question of finances is fundamental to retirement planning. The BU Retirement Savings Program guide explains university retirement contributions and your savings options, and it provides useful links and phone numbers.
You can also meet with a representative from Fidelity or TIAA to understand your retirement payment options.
Several online tools are available to estimate your retirement savings and financial needs.
- MyFitAge, provided by BU, estimates the age at which your resources will cover your expenses in retirement and how long those resources will last. You may adjust the assumptions (e.g., target retirement age, age at which you will take Social Security, living expenses) to explore different scenarios.
- BU provides free access to the following financial tools.
MaxiFi Planner – is web-based financial planning software that helps you make all kinds of important decisions about important financial events in your life. When can I retire? When should I take Social Security? What would it mean to switch to part time or a phased retirement plan? The program allows you to build a lifetime model and see your available spending over the course of your life and then measure the impact of all kinds of financial decisions by observing their impact on this smooth spending pattern.
Maximize My Social Security– helps you decide when and how to collect retiree, spousal, survivor, divorcee, parent, and child benefits to achieve the highest lifetime benefits.
In addition, you have access to Income Solutions– offers the tools necessary to easily convert all—or a portion—of your retirement assets into an annuity, which provides a steady income stream you cannot outlive. Because Income Solutions is offered through Boston University, you can purchase income annuities at a group discount or wholesale prices.
What BU programs/benefits exist for retired faculty?
The best source of information is the Human Resources Retirement Perks site, which lists a range of benefits, from email and library access to enrollment in Evergreen courses at a reduced rate and parking discounts.
- To take advantage of many retiree benefits, you will need a Boston University retiree ID card, which can be obtained through Human Resources at 25 Buick Street.
- The Society of Retired Faculty and Staff organizes events that enable University retirees to stay connected with colleagues and friends.
- Retirees can also join the BU Fitness and Recreation Center.
If I’d like to stay connected with my department, how can I do that?
Although you will no longer be a voting member of the faculty, you may remain involved in certain aspects of department life. You should speak with your department chair and department administrator about this; topics to discuss might include the following:
- Can you remain listed on the department web site?
- Do you want to be on particular departmental listservs (e.g., to receive announcements of lectures)?
- Do you want to continue advising graduate students and, if so, for how many years? See the CAS faculty handbook for pertinent requirements.
- Is there a possibility of doing occasional teaching in the future as a part-time lecturer?
What university resources may I continue to use after retirement?
- Information Technology. As your retirement date approaches, set up a meeting with the CAS IT office to work out your specific access needs. You may want to ask about:
- Email. Retired faculty keep their email addresses. Emeritus/Emerita faculty are eligible to retain their Office 365 accounts; all retired faculty are eligible for a BU Gmail account or may arrange to forward their email to a personal (non-BU) account.
- File storage. If you have files stored on a BU server, IT may be able to assist you in moving the files to Google Drive or Dropbox.
- Access to wireless networks when you are on campus.
- Access to software packages licensed to BU. Some software packages may be available to retired faculty, depending on the license.
- Library. Emeritus/Emerita faculty retain library privileges to physical materials and to online resources. As your retirement date approaches, consult with the Mugar circulation desk to determine what steps need to be taken to set up your access after you are removed from BU’s payroll ((617) 353-3732 or by email to mugcirc@bu.edu). Your department administrator can help you with this.
What will happen to my office?
Office space is tight, so the expectation is that retiring faculty members will vacate their offices. Please work with your department administrator, who can assist in providing packing supplies and boxes. Faculty are responsible for moving any personal property from their office.
What can I do with the books, journals, and papers in my office?
In the words of one retiring professor as she empties her office: “Plan ahead, and start thinking ‘lean’ early on.”
- It can be more palatable to pare down your book collection if you know the books you don’t keep will go to an appreciative home. After you have selected the books you will keep in your own collection, here are a few ideas for the rest:
- Schedule “office hours” and invite graduate students and junior faculty to stop by and choose books from your bookshelves.
- Contact your Subject Librarian at Mugar Library. He or she can take a look at your books and determine whether some would contribute to the university’s collection.
- You might be able to sell books to a used bookstore (e.g., Brattle Book Shop, Raven Used Books).
- Stay alert to appeals from libraries outside of the U.S. You may also check the American Library Association for information on international donation and a list of organizations.
- Donate the rest. Some ideas:
- Better World Books
- More Than Words in Waltham is a nonprofit social enterprise that operates a used bookstore to support youth (and will pick up your books).
- Your local library (for its book sale).
- For more ideas, see Lee Skallerup Bessette, Getting Rid of Old Books.
- Journals. You may decide to keep specific issues of print journals and simply recycle those that are now available in online versions.
- Papers.
- Some of the papers in your possession may need to be retained by the university under BU’s records retention policy.
- Some files (like student records) are sensitive and should be disposed of properly, usually by shredding
- IS&T hosts spring and fall shredding events
- Your department administrator can assist, as well.
What’s involved in closing down my laboratory?
Faculty members have primary responsibility for moving out of their laboratory space and winding down their research efforts. This includes arranging for appropriate disposal of chemicals or other hazardous waste. In some cases, laboratories must be decontaminated before work crews can enter to prepare the space for another occupant. Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) can provide guidance on what steps are necessary. You should also think about the disposition of research equipment, supplies, reagents, and/or samples that may be valuable to colleagues within your department or professional field. Note that equipment purchased with either startup funds or external grants is the property of Boston University. Your chair or departmental staff may be able to assist you in finding new homes for items of value and/or disposing of what remains.
What other resources are available?
- AARP is a nonprofit organization with the mission of empowering people to choose how they live as they age. The AARP web site includes information on Social Security and Medicare. The organization, as well as member discounts and information on local chapters.
- Social Security Administration.
- Medicare.