ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how shifts in faculty retirement trends and related policies affected one liberal arts college and describes this college’s efforts to support late-career faculty as they transition into retirement. It provides an overview of retirement practices as they relate to higher education, beginning with the last quarter of the 20th century and continuing to the present. The chapter discusses contemporary developmental approaches to retirement, incorporating psychologist Erik Erikson’s theory of life-cycle events. It illustrates, through a case study of increasing retirement supports at Mount Holyoke College, strategies that help faculty in making the transition. The chapter presents the case study by describing policies the institution has recently put in place that can be replicated on other campuses. Together, this overview and case study provide a compelling reason for campuses to adopt a developmental perspective of faculty retirement transitions.
