IU Ends Retirement Program With Nondisparagement Clause

Indiana University will end a one-time voluntary retirement program in May, The Indiana Daily Student reported. Launched in August 2024, the program offered employees one year’s salary if they agreed to retire on May 31, 2025, or Dec. 31, 2025. As part of the separation agreement, employees were asked not to disparage, defame or speak negatively of the university—something free speech and academic freedom experts criticized as overly broad.

Kenneth Dau-Schmidt, an Indiana labor and employment law professor, told Inside Higher Ed last year when the nondisparagement clause was made public that the provision is unusual for such contracts at public employers.

“It’s one more step in being treated as a replaceable employee rather than an important part of the governance of the university,” he said at the time.

The program was offered to a “targeted group of eligible faculty,” said Indiana spokesperson Mark Bode. “The language in the contracts is standard for separation agreements with payouts at Indiana University,” he said. He did not share how many faculty members took the voluntary retirement option but said that during the 2025–26 academic year, Indiana hired 400 new faculty members across all campuses.