Approval of Previous Minutes —

Meeting minutes from Jan. 17, 2024. Motion to approve by Gary Minden. Seconded by Dave Ekerdt. Motion passed unanimously.

Unfinished Business —

Beth Benfield provided an update regarding retiree access to Microsoft Office products, as well as IT’s reasoning for such limits. The first issue is that access would have to be provided to all retirees, regardless of whether they use the products. This becomes a cost obstacle. The second issue pertains to security. IT services would face an increased load for providing security support and managing communication to retirees, as well as incorporating DUO authentication. Dave Ekerdt suggested that this reasoning be shared with retirees so that people can understand why they lose access.

Beth also spoke with Alicia Reed from the Office of Research about data retention. Alicia stipulated that the current data retention policy needs to be updated. Beth will share some links. Regarding the specific data from the retiree survey, the data officially belongs to KU. The current policy states that data reports are stored for 5 years, but it is also dependent on terms and conditions of the research sponsor. The Office of Research wants to work with the Libraries on developing a data repository. The Office is also supposed to reach out to researchers while they are in the process of retiring to help determine if their data and research should be transferred to another entity at KU. The Office is noticing that there are increased lag times between researchers being notified and the person retiring. Beth added that researchers are not supposed to transfer KU documents to a personal storage drive.

Gary Minden provided an update from the Endacott Society. Endacott representatives will participate in an informational presentation sponsored by HRM and will host another “Voices of Experience” session. These will be opportunities to communicate with current or prospective retirees.

New Business —

Brainstorm Final Report

Gary observed that the survey indicates that retirees appreciate access to their email address, subsidized parking, and library resource access. There was expressed desire for event ticket discounts. He also noted that KU’s focus on tradition could also extend to a stated value of retirees.

Beth Benfield noted that the retiree handbook still needs some work (e.g., rephrasing “handbook,” developing a concise checklist). Beth can check back with Madi Vannaman regarding whether HRM already has a checklist. Amy Mendenhall shared departure checklists that are available on the HRM website (https://humanresources.ku.edu/departure-resources), but these do not specifically refer to retirement. The RRB Committee could recommend and/or help spearhead this in partnership with HRM. Committee members could act as potential retirees and attempt to gather information to see where there is a resource gap.

Dave Ekerdt noted that providing such concise and accessible resources would help KU demonstrate that it values retirees. He shared several written statements that the committee could incorporate into its final report to communicate these recommendations.

The committee continued discussing strategies for writing the final report, including reviewing the charges. There was consensus that Standing Charge #4 is not feasible and presents a data security issue. Dave will transcribe the statements he shared, and the committee will work from this document at their next meeting.

Beth asked if Caty or Amy had any items to bring to the committee’s attention. Caty mostly has insight into committee process, and Amy’s office mostly deals with faculty pursuing phased retirement or emeritus status. Faculty Affairs has also been involved in discussions about the annual retiree celebration.