Dear Colleagues, 

Last month, we shared an update related to the university’s financial picture and our ongoing structural budget deficit. As the message noted, it is important for us to explore strategies that will allow the university to make meaningful changes, as this is key to optimizing the budget and improving our financial results moving forward. 

Today, we can share one of the strategies, as we will be launching a voluntary retirement incentive program (VRIP) for eligible faculty members. One of the reasons we can offer this incentive is because of federal COVID-19 stimulus funding in the form of a one-time tax credit reimbursement to businesses which retained employees during that period. 

This retirement incentive represents one measure that will ultimately benefit the university’s operating budget while also rewarding hard-working faculty who may be considering retirement after years of dedicated service. This VRIP will also enable us to strategically add new tenure-track faculty over time, an important investment in our future. 

The parameters of what we plan to offer are below. 

Overview
Eligible faculty who apply and are accepted into this VRIP agree to retire by June 30, 2026, and they will receive a lump payment equivalent to 12 months of salary plus $50,000. It is important to note that in certain cases, the university may need to work with impacted faculty to adjust retirement dates to best serve students. 

Eligibility
To be eligible for this program, a faculty member must be 

• actively working at Temple University at the time the enrollment period opens and not enrolled in any other retirement program such as transition to retirement or accelerated retirement prior to Oct. 15, 2025. (Any faculty member who is on an approved leave of absence or sabbatical is considered actively at work.)  
• a full-time faculty member who is (i) tenured, (ii) tenure-track or (iii) appointed as a non-tenure-track faculty member under a contract that expires after June 30, 2026, or who has a presumption of continued employment under Article 16.D of the collective bargaining agreement between the university and the Temple Association of University Professors, but is not dually employed by Temple Faculty Practice Plan. 
• 62 years of age or older.
• credited with at least 10 years of continuous service with the university as a full-time faculty member.

In the weeks to come, faculty members who are eligible to apply to the VRIP will receive a communication from Human Resources.

To eligible faculty members, we want to thank you in advance for considering this opportunity. Your service to Temple has been invaluable. We know determining the right time to retire is a deeply personal and complex decision. Our hope is that by sharing our plan with you ahead of winter break, it will allow you additional time to weigh the decision.

Sincerely, 

John Fry 
President 

David Boardman 
Interim Provost