400 University of Iowa workers want early retirement

More than 400 University of Iowa employees have applied for an early retirement incentive in the program's first month, President Sally Mason said this week.

UI officials must trim several hundred jobs this year because of state budget cuts. The hope is that most, if not all, of the cuts can come through retirements and attrition so layoffs can be avoided.

When asked if there would be enough retirements to avoid layoffs, Mason said: “We don't know yet.” She met Thursday with The Gazette editorial board.

Not all UI employees who apply for the incentive will be approved, Mason said. The point of the program is to save money, she said, so the UI is looking for people it won't have to immediately replace.

Two months remain for applications.

“It's going well,” Mason said. “At this point, it's exceeding our expectations” for savings.

Similar early retirement incentive programs at Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa have stopped taking applications.

ISU will approve about 210 employees for early retirement, saving $13.6 million in total salary and benefits. But that won't be the net savings to ISU, spokesman John McCarroll said. ISU officials must determine which employees must be replaced, so the net savings won't be known for a while, he said.

The early retirement group at ISU is heavy on professional and scientific and merit staff and light on faculty, he said.

That also is the case at UNI, said Tom Schellhardt, vice president for financial services.

UNI will approve about 120 staff for early retirement, many more that the projected 80, he said. UNI will save about $4 million with early retirements.

“It has been popular,” Schellhardt said. “We were able to avoid possible layoffs.”

The state trimmed funding to regent institutions $86 million this fiscal year, but $80 million was covered by federal stimulus money. Institutions must cut $6 million this year but must also prepare for next year and its uncertainty.