Resignations and Retirements in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

When an employee has decided to leave KU, it is often helpful for them to consider certain matters, described below. In addition, formal notification to their supervisor and other concerned parties can help the university process their separation efficiently and plan for their departure.

Any employee in the College who is leaving the university is encouraged to consider the following:

• general information: See the HRM webpage Leaving Employment or Losing Benefits-Eligibility and the resources referenced there.
• whether to resign or retire: Employees who opt for retiree status are eligible for various privileges described at the following webpages:
  • HRM webpage on Retirement Benefits
  • Libraries: Online Resources
  • Information Technology (email, Microsoft Office license, etc.): Information for Retirees
  • Parking: Permits
  • Men’s Basketball tickets
• However, only some employees are eligible for retiree status – see the HRM webpage “Retirement Benefits” (mentioned above) for eligibility information.
• last date of employment:
  • Employees are encouraged to consult HRM about their last date of employment. They can initiate this conversation by going to the HRM home page and clicking on the link for “Submit a Ticket.”
  • In addition, academic-year faculty should consult the policy Resignation and Retirement Dates of Academic-Year Faculty.
• whether to request emeritus/emerita status: Faculty and unclassified academic staff are encouraged to consult the policy Emeritus Status in order to determine whether to request emeritus/emerita status.
  • Note that one requirement for this status is that the employee is retiring (not just resigning).
  • As noted above, various units of the university accord various privileges to retirees. The emeritus/emerita designation is largely an honorific and does not entail any additional privileges in many units of the university.

On the basis of these considerations, the employee should write an email of one of the following forms:

1. “Dear __(name)__, this email is to formally notify you, as my supervisor, that I am resigning from KU, and my last date of employment will be ___(date)___.”
    
2. “Dear __(name)__, this email is to formally notify you, as my supervisor, that I am retiring from KU, and my last date of employment will be ___(date)___.”
    
3. “Dear __(name)__, this email is to formally notify you, as my supervisor, that I am retiring from KU, and my last date of employment will be ___(date)___. I believe I am eligible for emeritus [or emerita] status and I request consideration for this designation.”

The email should be sent to the employee’s supervisor, and cc’d to the College Dean’s Office Faculty Hiring and Promotion Manager (serving both faculty and staff in these processes), as listed at the Dean's Office webpage. (If they do not cc the Faculty Hiring and Promotion Manager, it is requested that the supervisor forward the email accordingly.)

The information above does not primarily pertain to phased retirement. Employees interested in phased retirement should consult the Phased Retirement Policy. Because the phased-retirement application requires the employee to propose a last date of employment, an employee is encouraged to consider the information above about last date of employment in the course of completing the phased-retirement contract. Once an employee is on phased retirement (i.e., has a fully signed and binding phased-retirement contract), they do not need to provide the formal notification described above, because the last date of their employment will already be a matter of official record within the university. However, an employee on phased retirement can elect to resign or retire earlier than their phased-retirement contract specifies, in which case the information above, about determining a last date of employment and providing official notification, would be relevant.