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
When: Friday, September 26, 2025, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Where: Room 1010, College of Health and Human Services (CHHS), 1200 Oakland Dr, Kalamazoo, MI 49008. Refreshments provided.
Who can attend: All active and retired WMU faculty, staff, and spouses.
Why: The WMU health plan, while very good, is also very expensive, especially for spouses of retirees – there are other very good and very affordable options that provide considerable savings.
Presenters:
Miranda Pearson, Kalamazoo Area Agency on Aging. She will present the landscape of Medicare/Medicaid and the various options for supplemental coverage.
Lowell Rinker, retired WMU VP for Business/Finance & CFO. He will present real-life cost comparisons of the United Healthcare Medigap G plan vs the WMU PPO.
Paul Minor, Agent for Endres Insurance Agency (specializing in supplemental health insurance plans). He will discuss the features of various programs: Regular Medicare, Medicare Advantage, and Medigap.
Unable to attend in person:
A Zoon link to the event will be posted here at least one week before the day of the event.
Within one week after this event a link to a recording will be placed on the WARF information webpage: https://www.warfwmu.org/information.
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