ARRUF is pursuing two paths to envision the future roles of retired faculty members in universities: (1) Studies of what members and Rice departments are doing now and have been doing and (2) evaluation of trends nationwide and how Rice (and universities like it) might fit into those in the future.
Academic Memoirs or Trajectories. First, ARRUF is encouraging its members to prepare academic memoirs or intellectual trajectories that lead into the highpoint of their lives. June Ferrill, who lives in Santa Fe, led the Academic Memoirs Project and the Writers Gatherings until July 2020. June came to Houston for a special face-to-face session twice a year. The sessions were held in Fondren 412 until April 2020, followed by lunch. In May 2020 group meetings moved to ZOOM. Materials for current members' "Profiles" are also being collected and put up in the MEMBERS section. Reply to ARRUF.invites@rice.edu for a spot in this project!
The Memoirs Writing Group usually meets on the second Friday of the month at 10 a.m. in Fondren 412 or on ZOOM..
Current Benefits and Privileges. As part of this project, the Benefits and Privileges Committee collected survey data on how departments and deans believe retired faculty may contribute to the missions of departments and schools, creating VALUE FOR RICE. The Interim Report is here. This study will be repeated in 2021.
Changing Contexts/Changing Roles (Future Trends). Second, wonky as it sounds, ARRUF is taking an academic approach to the role of retired faculty in universities, sponsoring conferences, conversations, and events to examine what other universities are doing and what national trends will change the context (such as the longevity economy) for universities and retirees. The first Conference, on the Role of Retired Faculty in Universities, was held in October 2018 The principal speaker, Roger Baldwin of Michigan State University, presented the results of a study of retired faculty organizations at universities across the U.S. See more in the conference report. The spring 2019 conference featured a presentation by Paul Irving, Chairman of the Milken Institute’s Center for the Future of Aging. The next conference, now being planned for the spring of 2021, will focus on research related to hearing assistance technologies and the factors affecting their acceptance.
More details will follow. Come join in these groundbreaking efforts.