OCC offering faculty early-retirement incentive, citing declining enrollment

ONONDAGA, N.Y. — Citing declining enrollment, Onondaga Community College’s (OCC) board of trustees on Tuesday voted to offer a voluntary early-retirement incentive to eligible faculty members.

Faculty members will have until April 14 to decide if they will accept the incentive package, OCC said.

In its announcement, OCC said its enrollment has dwindled from its peak of 13,018 in 2012 to 7,032 in 2022.

Faculty members who turn 55 during this calendar year and have a minimum of 10 years full-time faculty experience — or are regular part-timers at OCC — are eligible, the school said.

As for how OCC intends to pay for the retirement incentive, the school says its leaders have been “continuously” saving money in reserves despite the enrollment decline. The funding in those reserves will fund the packages.

Taxpayer, student impact

The OCC announcement, which was set up in a question-and-answer format, explained why the development is “good for taxpayers.”

OCC says it will realize fiscal savings in the next budget year, which begins Sept. 1. For example, if 15 faculty members take the voluntary early-retirement incentive package, the savings will be between $1.5 million and $1.7 million.

Over the course of five years, those savings would total between $7.5 million and $8.5 million, OCC said. Those dollar amounts include savings in both salary and health-insurance costs, the college added.

As for why the school believes this is good for students, OCC says savings from the voluntary early-retirement incentive package will allow it to invest in student-success initiatives which will “help attract, support, and retain students.”

OCC’s current full-time tuition is $2,595 per semester, which ranks near the bottom third of SUNY’s 30 community colleges. Savings from the voluntary early-retirement incentive package will help OCC “continue to be one of the most affordable SUNY community colleges,” per its announcement.

“Thanks to the leadership of our Board of Trustees, we are fortunate to be in a strong financial position,” Dr. Warren Hilton, president of Onondaga Community College, contended. “We have financial reserves, we have a great campus thanks to our partners in County and State government, we have tremendous faculty and staff, and we are continuing to create new programs in conjunction with our partners in the workforce. Today’s action by the Board of Trustees will help us invest in the success of students.”