Exceeding the predicted number, 19 faculty members will be taking an early retirement at the end of this school year.

During last week’s Academic Senate meeting, Dr. Paul Jarrell, executive vice president of educational services, said that he expects up to 25 members to apply as several prospective applicants are still undecided.

“That’s a pretty good number,” Jarrell said, referring to the current number of applicants. “There are at least a half a dozen others that didn’t notify me, but had expressed an interest with Keenan about retiring.”

Faculty, management, and support staff have until Nov. 29 to officially sign up for early retirement. However, the deadline for a retiree’s position to be replaced has already passed.

As of right now, no classified staff or managers have signed up for the Supplemental Early Retirement Program.

The program is being offered to City College through Keenan & Associates, the largest privately held insurance company. The program is meant as a way to save the college around $1 million over a five-year period and is a method of responding to declined enrollment.

The program enables the college to replace some of its long standing and highly paid positions with new people who would not be as costly. It also allows the college to eliminate positions that would no longer be necessary because of the 14 percent decline in full-time students in the past two years.

It is still being discussed which positions would actually be replaced, Jarrell said. The college is working to keep those who are still employed working, trying to continue their several year run of zero layoffs.

Replacing positions does not deter departments from hiring for new positions however, said Academic Senate President Priscilla Butler.

“The fact of the matter is that we are going to have to hire the people we need,” Jarrell said.

An official number of participants in the program will not be determined until the November deadline.

“Every conversation I have been involved with has not questioned that there is enough participation,” Jarrell said. “Unless the number drastically changes, then I do not see this not going though.”