Your Career: Need help deciding when to retire?

You don’t have to make this end-of-career transition alone. ADVERTISEMENT [Your Career Logo]( You can also [read this newsletter on the web](. Or, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, [unsubscribe](. You don’t have to make this end-of-career transition alone If you’re like most academics, once the prospect of retirement begins to loom large, you seek financial advice. But few faculty members look for help on the personal issues that factor into this decision and the professional unknowns about life after retirement. How, then, do you decide when to take the plunge? Intellectually you know that retirement will offer opportunities for growth. Yet some of the changes that lie ahead may give you pause, especially the loss of professional identity and community. How do you process fears of irrelevance? How do you deal with unfinished projects? Or shift toward new life goals? A group of 10 academics found a solution: They created a support group to collectively reflect on this major life transition. Since 2020, they’ve met twice a year, often virtually, to compare notes about different types of institutional support for faculty members in the retirement transition as well as strategies for how to approach administrators.  Continue reading: “[You Don’t Have to Mull the Retirement Question Alone]( by G. Anne Bogat, Kathleen McCartney, and Rena Repetti Share your suggestions for the newsletter with Denise Magner, an editor at The Chronicle, at denise.magner@chronicle.com. If you’d like to opt out, you can log in to our website and [manage your newsletter preferences here](. ADVERTISEMENT SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHRONICLE Enjoying the newsletter? [Subscribe today]( for unlimited access to essential news, analysis, and advice. UPCOMING PROGRAM [The Chronicle's Strategic-Leadership Program for Department Chairs | June 2024] [Join us in June]( for a professional development program tailored to the needs of department chairs. Experienced academic leaders will provide insights on the the current trends in higher ed, effective ways to manage a department, strategic planning, and more. [Register today!]( LATEST CAREER ADVICE, OPINION, AND NEWS ADVICE [Ask the Chair: ‘Should I Apply for a Deanship?’]( By Kevin Dettmar [STORY IMAGE]( How to balance your sense of obligation to your department with what you really want out of your career. SPONSOR CONTENT | NACUBO [3 Ways College and University Endowments Have Evolved Over the Past 50 Years]( ADVERTISEMENT ADVICE [The Self-Employment Path for Ph.D.s]( By Jennifer S. Furlong and Stacy M. Hartman [STORY IMAGE]( Six questions to answer first if you’re thinking about opening your own business. THE STUDENT MIND-SET [Is This the End of Reading?]( By Beth McMurtrie [STORY IMAGE]( Students are less able and less willing to read. Professors are stymied. What needs to change? 'DEAL MORE KINDLY' [How to Grade During a Crisis]( By Beckie Supiano [STORY IMAGE]( When campus life is disrupted, professors are forced to improvise. CHANGES COMING [The Next Update of the Carnegie Classification Will Be Its Biggest Yet]( By Francie Diep [STORY IMAGE]( A proposed revision, to go into effect in 2025, will label every college with its access and student outcomes, among other changes. THE REVIEW | OPINION [Why It’s So Hard to Change Minds About DEI]( By Ilana Redstone [STORY IMAGE]( Assumptions are ingrained, and they break entirely along political lines. FROM THE CHRONICLE STORE [Fostering Students' Free Expression - Buy Now]( [Higher Education in 2035]( Higher education is facing an array of challenges: economic headwinds, political pressures, and shifting demographics. [Order your copy]( to help your institution prepare for what’s ahead, and discover how the sector will evolve in the coming decade. What we’re reading Here’s more on career issues and trends from around the web. See something we should include? [Let me know](mailto:denise.magner@chronicle.com?subject=Your Career feedback). - In Roxane Gay’s latest [Work Friend]( column in The New York Times, she suggests that instead of being jealous of a “go-getting colleague,” why not “take notes”? - A [report]( in The Wall Street Journal on how relationships get “complicated when one spouse retires and the other keeps working.” - Feeling unmotivated? An [essay]( in The Harvard Business Review offers some advice. MORE CAREER RESOURCES [Working Together to Improve the Institution]( [STORY IMAGE]( UPCOMING: May 23, 2024 | 2 p.m. ET. How can colleges succeed in challenging, hypercompetitive times? The answer may be cohesion and cooperation, says a new survey on shared governance. Join us to discuss it. With Support From Huron. [Register here.]( DATA [How Much Are Public-College Presidents Paid?]( [STORY IMAGE]( Base pay, bonuses, and benefits for 195 chief executives at public doctoral universities and systems in 2022. DATA [How Much Are Private-College Presidents Paid?]( [STORY IMAGE]( Base pay, bonuses, and benefits for 312 chief executives at private colleges with expenditures of $100 million or more in 2021. DATA [Tracking Higher Ed’s Dismantling of DEI]( By Erin Gretzinger and Maggie Hicks [STORY IMAGE]( We’ve documented actions taken on dozens of campuses to alter or eliminate jobs, offices, hiring practices, and programs amid mounting political pressure to end identity-conscious recruitment and retention of minority staff and students. JOB OPPORTUNITIES [A. B. Freeman School of Business and Dean Paulo Goes are seeking research-oriented faculty]( Tulane University [Search other jobs.]( Stay ahead of the game and upload your resume to our job board. 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