SUNY Retirees Stay Connected, Seek Community Service Opportunities

Albany – The State University of New York has found that its retirees – approximately 1,000 each year system-wide – want to stay connected to their campus and seek opportunities to give back to their communities upon retirement. The findings are a result of a survey recently conducted by SUNY and have been published in a report by the SUNY Retiree Services Corps.

“Each year, approximately 1,000 individuals retire from SUNY and its 64 campuses, and they are a large and diverse group in terms of their expertise and skills, educational background, and work experience,” said SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher. “SUNY retirees are a deeply rich resource for our campuses and our local communities across New York. They want to stay connected and we are more than happy to help them do that.”

“SUNY became what it is today because of the dedication and accomplishments of its past and current employees,” said Ram Chugh, Ph.D., executive director of the SUNY Retiree Services Corps. “This report seeks to give SUNY retirees the credit they richly deserve and demonstrate the roles they can continue to play as members of the SUNY and general community.”

The survey was conducted to accomplish six main objectives, including: determining the demographic profile of the SUNY retiree respondents; identifying the nature and degree of SUNY retiree involvement in voluntary service; determining why they did or did not volunteer; identifying the social and economic contributions made by SUNY retirees through volunteerism; seeking suggestions for promoting greater involvement of retirees in voluntary service; and obtaining recommendations for what SUNY and its campuses can do to make the retirement experience more meaningful for its retirees.

The final report is available online.

For the survey, retirees were asked about their volunteer activities and how SUNY campuses could keep them involved after retirement. Among the survey’s key findings were:

·        75 percent of those who responded continued to live in the community where they had worked and another 6 percent relocated, but remained in New York;

·        82 percent of those who responded have engaged in some sort of volunteer activity since retiring from SUNY, be it on campus or locally;

·        Of those who were not already involved in volunteer services, nearly 26 percent said they would be willing to volunteer if they were contacted directly for help.

Since surveying its retirees, SUNY has put in place several of the group’s suggestions, including the launch of a website for retirees (www.suny.edu/retirees) and developing a web-based system to match retiree interests and expertise with volunteer services on campuses and in communities. In addition, SUNY has produced a guide for campuses interested in starting a retiree organization.

The survey was conducted by the SUNY Retirees Service Corps, which was created in 2008 to create awareness about the potential value of retired faculty, administrators, and support staff and encouraging campuses to establish retiree programs to take advantage of this valuable resource for the good of their campuses and local communities.

The SUNY Retiree Services Corps seeks to: promote a strong “retiree-campus-community” connection within and among SUNY campuses; create awareness about the potential value of SUNY retirees; encourage campuses to institute programs to promote social interaction among retirees; and provide opportunities for engagement in university and community service.

About the State University of New York

The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive university system in the United States, educating more than 467,000 students in more than 7,500 degree and certificate programs on 64 campuses with nearly 3 million alumni around the globe. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunity, visit www.suny.edu 

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