Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

University of Missouri Offers Buyouts To Older Faculty At Kansas City And Other Campuses

UMKC Provost Barbara Bichelmeyer announced Friday that buyout offers would be extended to tenured faculty this spring as the UM System tightens its belt.
UMKC Marketing & Communications
/
Flickr--CC
UMKC Provost Barbara Bichelmeyer announced Friday that buyout offers would be extended to tenured faculty this spring as the UM System tightens its belt.

The University of Missouri-Kansas City, as well as the other three campuses in the UM System, will extend buyout offers to tenured faculty nearing retirement age, it was announced Friday.

“We’ve got to make sure we’re doing everything we can to alleviate any financial pressure,” MU spokesman Christian Basi said, though he was “not ready to speculate” on whether more layoffs would be coming if too few employees took buyouts.

To be eligible for the one-time, lump sum payment, faculty members must be full-time, benefit eligible employees with five or more years of service. They must be 62 or older and not under investigation. The payout is one and a half times their salary, capped at $200,000.

“If we have the financial flexibility to use those salary lines, we can bring in stellar, younger faculty members, potentially changing the direction of research and looking at new technology,” Basi said.

Earlier this year, UM System President Mun Choi called for $260 million for scholarships, faculty recruitment and research.

Basi says those conversations will begin in earnest once the Missouri legislature convenes in January.

KCUR is licensed to the University of Missouri Board of Curators and is an editorially independent community service of the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Elle Moxley covers education for KCUR. You can reach her on Twitter @ellemoxley.

Copyright 2018 KCUR 89.3

Elle covers education for KCUR. The best part of her job is talking to students. Before coming to KCUR in 2014, Elle covered Indiana education policy for NPR’s StateImpact project. Her work covering Indiana’s exit from the Common Core was nationally recognized with an Edward R. Murrow award. Her work at KCUR has been recognized by the Missouri Broadcasters Association and the Kansas City Press Club. She is a graduate of the University Of Missouri School Of Journalism. Elle regularly tweets photos of her dog, Kingsley. There is a wounded Dr. Ian Malcolm bobblehead on her desk.