Terminal Leave Policy, Procedures and Forms

1. Before the faculty member negotiates arrangements for a terminal leave, the faculty member should meet with a with a Benefits Office staff member to discuss retirement eligibility, income options, benefits coverage, required paperwork, post-retirement employment constraints, and the optimum date of retirement. A letter confirming the meeting has occurred is signed by the Benefits Office staff member and forwarded to the chair/unit head of the faculty member’s tenure home.
2. The department chair/unit head and the faculty member draw up a draft of the Terminal Leave Agreement. If the faculty member has a joint appointment with funding of the terminal being the responsibility of both units, each unit head must be consulted in drawing up the terminal leave agreement.   Note that terminal leave agreements usually preclude other preretirement arrangements such as boosts to salary and postretirement returns to employment. See the University's Policy on Terminal Leave for additional guidelines.
3. The draft of the Agreement and Benefits letter must be forwarded to the Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs who will, after consulting with the Legal Office and the Office of Personnel and Budgetary Affairs, offer guidance to the faculty member’s unit head. Terminal leaves are not offered routinely. Strong justification is required for the granting of such leaves and the unit head may wish to include a memo stating these justifications.
4. Once preliminary agreement has been obtained, the unit head gives the faculty member the Resignation and Retirement Agreement. He/she has 21 days to sign and submit the agreement to the chair. However, the faculty member may withdraw from the agreement at anytime prior to submission of the material to the president.
5. The chair signs the agreement and forwards it and the benefits letter to the dean. (When the appointment is joint, all participating unit's chairs and deans must sign the agreement.)
6. The dean signs the agreement and forwards it and the benefits letter to the Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs, 1119 Main Administration Building.
7. The president's signature of the terminal leave agreement creates a binding agreement between the faculty member and the university.  Copies of the terminal leave are distributed to the faculty member, chair, dean, and the payroll and personnel officers. The original material is kept in the Office of the Provost.  If the president fails to approve the terminal leave, a new retirement agreement may be negotiated.