Washburn offers retirement incentives to balance budget

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - Washburn University will offer early retirement incentives to help balance its budget while enrollment is declining.

The university’s Board of Regents approved the incentives Tuesday. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports (https://bit.ly/1Ubio3j ) employees over 61 who retire at the end of the spring semester will receive a lump-sum payment worth 100 percent of their annual base salary, or up to $125,000, whichever is less.

Employees who retire in June 2017 will receive half that amount.

Washburn also will contribute to the health care coverage of employees who retire before they reach 65, until those employees become eligible for Medicare.

School employees have until Feb. 19 to decide if they’ll accept early retirement. The school expects to save $1.2 million annually by leaving vacancies unfilled or hiring younger employees who earn less.

“We can save money and do it in a way that is not as onerous as other proposals because it is voluntary,” university president Jerry Farley said.

The approved proposal does allow the university to rescind its offerings if it doesn’t see sufficient savings. Board member Paul Hoferer asked Farley how close the university must come to the estimate for the program to be a success, but Farley declined to offer an exact number.

Rick Anderson, Washburn’s vice president and treasurer, said 110 university employees are eligible for the early retirement program.

A Washburn enrollment analysis shows the university saw a 24-student drop in law school enrollment last year and an overall decline in undergraduate enrollment of 131 students.

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Information from: The Topeka (Kan.) Capital-Journal, https://www.cjonline.com