As many faculty and staff retire early due to WKU’s Voluntary Separation Incentive Program (VSIP), the closing of the semester brings reflection on the past and excitement for the future.
Three years after its initial implementation, the 2024 VSIP, announced on Sep. 3, offered 388 potential faculty and staff members the option to retire early while still receiving a year’s worth of salary. All 57 employees who applied were accepted into the program.
“The program is designed to recognize the contributions of long-standing employees and offer opportunities for those considering a career change,” Jace Lux, university spokesperson, said in an email. “It also allows the university to invest existing resources into new initiatives and provides a measure of institutional financial flexibility.”
The initiatives that will be invested into are still being discussed and developed, Lux said.
Staff members participating in the program had their contracts effectively terminated on Nov. 30, and faculty are set to have theirs terminated on Dec. 31.
Because of these departure dates, Lux said, about half of the funds needed for the program will come from the remaining six to seven months of the salaries included in the FY25 budget, while the other half will come from the university’s cash reserves. However, Lux said the university still does not know what the exact cost of the program will be as it is waiting for information from the Kentucky Public Pensions Authority.
According to Lux, in 2021 the university saved about $6.2 million through its implementation of VSIP. 125 employees were accepted into the program then, and there was a salary limit of $100,000. There was no financial limit for this year’s 57 employees.
According to datathe Herald obtained through a records request to the university in November, the base salaries of the 57 employees participating in VSIP this year total $3.8 million, with a benefit allowance of about $160,000.
“Since the lump-sum payment is a one-time expense, the savings from VSIP are realized over the long term through salaries and benefits of the VSIP participants,” Lux said. “This is achieved primarily by position elimination resulting in savings of the entire salary and benefits.”
Lux emphasized that measures were in place to prevent understaffing in university departments.
“All employees wishing to participate in the VSIP program were required to complete the VSIP application, which was reviewed by their respective supervisors,” Lux said. “Supervisors could reject a VSIP application if they believed that the vacancy would lead to critical understaffing in a specific area.”
Public Relations Program Coordinator Kenneth Payne, who chose to participate in the program, said this year’s VSIP offer was “exceptionally good timing.”
“I turned 65 in November and one thing I have found, kind of reflecting on my life and my career progression… everything is about timing,” Payne said.
With a signed copy of the novel “Black Hawk Down” on his bookshelf, Payne shared his life journey and the good “timings” he experienced. Payne was a U.S. Army helicopter pilot for 10 years. Then he worked in communications and public relations for another 10 years before coming back to his alma mater, WKU, as a professor for 20 years.
Payne’s next plan? He said he will be assisting his son-in-law with his family-run distillery in Smith’s Grove: Balance Distilling Company.
“I’m going to be trying to help him grow a brand which, and I tell students this all the time, is quite an undertaking,” Payne said. “I think I can help, because, again, it’s what I’ve done, it’s what I teach, and if I teach it, surely I can go do it.”
Even though he has sights set on his own future, Payne said he is excited for the Public Relations department to get fresh perspectives and new ways of thinking with whomever they hire next.
“I’m excited for the program to get a fresh perspective,” Payne said.
An advertisement for a new assistant or associate professor in Public Relations or Advertising had already been issued on Nov. 15.
“It’s really good timing to, again, go back out into the field and try to pull in some new thinking – a fresh set of eyes, a fresh set of stories for students,” Payne said.
Karl Laves, associate director of the counseling center, shared similar sentiments regarding his decision to participate in VSIP.
“I think the ‘elders’ need to appreciate getting out of the way and making room for the next generation of educators and service providers,” Laves said.
Laves said although he loves his job, he was at a place where he needed to decide when to retire.
“I have been here at WKU for 33 years,” Laves said. “I love my job, but there comes a time when a person has to make a clean break and move on to the next adventure.”
Laves’ next adventure? Becoming a “Pops.”
Laves is joined by his wife Beth Laves, assistant provost, in the 2024 VSIP.
“Beth and I… are excited about being grandparents,” Laves said, “And we also look forward to some traveling, gardening (and) spending more time with the dog.”
Even though Laves said he may stay connected to suicide intervention work being done in the state and in volunteer opportunities, he said he will miss grabbing coffee before staff meetings, hanging out in residence halls at night doing educational programs, giving talks in classrooms and the occasional days he would ride his bike to campus.
“I will miss the seasons of campus,” Laves said. “I am happy to have been part of such a strong institution. I wish everyone the same peace and joy come the day that they, too, retire.”
The decision to participate in VSIP for Assistant Provost Molly Kerby was one that didn’t reflect Payne and Laves’ view: it wasn’t ideal timing.
“I knew at some time I’d have to leave, but, I wasn’t quite ready,” Kerby said. “I kind of thought that they would probably do VSIP a couple of years from now, but you never know, it just pops up, right?”
After coming to WKU as a transfer student in 1985 to complete her undergraduate degree, Kerby has spent 40 years on the Hill.
“I invested my entire adulthood here,” Kerby said. “WKU basically raised me.”
Kerby, along with 11 other employees, agreed to alternate departure dates “in order to maintain continuity of operations,” Lux said.
Lux said he did not know which specific employees had agreed to the alternate separation date.
Kerby said she was approached by the Mahurin Honors College to teach a yoga class this spring.
“We cannot come back full-time,” Kerby said. “You have to wait a year.”
Even with this request, Kerby said she is still deciding what she plans to do next: from creating her own consulting business to finding another higher education position to drinking martinis on the beach – Kerby’s options are vast.
“I picture myself getting up and going for a bike ride in the morning and working out and doing a little consulting work, and then hanging out with friends in the evening or something,” Kerby said, “Just something a little more low key.”
Even with that picture, Kerby said WKU is “who we are.”
“It’s been a long ride, for sure, a long ride,” Kerby said. “We’ve had good times and bad times, as you can just imagine… I think that, especially the people that are (in) VSIP, this place is who we are, and we’re kind of losing our identity.”
Although she still plans to be a part of the Hilltopper community, Kerby said she and the other participants must find out who they are going forward without WKU.
“This has been probably the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make in my life,” Kerby said, “And I’m sure it’s probably the same for the rest of them.”
Assistant Content Editor Cameron Shaw can be reached at [email protected].
