While NIU faculty and civil service employees have an equal shot at buying an early retirement, civil service employees have fewer opportunities to boost their retirement income.

Under the State Universities Retirement System, NIU employees over 60 with at least eight years service can retire. Employees with 35 years of service can retire at any age. Benefits are based on an average of an employee’s four highest-paid consecutive years at NIU.

etirees are paid a percentage of this average, ranging from 8.35 percent for someone 62 with five years of service to 80 percent for those over 60 with more than 40 years at NIU.

JoAnn Bergren, assistant manager of the Universities Insurance Office, said employees between 55 and 60 can take an early retirement, but will suffer a penalty of one-half percent for each full month they are under 60.

However, an employee taking early retirement can avoid the penalty by making a lump sum payment to SURS of 7 percent multiplied by the number of years under 60 or number of service years under 35, whichever is less. NIU must also pay 20 percent for each year of age under 60.

“It’s very confusing to employees because they think they’re buying additional years of service, and they’re not, they’re just buying off the penalty,” Bergren said.

Although NIU can only allow 15 percent of those eligible to retire early, requests “have never come close” to the limit, so anyone eligible who can make the payment—faculty or civil service—can retire.

NIU Provost Kendall Baker said most faculty members, who have nine-month contracts, try to boost their retirement benefits by arranging extra work.

“At the end of faculty member’s careers, they often negotiate retirement packages, which will ensure, for example, that they will be able to teach three consecutive summers,” Baker said.

Baker said “the vast majority” of the nearly 20 faculty members retiring each year have made such arrangements.

However, civil service employees, who make up about half of NIU’s workforce of 3,400, don’t have as many chances to build up their retirement base.

Bergren said some civil service employees can get overtime, and others, such as food service workers, can bid for summer work, but most can’t get extra pay because they already work 12 months