Retirement and End of Employment
The University offers its faculty members the option of retiring with or without emeritus status or “phasing” into retirement.
Planning for your retirement is an important, career-long endeavor with serious personal, health, and financial implications. The creation of the Faculty Retirement Planning Guide was motivated by more than 30 UNC-CH faculty retirees who wanted to facilitate a smoother process for still-active faculty by raising awareness of hurdles they faced planning their own retirement. This guide includes their key advice and provides you with information to consider at successive career stages, like:
- Information to guide your mandatory initial choice of UNC retirement program.
- Recommended practices and habits to develop early, which become more important as you
grow older. - Supplemental investment advisory programs to consider throughout your career.
- Steps for executing a smooth transition from active employment to retirement.
- Post-retirement tasks to continue supportive University relationships.
The Retired Faculty Association at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is pleased to have worked with the Provost’s Office and the Office of Human Resources to prepare this guide. Please send your suggestions for guide additions or corrections to rfa@unc.edu.
If you have specific questions or would like to set up an appointment, you can call the UNC-Chapel Hill OHR Benefits & Leave Support Center at 919-962-3071 or send an email to benefits@unc.edu. It is strongly recommended that you meet individually with an OHR Benefits Consultant three to four months in advance of your retirement.
UNC-CH Faculty Retirement Planning GuideThe University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-Chapel Hill) Exit Interview Program is designed to offer departing employees with the opportunity to provide feedback about their work engagement components and overall experience while here at UNC-Chapel Hill. Your input is valuable to UNC-Chapel Hill, and we appreciate the contribution of your thoughts and suggestions. The Exit Interview Questionnaire is the primary vehicle in place to capture feedback about benefits, work balance, communication and work environment issues.
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Each faculty member may retire in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 135 of the North Carolina General Statutes “Retirement System of Teachers and State Employees”) at any time. The only exception is that nine-month employees must retire at the end of their contract year, i.e., May 31, June 30 or December 31. For nine-month faculty, any deviation from the usual retirement or resignation date would be exceptional and will require review and approval by the appropriate dean’s office.
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The University of North Carolina Phased Retirement Program is designed to provide an opportunity for eligible full-time tenured faculty members to make an orderly transition to retirement through half-time (or equivalent) service. The goals of the Program are to promote renewal of the professor in order to ensure institutional vitality and to provide additional flexibility and support for individual faculty members who are nearing retirement. The Program is entirely voluntary and will be entered into by a written agreement between an Eligible Faculty Member and the institution.
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The following summarizes guidelines for annual and bonus leave payout and transfer eligibility for faculty members.
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All voluntary and involuntary separations from Senior Academic and Administrative Officer positions (as defined in The University of North Carolina Policy 300.1.1*) are subject to the following terms, consistent with Policy 300.1.6, adopted by the Board of Governors on March 21, 2003, Amended 05/02/2010.
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The following page provides resources and referral information for UNC-Chapel Hill retirees related to continued campus privileges and access to selected University services.
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