IU employees might have retirement buyout option

Some IU employees will now have the option of participating in a retirement buyout plan. The proposed buyout will affect a little less than 3,000 employees, said IU Spokesman Larry MacIntyre.

“It is our hope to enable IU to be able to reduce our costs without doing any harm to the primary research or teaching missions,” he said.

The buyout is being offered to older employees who would retire in a few years. The University is planning on including a cash payout provision and covering health care costs until the employee turns 65, MacIntyre said.

“President McRobbie is doing a number of things to reduce administration overhead at IU and to reduce the costs because there is a lot of pressure to hold down spending, not only from legislature but also families of students,” he said.

If approved, employees who accept the offer would not work past June 30, the end of the current fiscal year. The positions of the employees who get the buyout will not be filled by the University.

All details of the buyout are not finalized.