Early Retirements Hit Conn. Public Universities

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- More than 200 professors at Connecticut's public colleges took the state's early retirement offer at the end of last month.

Depending on how much money the system will have when a new budget is passed, the departures could mean that there will be some larger class sizes or that more courses will be taught by freelance or retired professors, state officials told the Hartford Courant.

Community college officials said they may consider capping enrollments.

"That's something we would do as a last resort, but realistically that's something we would have to consider," said Mary Anne Cox, a spokeswoman for the community college system, told the newspaper. "We're very concerned about whether will we have the courses for those students to enroll in."

The state's 12 community colleges lost 191 employees, including more than 70 faculty members, to the early retirement program. There were 922 full-time faculty members in the system at the start of the last school year.

Enrollment is expected to increase 35 percent this year after rising by 10 percent last year.

The University of Connecticut, which had a full-time faculty of more than 1,800, lost more than 70 professors, among 363 workers.

"We kind of have to scramble to cover the courses," Jeremy Teitelbaum, dean of UConn's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, told the newspaper. "Some classes will be larger than they would have been in the past."

He said the increase could be minor enough that students may not notice much of a difference.

UConn's psychology department chairman, Charles "Skip" Lowe, said the university is losing four professors from his area, about half the number it has lost in three previous retirement rounds. He said no new professors will be hired and the work load for current professors and adjuncts could increase.

The Connecticut State University System, which had more than 1,300 full-time faculty positions, lost more than 75 faculty, among 193 workers.

CSU's goal continues to be "doing more with less," spokesman Bernard Kavaler said.

"We want to maintain the caliber of education and services we provide to students," he said.