This Committee provides advice on all matters related to the concerns of retired faculty and academic librarians.
Our committee’s goal is to promote the views and interests of retirees, a status that most UTFA members expect to hold some day. The Retired Members Committee (RMC), together with Terezia Zorić, UTFA President, and Jun Nogami, UTFA VP-SBPW, met during the Fall and Winter terms. Topics of discussion included the University Pension Plan divestment motion; negotiated ATB for recently retired faculty and librarian members; and the creation of two ad hoc committees within the RMC.
Transparency in Retiree Rights
The RMC endorses an idea, advanced by several members, that it would be desirable to consolidate (and slightly enhance) what a variety of somewhat scattered U of T documents say about the university’s commitments to its retirees. We created an ad hoc committee led by Judith Poë (with Ed Barbeau and Rena Helms-Park as contributors) to review a twenty year old U of T document titled “Statement of Commitment to Retired Faculty & Librarians”. Various revisions were suggested, including rewording previous items to reflect current realities. This remains a work in progress. The committee also agreed that it would be desirable to have an Information page for retirees on the UTFA website with the goal of providing short descriptions of some of the resources available to retirees (e.g., CURAC, AROHE; Senior College; and dedicated spaces for retirees on the three campuses). The Information page will be created in the upcoming year.
Annual Reception Speaker Nomination
A second ad hoc committee was struck to nominate a speaker for the annual retiree reception. Joe Carens, Rena Helms-Park, Raymond Kwong, Angela Miles, and Kent Weaver met in January and March 2026 to generate topics that were considered potentially relevant to retirees. Jason Stanley has agreed to speak at our 2026 Fall Reception about his decision last year to leave Yale and come to the University of Toronto. Details will follow.
We also plan to poll retirees to determine how we could participate in the University’s bicentennial celebrations in conjunction with UTFA.
Many thanks to the members of the RMC whose generous contribution of ideas during meetings and email discussions keeps this committee active and up to date.
In Memoriam
The Retired Members Committee has learned, since the 2025 Annual General Meeting, of the passing of the following retirees: Cornelia Baines, Jon Cohen, Paulette Collet, Robert A. Greene, Irwin Guttman, Edna Hajnal, Ian Lancashire, Donald W. Lewis, Marla Miller, Harvey Moldofsky, and Olga Louise Pugliese. We also note the passing of Joe Repka prior to retirement.
Rena Helms-Park
Chair, Retired Members Committee