Dear Tulane Community:
Today we bid a fond farewell to our friends and colleagues who are participating in the Voluntary Separation Program (VSP), which we announced last fall. This entirely voluntary program was designed to support the university's financial goals by offering staff, aged 55 and older with 10 years of service, the opportunity to leave the university with a generous financial package.
I suspect most of the VSP participants are experiencing mixed emotions today – excitement, nostalgia, joy, maybe even a little anxiety about the next chapter of their lives. I can say this with some degree of confidence because these are some of the same emotions the rest of us are experiencing.
A number of our colleagues who took part in the VSP will continue working at Tulane over the next year, and even into 2017, to assure a smooth transition for their successors or assume new responsibilities as departments reorganize. In many ways this will be their final act of service to a university they have loved, nurtured and graced for so many years.
Mindful of the history that each of our departing friends carries with them, we are working to record the oral histories of staff members who had particularly remarkable experiences or made enduring contributions during their time at Tulane. Some of their stories will be featured in New Wave, as well.
So whether today is your last day or you will be assisting us in the budget and operational reorganization that is necessary for Tulane to continue to perform at the highest level, I want to thank each of you. I thank you for investing not only your time and your talent but so much of yourself – day in and day out, year after year – for the betterment of Tulane. We could not have gotten where we are without you, nor can we build the future without the foundation you laid. Thank you.
