Executive Vice President for Strategy, Operations and Finance Susan Howarth announced Tuesday that WKU is implementing a Voluntary Separation Incentive Program, which offers financial compensation equal to one year’s salary for an eligible faculty or staff member for voluntarily leaving their position at the university before the term of their contract is complete.
According to the university’s Voluntary Separation Incentive Plan for faculty, those whose applications are accepted will separate from the university effective December 31, 2024. Faculty will receive the incentive payment on Jan. 31, 2025. Staff will separate from the university effective Nov. 30, 2024, receiving the incentive payment on the last regularly scheduled payroll in Jan. 2025, the plan for staff states.
“Participants will receive a lump-sum payout from the University, which offers both recognition of their dedicated service and budget flexibility for the institution,” Howarth said in an email sent to all faculty and staff. “This flexibility will enable us to reinvest in strategic priorities and continue advancing our institutional mission.”
An estimated 388 employees meet the eligibility requirements for the program, according to University Spokesperson Jace Lux.
Eligible faculty and staff can submit an application until Friday, Oct. 18 at 5:00 p.m. According to the program’s website, eligible faculty must have completed 15 years of service at WKU by Dec. 31, 2024, while eligible staff must have completed 20 years of service by the same date. Both faculty and staff must also be actively employed in full-time, fully budgeted Education and General positions.
The university implemented a similar program in January 2021, in which 125 university employees participated. The 2021 program limited the amount faculty could be compensated to $100,000. According to Lux, there is no such limit on the newly announced program. Lux also said the university also experienced a cost savings with the 2021 program and the university “anticipates increased financial flexibility this year as well.”
Editor-in-Chief Price Wilborn can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @pricewilborn.
