Retirees Rights and Benefits FY2018
Committee Details:
Committee: Retirees Rights and Benefits
Committee Category: Standing Committees of the University Senate
Fiscal Year: 2018
Committee Description—
Retirees Rights and Benefits: This committee works to promote communication with retirees, support their participation in the life of the university, inform retirees of their rights, and otherwise improve the experience of retirees both as an acknowledgment of valued service and as an important asset for the university.
The Committee on Retirees Rights and Benefits shall be composed of two active faculty members, one of whom shall serve as chair; one retired faculty member; one active and one retired unclassified professional staff member; and one active and one retired university support staff member. All of the aforementioned shall serve three-year staggered terms. The committee shall also include the President of the Endacott Society or designate, and an ex-officio, non-voting member from the office of the Provost.
Members—
Chair: Elspeth Healey, Libraries (2019)
Faculty: Mark Ferrell, Music (2019)
Doug Houston, Emeritus Faculty, dhouston@ku.edu, (2019)
Unclassified Staff: Ruth Hatfield, EDU Social & Bio-behavioral SSC, (2018)
Retired Unclassified Staff: Barbara Menke, (2018)
University Support Staff: Amy Big Eagle, Watkins (2019)
Retired University Support Staff: Dennis Constance
Allen Wiechert, President of Endacott Society, WIECHERT@ku.edu (or designee)
Ex officio, non-voting: Chris Brown, Vice Provost, Faculty Development
Charges—
Approved by SenEx: June 1, 2017
Approved by University Senate: September 7, 2017
Standing charges:
none
Specific charges:
- For further information or to schedule a meeting with SenEx to discuss charges or the committee’s work, contact SenEx Chair Suzanne Shontz shontz@ku.edu
- Minutes of each meeting should be e-mailed to the Governance Office (govern@ku.edu) as they are approved. The minutes will be posted to the Governance web site
- If the committee is recommending a change to university policy or rules, SenEx must officially receive that recommendation by March 13, 2018 in order to meet timeline requirements for full review by Governance.
- Please send a report of the committee’s actions on each of the charges, as well as any recommendations the committee wishes to make concerning charges or membership for the following academic year, to University Governance, at govern@ku.edu, and submit the final report by April 13, 2018.
- Promote all appropriate means of communication with retirees, with special emphasis on seeking information from them about their needs and concerns.
- Consult with SenEx about views and concerns related to retirees.
- Seek feedback from retirees and University offices about the Retirees Handbook and work with staff to ensure that it remains current. (ongoing)
- Review and, if necessary, update the Committee’s standing charges.
- Follow-up and monitor the changes and links to the retiree handbook from specific charge 3.
- Consider specific steps that the University can take to make KU more “retiree friendly,” particularly those steps that have low financial costs.
- Work with HR to develop additional current information about the process of retiring, about post-retirement health plans, etc.
- Finalize the official website (i.e.,KU Retirees site) with the KU Retirees Handbook.