UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
The Student Voice Since 1903
THURSDAY
FEBRUARY 24, 2000
—Staff photo by Chieko Hara
Three for tea... Emily Dake, left, Lauren Mustain, center, and Anne Lower, right, of UCO's Theater Arts department perform the award-winning play 'Tea in a China Cup" on Feb. 21 in Mitchell Hall. The play focuses heavily on Irish history and the political struggles of Northern Ireland. The actresses portray three generations of a Protestant family who relay the story through flashbacks between the 1930s and present day. The performers travel to Tyler, Texas this week to present the play at the regional Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.
122 faculty members receive early retirement offer University offers $20,000 incentive By N. David Owens
Sta,„„.
T
he university is offering 112 faculty members a $20,000 retirement incentive paid out to faculty that retire effective June 1, said Dr. Don Betz, vice president of academic affairs. "(This will give the university) a chance to review current departments, perhaps reallocate funds," Betz said. The offer will help to lessen the amount of faculty retiring at
one point in time, Betz said. The buy-out decision was made based on a projection that shows that up to 25 percent of 401 university faculty may retire within the next few years, Betz said. "The pattern has been, at institutions our size, about onethird of the eligibles accept (the incentives)," Betz said. It would be fairly easy to recruit replacements for a few retiring professors but it would be nearly impossible to replace such a large number at once,
Betz said. The incentive is meant to encourage faculty who are eligible and planning to retire but are not sure if they want to retire this year or in the near future, Betz said. Betz, who came to UCO last year, has administered similar incentives at his previous two universities, Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma and Palmer College in Davenport, Iowa. The $20,000 figure was chosen because "it was what
level of incentive has been successful at universities of similar size and comparable pay," Betz said. Faculty are eligible for retirement under the state system when they reach the "Rule of 80," according to Oklahoma law. The rule is the result of the mathematical formula: age plus years of teaching equals 80. "Those (instructors retiring from•UCO) will not make a major impact," said Tom Beavers, executive secretary of
the Oklahoma Teachers Retirement System, and UCO alumnus. "However, if every school system in the state did this, it would be a big impact," Beavers said. "It will mean that we will be paying those people earlier and longer, so there will be a cost, but we are (currently) paying $500 million a year in retirement benefits," Beavers said.
• See BUY OUT, Page 3