Dear Colleagues,

We write to inform you of changes to our pension plans. Sadly, at a time when our salaries stagnate or decline in real terms and our health benefit costs have sky-rocketed, our pension plans are now also being revised with very little warning or explanation of their ramifications.

The changes have variable effects. They will benefit those who opt to take their pension as a lump sum, and make no difference for those who do not name a contingent annuitant as their beneficiary. The greatest negative impact appears to be on those who name a contingent annuitant for continuation of survivor pension payments. The university’s announcement suggests benefits will decrease for the retiree and their partner between 1.1 and 0.2%. This change was approved at the Regents meeting in July 2023. However, the announcement and details of this change was not posted on the UCNet website until March 4, 2024.

Faculty at UCSD, especially those in the pre-2013 pension tier, have often worked for many years at lower salaries than their colleagues at elite universities in the hope and expectation that the deferred benefit of their pension would reward their service. That pension, already degraded for those in the 2013 and 2016 tiers, is now being further eroded.

San Diego Faculty Association