Western's Association of Retired Faculty
Western's Association of Retired Faculty
WARF was established in 2005 by 14 retired faculty who had been active in positioning WMU-AAUP as a collective-bargaining chapter.
The mission of WARF was and is to advocate for the health care and other benefits of Western Michigan University faculty retirees that are negotiated or may be negotiated as part of the WMU-AAUP Agreement. These efforts are conducted by a Steering Committee composed of up to nine members.
Membership is open to retirees who meet qualifications to retire as “faculty” as described in Article 35 of the WMU-AAUP Agreement for their date of hire. Associate membership is open to surviving Spouses/Partners of WARF members and others invited by the Steering Committee. Associate members have all benefits of membership except voting and serving on the Steering Committee. The membership webpage has additional information about eligibility.
The focus of the Steering Committee is to provide information about retirement benefits to all members. The Committee responds to member concerns by
Sponsoring Navigating Healthcare sessions,
Sponsoring Retirement Financial Education sessions,
Attending AAUP Chapter, Association Council, and Executive Committee meetings,
Meeting with Chapter leadership,
And communication updates.
Steering Committee meetings are open to all members.
WARF is grateful for the support it has received from the following members:
Peter Krawutschke
Gary Mathews
Michael McDonnell
Dale Porter
Karen Seelig
First, the results from negotiations produced only modest changes in the University plan in terms of both coverages and out-of-pocket costs (premiums, co-pays, co-insurance). Similarly, changes for the 2025 year for Medicare, Medigap and Medicare Advantage will also be minimal. So, the message is essentially the same for the 2025 year as we presented for the 2024 year.
Second, with the change of national leadership, the prospect of changes to all of those things mentioned above is hard to determine now. We do know that the changes for 2025 are already solidified, but the cost of the various options could materially change for 2026 and out years. The WARF Steering Committee felt it was prudent to defer the presentation until we have a clearer picture of what changes will be put in place.
WMU Chapter of the American Association of University Professors, Facebook website:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100048941205275
WMU Chapter of the American Association of University Professors, Blog:
https://thewmuaaup.com
American Association of University Professors, AAUP, Website homepage:
https://www.aaup.org