OU offers second retirement incentive

The University of Oklahoma will offer a second voluntary retirement incentive to faculty and staff to further cut personnel costs.

The OU Board of Regents approved the plan Wednesday at a meeting in Oklahoma City.

Nearly 150 faculty and staff members elected to participate in the early retirement program offered last year, which saved the OU $13.7 million, officials said.

The incentive is being offered to employees again this year because the state’s ongoing budget challenges likely will result in additional funding cuts to OU, said Nick Hathaway, OU vice president of administration and finance.

“Last year’s program was painful. We certainly lost a great number of talented members of our community,” Hathaway said. “But it was effective on the budget side in terms of lowering our costs.”

The new program is expected to cut costs by $9.4 million. The only difference from last year’s offer is the age requirement for participation is being lowered from 62 to 60, he said.

Participants must retire by end of 2017.

The incentive payment for full-time faculty and staff will be 75 percent of their annual base salary, not to exceed $100,000. Employee’s medical insurance premiums will be subsidized.

“We’re going through very challenging times,” President David Boren said in recommending the measure. Also at the meeting:

• Boren reported the 2017 Soonerthon, a student-led charitable event of the Campus Activities Council, has raised more than $800,000 and money continues to come in. The dance marathon event benefits the Oklahoma Children’s Hospital Foundation and Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

• Boren reported the student retention rate from fall 2016 to spring 2017 was 96.8 percent. “That’s a record for the university. Our retention continues to soar,” he said.

• Regents approved an increase in the construction cost of the OU stadium addition to an amount not to exceed $126 million. The increase does not exceed the project budget of $160 million.

• Regents and Boren honored Max Weitzenhoffer, who chaired his last meeting. Weitzenhoffer, a theater producer and OU graduate and benefactor, is retiring from the board after serving two sevenyear terms. Clay Bennett, businessman and chairman of the Oklahoma City Thunder, was elected chairman for 2017-18. Bennett was appointed to the board in 2011.

• Regents approved naming the faculty and graduate student digital learning center at Bizzell Memorial Library in honor of Anne and Henry Zarrow for their long-standing support of the university.