Retirements transform MCCC

A new Michigan law intended to encourage school employees to retire is changing the face of MCCC.

The law, which was approved by the state legislature in an attempt to cut school district costs and open the job market, offers a pension benefit multiplier for school employees who retire early.

Of the 50 MCCC employees eligible to retire with this plan, 17 accepted.

"The lawmakers expected a lot more," MCCC President David Nixon said. "But the number that you'll see here is about the same percentage as what we're seeing across the state."

The retirees had to announce their decisions by June 11, though the law was not passed by the legislature until May 14.

"It's safe to say that many of the eligible retirees struggled with the decision with less than one month to decide," Nixon said.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm proposed the law in February with the hope that it would save $680 million over the next year against the $1.5 billion deficit that the education budget now faces.

Though MCCC will be unable to calculate its economic savings until replacements are hired, Nixon said he thinks the college will indeed save money from the retirements.

"When somebody retires after 30 years and they have a high salary, it's likely that when they are replaced, the salaries will be lower. And that was the lawmakers' intent," Nixon said.

In addition to replacing experienced and costly employees with those who are new and start with lower salaries, the law's purpose also was to open the job field for thousands of new school employees.

To persuade the early retirements, the law offered a 1.6 percent pension benefit multiplier for employees over 55 with at least 30 years of service, in comparison to the 1.5 percent that is usually used to calculate school employee pensions.

Employees whose age and years of service add up to 80 or more would use a 1.55 percent multiplier.

Perhaps the most notable employee retiring from MCCC is Tim Bennett, the vice president of Business Affairs.

According to President Nixon, though Bennett does not technically retire until July 1, he has taken his unused vacation days and is no longer on campus.

Bennett's position already has been reassigned. President Nixon announced this in an e-mail sent to all MCCC employees.

"Effective immediately, Sue Wetzel has been assigned to the position of Vice President of Administration. She will be responsible for all administrative duties previously held by Tim Bennett," the e-mail stated. "Dan Schwab will be responsible for managing the financial/budget operation of the College."

Wetzel previously held the position of director of Institutional Advancement and executive director of the MCCC Foundation.

In addition to her new responsibilities, Wetzel temporarily is continuing to lead both operations.

Also attached with the e-mail was a notice of vacancy for the position of the Executive Assistant to the President and Board of Trustees, formerly held by Lynn Goldsmith.

"She's retiring after 30 years. Isn't that something?" President Nixon said. "She started out here as a student, all those years ago."

Goldsmith's position has now been filled by Victoria McIntyre.

McIntyre has worked as an adjunct at MCCC as an English instructor since 2001. She was previously the executive assistant to the president of a Monroe bank and its board of directors.

Goldsmith is not the only administrative assistant to be leaving the college this year.

Four other administrative assistants have chosen to retire, including Linda Spenoso of the Business Division, Chris Sims of Information Systems, Annie Germani from Human Recourses, and Carol Eshelman of the Physical Plant.

Eshelman had been planning to retire in March, but delayed her retirement to take advantage of the incentive plan and will now be retiring July 1.

"I think I'll miss the people," Eshelman said. "But I would like more time to spend with my family and my friends, and traveling, so I think it will be fine."

Most employees would agree that the positions of the administrative assistants will be difficult to fill due to the jobs' responsibilities and the retiring employees' experience and knowledge of the college.

"They know this place inside and out," said Jack Woltmann, retiring respiratory therapy professor. "You don't lose people like that without having a bit of a bump. It's going to take effort, and work, and time that ordinarily wouldn't have been there."

Mark Bergmooser, president of the MCCC Faculty Association, said employees in those divisions who relied on the administrative assistants will be affected greatly by the change.

"My concern pertaining to that position is that if someone comes in and changes everything, it can make the system go awry for a while," he said.

The two other support staff employees who are retiring are Wayne Bezeau, the maintenance foreman, and Jerry Morse, the colleges' graphic designer.

Morse said without the incentive plan he would not be retiring.

"If the offer hadn't been made, I wouldn't have even been thinking about it," he said.

However, he said he discovered that it would be to his advantage to accept the state's offer and will be retiring Sept. 1.

He said he hopes to get into some freelance and volunteer work when his 36-year service at MCCC ends.

Though the law played in Morse's decision, others like Allen Thom, assistant professor of Physical Education, said the law was a very small part of his decision to retire.

Thom will be retiring July 1, along with faculty members John Miller, professor of Psychology and Bob Pettit, assistant professor of Biological Sciences.

Jim Devries, professor of History, accepted the retirement plan as well, but will be retiring Sept. 1.