YSU trustees pass on faculty proposal to save millions through expaned early buyouts

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Youngstown State University trustees didn’t act on an expansion of the faculty retirement buyout proposal that the faculty says could have saved more than $2 million.

Gabriel Palmer-Fernandez, chief negotiator for the YSU-Ohio Education Association, the union representing YSU faculty, said the union approved a memorandum of understanding to expand the retirement buyout to tenured faculty with at least 20 years service for those who retire by August 2016.

The recently approved contract offered the incentive to faculty with at least 25 years service.

“We really don’t understand,” Palmer-Fernandez said. “Faculty who have been at YSU for at least 20 years, the vast majority are full professors.”

The average faculty salary is about $73,000.

“What we’re doing is lowering, decreasing the burden on the payroll,” he said. “That generates the savings.”

He estimated that 10 faculty would be eligible for the buyout for about $2.5 million in savings in salary and benefits.

Martin Abraham, provost and vice president for academic affairs, said there was a “robust discussion” in executive session among trustees, but the proposal was not introduced for a vote. He doesn’t anticipate that it will be in the future, either.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.