Skip to main content

Eligibility

  • Retirement eligibility & policies
    • A tenured faculty member, senior lecturer, renewable term lecturer, and associate or full clinical professor in the School of Law is eligible to retire after ten years of service at Santa Clara University and after reaching age 55.
    • A faculty member must notify the chair, dean and provost one full year before the academic year in which retirement is to begin.

    Phased retirement eligibility & policies
    • A tenured faculty member or senior lecturer is eligible to apply for phased retirement after seven years of service at Santa Clara University, and usually not earlier than age 55.
    • Phased retirement involves a reduction in University responsibilities with a corresponding decrease in salary, over a period no longer than five years.
    • Compensation is proportional to the level and distribution of responsibilities for teaching, scholarship, and service.
    • Faculty in phased retirement maintain benefits including health care, long term disability, life insurance, retirement and supplemental retirement plans, and tuition remission.
    • Phased retirement does not affect tenure, rank, membership in the Faculty Senate, or any faculty privileges.  Faculty in phased retirement may be asked to share office space.
    • Phased Retirement Agreement Template
    • Phased Retirement FAQs for Faculty
    • Phased Retirement FAQs for Chairs and Deans

    Agreement

    • Planned reduction in teaching, scholarship & service with a corresponding reduction in salary
    • Percent reduction in responsibility based on individual desiderata 
    • No effect on tenure status, rank, membership in Faculty Senate, or other faculty privileges

    Timeline and responsibilities

    • Faculty phase into retirement for up to five years
    • Period of phasing may be shortened at faculty request
    • Responsibilities may be further reduced at faculty request, but may not be increased

    Compensation 

    • Reduction in salary corresponds to reduction in responsibilities for teaching, scholarship & service 
    • Base salary for computation is salary of year before phased retirement begins 
    • Salary subject to merit increases

    Benefits

    • No reduction in benefits during phased retirement
    • Benefits include health care, long term disability (to the extent eligibility criteria are met), life insurance, pre-tax deductions, retirement & supplemental retirement plan, tuition remission, etc. 
    • Employer contribution to retirement plan based on actual salary
    • Faculty typically maintain office space

    Application and approval process

    • Faculty member consults with the Associate Provost for Faculty Personnel and Policy, ideally one year prior to planned start of phased retirement
    • Provost’s Office prepares preliminary draft of Phased Retirement Agreement 
    • Chair and Dean are consulted as needed
    • Faculty member and Provost affirm draft agreement
    • Provost’s office prepares formal agreement for signatures of Provost and faculty member