We were hosted by Mirabella, the new university-based retirement community at Arizona State University in Tempe. Mirabella is a beautiful facility with meeting rooms, dining rooms, pleasant residential apartments, and wonderful hospitality. What a treat! Wait, we should say what a RE-TREAT!

Our purpose was to begin the AROHE planning process for 2023-24. Many ideas were generated with the following general categories emerging as our top priorities.

Membership Structure Review
Cultivation of Sustaining Sponsors
Educational Seminars and Transition Projects
Travel Institute and AROHE regional groups

We are now establishing what AROHE committees should spearhead this work, what our strategies and operational plans will be, and what are our short and long-term goals for these priorities. Your thoughts and ideas regarding these initiatives are welcome.

We hope that you will be intrigued and excited enough to volunteer to serve on one of the committees that is being charged with carrying out the work we have before us. We will announce and post on the AROHE website the committees and their chairs soon. We invite you to join us as we work together to transform retirement in higher education. Email AROHE at info@arohe.org.

AROHE President Roger Baldwin

AROHE News

The New Faculty Retirement Landscape:
Chronicle of Higher Education Webinar

As a large portion faculty moves into their sixties. retirement increasingly looms on the horizon. At the same time colleges and universities confront mounting financial challenges and delays in faculty retirement present new challenges in managing the academic workforce.

This webinar, moderated by Liz McMillan, executive editor of the Chronicle of Higher Education, featured a discussion panel that included three AROHE board members exploring faculty retirement issues and trends in higher education.

Roger Baldwin, AROHE president and professor emeritus from Michigan State University, emphasized the role retirement organizations play in helping retired faculty and staff continue their connection with their colleges and universities, and facilitating retirees’ service to their campuses and communities.

Cary Sweeney, AROHE board member and director of the UC Berkeley Retirement Center, discussed the benefits of campus-funded retirement centers, which have professional staff whose primary roles include facilitating retiree engagement and easing the transition to retirement.

Kaye Jeter, another AROHE board member and retired dean of Central State University, spoke about the difficulties that historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) face with providing services to retirees due to limited resources and conflicting priorities.

The fourth panelist, Valerie Martin Conley, provost at Idaho State University, emphasized the importance of thinking about retirement as an ongoing process that must be approached with care and compassion by university administrators.

The webinar is available to view on demand on the Chronicle of Higher Education's virtual events webpage.

Watch the Webinar

AROHE Briefs on Transitioning to Retirement

AROHE Briefs are concise reports identifying programs and practices of significant interest to both retiree organizations and individual faculty and staff retirees. Two AROHE Briefs focus on transitioning to retirement.

AROHE Brief: Transitioning to Retirement - Faculty

Retirement represents a major life transition for professionals who strongly identify with their work. This is especially true for faculty members, who often define their identity through their disciplines, teaching roles, and institutional affiliations. For this reason, a smooth departure from an academic career requires careful planning and support to ensure that it is a seamless transition to an engaging and fulfilling new phase of life.

AROHE members can access the Brief at the AROHE Knowledge Center.

Click to return to the Issue Highlights.

AROHE Brief: Transitioning to Retirement - Staff

Many institutions of higher education offer programs and services to staff at all levels to facilitate their transition to retirement and to encourage an ongoing connection with the institution following retirement. Such a connection offers advantages to retirees of continuing social and intellectual engagement. The institution benefits as well since it can call upon the expertise of retirees for a wide range of volunteer activities that support the institution’s mission.

AROHE members can access the Brief at the AROHE Knowledge Center.

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AROHE Idea Exchange Webinars

Idea Exchange Webinar: Don't Let Your Memories Fade

Through primary research conducted and published by the National Institute for Dementia Education, Vivid-Pix, an AROHE sponsor, has developed “Don’t Let Your Memories Fade” – a program that connects people through photo reminiscence. Join us for this webinar to learn more about using photos to:

Exercise your brain – it is the best way to thrive as you age.
Learn how to interact with friends and loved ones as they are impacted by the detrimental effects of aging: isolation, loneliness, cognitive decline, and dementia (including Alzheimer’s).
Learn how to interact with “children of all ages” – including grandchildren – to share your stories with them – and hear their stories too!

There is no charge to attend. Everyone is welcome, so please forward this information to others who might be interested.

Retirement Organization News

University of Memphis Association of Retirees -
Doctoral Student Award

The University of Memphis Association of Retirees (UMAR) annually presents an award to a doctoral (or other terminal degreed) graduate based on submission of the most impressive dissertation. The award requires a letter of recommendation from his/her major professor, noting the individual's accomplishments and the quality of his/her academic pursuit and the dissertation must demonstrate excellence in academic endeavors both past and present. We recently made that award to Dr. Zoe Harrison, a biomedical engineering major, who is currently employed by Smith+Nephew. Dr. Harrison's research has already resulted in a patent for biomedical wound care device, and her work has been widely cited.

The selection committee is comprised of three individuals, with at least two from UMAR (one retired faculty member who attained graduate faculty status and one retired staff member) and one current member of the university's council of graduate coordinators.

Joining us at the award ceremony were the dean and the associate dean of the graduate School, Zoe's major professor, the vice president for advancement, and the university provost. (and at least two photographers!). Ann Harbor, UMAR Secretary, annflukerharbor@aol.com.

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ASU Lodestar Center Launches CoGen Service Academy

ASU Lodestar Center launched the inaugural cohort of the ASU CoGen Service Academy, a new kind of volunteer program where each participant partners up with a passionate individual from a different generation. Together they will design their own service project, discover the power of multi-generational work, and learn how we can all collaborate to do more for local communities when we bridge the gaps and embrace our differences.

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Retirement Planning Resources and Trends

Gliding Toward Retirement

Elizabeth H. Simmons, executive vice chancellor and distinguished professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego, answers colleagues’ questions about smoothing the pathway toward a fulfilling retirement.

As an academic leader, one of the most important services I can provide for my senior faculty colleagues is to help them plan for a smooth transition to retirement. For many faculty members, the career has been such a central part of their lives that they may not be able to imagine what might lie beyond. Some have not thought about retirement options or spent time learning about the retirement processes until a life event forces the issue to the forefront of their attention. They then may abruptly realize they are unsure of how to learn about their options or to make plans they could comfortably embrace. Click here to read more.

Retirement Structures and Processes

Public Policy & Aging Report, Volume 31, Issue 3, 2021, Page NP, https://doi.org/10.1093/ppar/prab025

Published: 12 August 2021. Identifies the many pathways into retirement that have emerged over the past several years.

Does Retirement Change What Individuals Value in Life? Results from a Three-Year Panel Study

The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, Volume 77, Issue 9, September 2022, Pages 1699–1709

Olga Grünwald, MSc, Marleen Damman, PhD, Kène Henkens, PhD

In previous research on retirement, what individuals value in life is often assumed to remain stable after the transition into retirement. However, retirement exposes individuals to new social settings and might thus prompt them to reevaluate their life orientations. Quantitative empirical knowledge about this process is limited, though. This study examines the impact of retirement on changes in the perceived importance of self-development, social status, societal contribution, and generativity in older adults’ lives. We draw on the life-course framework to develop hypotheses about which life orientations are more likely to change after retirement and how.

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Groundbreaking Study of 11,000 North Americans Unveils Changing Retirement Patterns

The latest landmark study conducted by Age Wave, in partnership with Edward Jones and The Harris Poll, offers a fresh look at retirement across this 20–30-year life stage. Longevity and the New Journey of Retirement examines today’s changing definition of retirement and the ways in which it no longer resembles our parents’ version of retirement. It uncovers the birth of a new retirement journey, explores how it unfolds, and reveals four unique stages each with new dreams, worries, choices, and planning needs. The holistic framework of health, family, purpose, and finances across the journey is interconnected and essential to thriving in the new retirement.

What to Do When You Don't Know What to Do in Retirement

As a retirement coach, I wasn't alarmed by Joel's growing restlessness. Retirement can be surprisingly challenging and it often takes two years or more before people settle in. Still, as his wife, it was eye-opening to experience the ups and downs of this transition firsthand. To read further, go to What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do in Retirement | Next Avenue.

Disconnected: Reality vs. Perception in Retirement Planning

The widespread lack of forward-looking planning has vexed retirement planners and researchers for many years. Many problems in later years could have been prevented with planning ahead. Too many people put off making important decisions, only to find themselves later in a serious crisis with limited options. Report from the Stanford Center on Longevity can be accessed at Disconnected: Reality vs. Perception in Retirement Planning - Stanford Center on Longevity

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Boomers Planning for Next Chapter

As you get older, you gain the benefits of age — the clearest one being wisdom. Once you've been around the block a few times, you learn a thing or two about how the world works, what you can expect out of life and, most importantly, the benefits of planning for what might be an otherwise uncertain future. Now it's time for baby boomers to plan for the next chapter of life. Boomers Planning for Next Chapter | Next Avenue

Conversations Around Planning Your Future

When it comes to planning for the future, it's not necessarily an easy task. Thinking ahead means understanding that none of us are here for more than just a short time, and that's often an emotional subject, to say the least. Yet the truth is that there's never a bad time to begin having conversations about the future, especially your own, and even more importantly what you want your friends and family to do once you're no longer here. Conversations Around Planning Your Future | Next Avenue

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Reflective Corner

I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know; the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.

Albert Schweitzer

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In Memoriam - Bernard (Bernie) Dobroski

Remembering Bernard Dobroski, former dean of the Bienen School of Music

Bernard Dobroski served the Northwestern Bienen School of Music in various capacities from 1974-2020. His term as dean, from 1990 to 2003, featured an emphasis on faculty and student recruitment, expansion of course offerings for non-music majors and community engagement programs.

Dr. Dobroski had just recently joined the AROHE board of directors. Link to obituary

Come Join Us in Transforming Retirement

Since 2002 AROHE has supported both institutions and individuals by transforming the experience of retirement – the preparation, the transition, and post-retirement programming – into a smooth and productive life-course change.

To renew, join or learn more, visit arohe.org or contact AROHE by emailing info@arohe.org or calling (213) 740-5037.

Tell Us Your Story

AROHE members are encouraged to submit stories that reflect activities, news and events from your retirement organization and campus that highlight the value retirees bring to their colleges and universities. The May issue will reference the Older Americans month theme of Aging Unbound.

Tell us your story of how your retirees explore diverse aging experiences, combat aging stereotypes, and promote flexible thinking about aging. Articles are limited to 250 words. A relevant picture and web links are valued additions to any article.

Share your story for the May issue of AROHE Matters by April 17, 2023 to Patrick Cullinane, editor, at pcullinane@berkeley.edu.

About AROHE

AROHE's mantra is "Transforming Retirement."

AROHE is a nonprofit association that champions transformative practices to support all stages of faculty and staff retirement, their mutually beneficial engagement, and continuing contributions to their academic institutions. By sharing research, innovative ideas, and successful practices, AROHE emphasizes the development and enhancement of campus-based retiree organizations and programs which support this continuing engagement in higher education.

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