Resources developed to support strategic planning and decision-making by higher education leaders. The Series on Higher Education includes forums, DVDs, books, and other publications focused specifically on issues of critical importance to America’s colleges and universities.
Perceptions of early career faculty: Managing the transition from graduate school to the professional career
How prepared and motivated are doctoral students to accept the rigors of faculty careers? Are expectations of new young faculty aligned with those of their higher education employers? What are the work/life balance issues and stressors in the early career? Survey results reveal some surprising findings with implications for the successful recruitment and retention of early career faculty and institutional planning for the professoriate of the future.
(Author: Jerry Berberet, Carroll College, the Associated New American Colleges, and TIAA-CREF Institute Fellow)
Do public subsidies for higher education affect regional economic development?
Very little is understood about how the higher education industry affects the economy. This research analyzes state-level data on public expenditures for higher education and its impact on per capita income and house prices. Results lend support to the argument that universities can provide benefits to a state’s economic base.
(Authors: Shawn Kantor, University of California, Merced; National Bureau of Economic Research; and TIAA-CREF Institute Fellow)
Resources developed to help individuals and their advisors make better financial and strategic decisions for themselves and/or their institutions. The Series on Financial Security includes forums and publications focused specifically on issues related to financial planning for retirement and other goals, employer-provided retirement plans and other benefits, and other issues that affect budgets and balance sheets.
Can the way pension plan characteristics are presented or “framed” affect employee savings behavior?
This research contributes to the growing evidence that how things are “framed” can have significant effects on financial decision-making by college and university faculty. Specifically, the research suggests that two faculty members with the same total compensation and the same total contribution rates to their regular pension will reach retirement age with substantially different amounts of supplemental saving, depending on the share of regular pension contributions that are labeled as an employee contribution, albeit a mandatory one, vs. an employer contribution.
(Authors: David Card, University of California, Berkeley; National Bureau of Economic Research; and TIAA-CREF Institute Fellow; and Michael Ransom, Brigham Young University and TIAA-CREF Institute Fellow)
New ways to make new employees save: The Dartmouth Project
What are the barriers that prevent new employees from opening supplement retirement savings accounts? Through surveys, focus groups, in-depth interviews, and ethnographic studies, the researchers gained insights leading to the development of a planning aid now being used effectively at Dartmouth. Lessons learned through this project can be valuable to anyone trying to increase saving and pension participation.
(Authors: Annamaria Lusardi, Dartmouth College and TIAA-CREF Institute Fellow; Punam Keller, Dartmouth College; Adam Keller, Dartmouth College)
Medicare Reform: Issues and Implications for Retiree Health Insurance
The standard Medicare benefit package includes a considerable amount of beneficiary spending. The most likely reforms to Medicare, outlined in this article, will increase the need for individuals to save for healthcare costs in retirement. This article also addresses the impact Medicare reform will have on the demand for retiree health benefits and what this might mean for employers.
(Author: Bradley Herring, Johns Hopkins University)
The new Fellows are:
The Fellows Program builds an alliance with thought leaders in key areas of focus for the Institute, to help the Institute carry out its mission. Institute initiatives undertaken in partnership with Fellows help inform strategic decisions on campus and business planning within TIAA-CREF.
The TIAA-CREF Samuelson Award recognizes outstanding scholarly writing on issues related to lifelong financial security. Named in honor of the Nobel Laureate and former CREF trustee, this award is given each year to honor an outstanding research publication containing ideas that the public and private sectors can use to maintain and improve Americans’ financial well being. The author(s) of the winning publication will receive an award of $10,000.
To submit an entry, please use the online application form. Applications for submissions must be received by the TIAA-CREF Institute by September 10. The online application form provides entry eligibility requirements, judging criteria, and submission guidelines. If you have questions, please email tiaa-crefsamuelawd@tiaa-cref.org.
“The Benefits of College Life,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, July 18, 2008
Higher education has so far not seen the traumatic changes that corporate America has gone through in terms of employee benefits offerings. But employees at colleges and universities should not get complacent, cautions David P. Richardson, principal research fellow at the TIAA-CREF Institute. “If you work in higher education, you should not assume that the trends going on in corporate America with benefits being reduced are never going to reach you,” he says.
“Confidence Gap for New Professors,” Inside Higher Education, July 14, 2008
According to an Institute study, authored by TIAA-CREF Institute Fellow Jerry Berberet, most new Ph.D.’s arrive at their first faculty jobs without feeling that they were effectively prepared in graduate school for such key duties as teaching undergraduates and conducting research. Findings also revealed that the percentages feeling well prepared rise rapidly as young professors apparently pick up the knowledge on the job.
“On Campus, the '60s Begin to Fade as Liberal Professors Retire,” The New York Times, July 3, 2008
Baby boomers, hired in large numbers during a huge expansion in higher education that continued into the ‘70s, are being replaced by younger professors who many of the nearly 50 academics interviewed by The New York Times believe are different than their predecessors — less ideologically polarized and more politically moderate. Reference is made to information shared at the TIAA-CREF Institute 2007 Higher Education Leadership Conference, Generational Shockwaves.
“UT Retirement Boom Expected in Coming Years,” The Daily Texan, June 18, 2008
Forty-two percent of the University of Utah’s 3,200 faculty members and 40 percent of its 10,900 staff members can be classified as baby boomers, those born in the wake of World War II and into the 1960’s. Within the next 5 — 7 years, 40% of UT’s faculty and staff could conceivably be heading out the door. But the milestone should not cause University officials to expect a large chunk of their professors to retire overnight, said Paul Yakoboski, principal research fellow at the TIAA-CREF Institute. Academics tend to be a bit different from the rest of the population, working well into their 60s and 70s.
“Colleges Explore New Ways to Manage Retirements,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, June 13, 2008
Professors present an unusual problem when it comes to retirement. They actually like their jobs, and often do not want to leave them. A TIAA-CREF Institute survey found that 53% of professors were “very satisfied” with their jobs, compared with 42% of all workers. The situation, says Paul Yakoboski, principal research fellow with the TIAA-CREF Institute, “creates the opportunity for universities to rethink their (retirement) offerings and how to provide them.”
“Searching for Strategy in Tough Times,” Inside Higher Education, May 12, 2008
Institute Fellows and TIAA-CREF executives gathered at a by-invitation only Institute-convened symposium agreed that colleges are hitting a period of economic challenge that they have not seen in some time due to a combination of conditions facing higher education right now — flat or diminished government support, more scrutiny of tuition levels and endowment spending, changing demographics, and an unpredictable stock market. Comments from symposium participants are shared in this article.
Advancing Higher Education
Focuses on issues of strategic importance to the ongoing vitality of America’s universities and colleges.
Trends and Issues
Provides information that supports the study and understanding of challenges confronting higher education and lifelong financial security.
Research Dialogue
Presents research and in-depth information on a single subject related to an Institute field of study.
To access a summary written by Donald E. Heller and slides used by speakers TIAA.
To request a DVD featuring presentations from the conference, send a message with your mailing address to aollen@tiaa-cref.org.
