This paper provides a discussion of the issues and
challenges that are presented in the recent literature concerning faculty
retirement and the impacts this phenomenon has on colleges and universities as
well as practical suggestions for administratively planning. Faculty retirement is an issue that has the potential
for tremendous impact on institutions of higher education. In the coming decade there will likely be a
generational shift in the faculty through retirements and rehiring and this
will test many institutions in their efforts to maintain a strong core faculty
strength in their curricula, research and service missions not to mention the
affects this change with have on institutional governance and culture. It is also important that academic administrators
and others involved in leading institutions of higher education consider how
retirement should be managed, encouraged, perhaps tactically discouraged and
strategically planned for in the present and over the next few decades.
