‘The students will feel it’: University of Nebraska offers buyouts to 500-plus professors
LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — The University of Nebraska is offering a tenured buyout program for faculty and staff starting this fall.
In a letter to faculty and staff on Friday, President Jeffrey Gold said the program is part of “ongoing efforts to position the University of Nebraska for long-term strength and financial sustainability.”
This announcement comes amid systemwide budget reductions.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is scrambling to cut $27.5 million from its budget by the end of the year.
The new Voluntary Separation Incentive Program is eligible to tenured faculty across each of NU’s campuses.
According to NU, tenured faculty age 62 or older with at least 10 years of service will be eligible to receive a payment equal to 70% of their base salary.
NU said more than 500 professors would qualify, but the university isn’t sure how many will take the offer.
John Shrader, a journalism professor and the president of UNL’s Faculty Senate, said he’s worried about the unintended consequences of the program.
“It’s just a little bit of a crapshoot, and they know it,” he said. “Because they don’t know really for sure who is going to apply for this and who isn’t.”
Shrader said it could disproportionately impact certain departments on campus.
“Sometimes you hope people will take it, and they don’t,” he said. “And some of the people you’d like to stay take it, and they leave.”
Gold said the program “reflects a broader commitment to thoughtful planning and stewardship — work that benefits from the talent and contributions of our entire university community.”
“We believe it is both appropriate and timely to offer a flexible retirement option to our most senior faculty, many of whom have given decades of service to the university and played a significant role in advancing the university’s mission,” he said in his letter.
Gold also said the VSIP offers a meaningful pathway to retirement for faculty and staff and allows the university to “strategically realign resources.”
But Shrader is concerned over how this — and other budget cuts — will impact the quality of education for students.
“If people who are really experienced, who are tenured professors, who are great researchers, who are great teachers leave, and too many of them leave at once, the students will feel it,” he said. “They really will.”
Applications for the VSIP will be accepted through Sept. 30. Those accepted into the program will be notified before Nov. 3, and the payments will be made next summer.
More information about the program can be found on the University of Nebraska system’s website.
