• Drone view of University Place

The UVM Retired Faculty and Administrative Officers (RFAO) Organization is a long-established organization on campus with focus upon issues and concerns to the 500+ retired faculty and administrative officers.  The RFAO represents the interests of retired faculty and administrative officers on campus and provides relevant and important information to RFAO members.

About the RFAO:

Vision:

The UVM Retired Faculty and Administrative Officers Organization aspires to enhance the contact between members and current faculty and administrative officers to maximize the wellbeing and educational experiences of all members of the UVM community.

Mission:

The UVM Retired Faculty and Administrative Officers provides a variety of services that enrich the lives of its members and benefit the university and the greater community.

RFAO Goals:

  • To provide a wide range of activities, including educational, informational, cultural, social, and volunteer opportunities
  • To monitor and share information on benefits affecting health and life style choices
  • To advance all modes of communication with its members, the university, and the greater community
  • To assist the University of Vermont in accomplishing its mission and goals

Membership:

Retired faculty and administrative officers are automatically, upon their official date of retirement, members of the UVM-RFAO. RFAO members are also automatically included in the RFAO listserv from which UVM communications and communications from the RFAO are regularly sent.

We encourage all retired faculty and administrative officers to participate in UVM-RFAO activities, so as to maintain and enrich interactions with colleagues who have worked together for many years, as well as to stay connected to UVM.

Current RFAO President:

Professor Emeritus
Michael Gurdon (email link)

The Executive Board invites all RFAO members to send comments, suggestions, and raise issues to the Board. Contact the President or any RFAO Executive Board member (see menu for members & emails).

UVM Software Access to Retired Faculty

UVM licenses software for use by UVM employees, students, and affliates.  However, retired faculty do not fall within any of these categories.  The RFAO has reached an agreement with the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs to create a new classification of active retired faculty.  This classification will make UVM software available to retired faculty who continue to pursue scholarship and research activities.  Retired faculty can now apply for this new classification and access to software.  Go to the Enterprise Technology Services (ETS) UVM Retired Faculty Software Access Guidelines webpage for information on how to apply and gain access software.

Information about available software and how to access it can be found on the ETS IT Software information webpage.  Available UVM software can be found at the UVM Software Portal webpage.  Note: you will need AppsAnywhere installed on your PC/Mac. 

Updates Concerning the New 2023 Cigna MA Plan

  • Statement (3/8/2023 PDF) from the RFAO Executive Board concerning the Cigna MA plan with suggestions on how to navigate effectively with Cigna and health care providers.
  • For details of the Cigna PPO MA plan go to the UVM Human Resources website under Retirement Resources.  Scroll down to Benefits and 65+ Medical Plan.

Current RFAO Executive Board Activities

Your Executive Board meets monthly except in June and July and is involved in the following activities:

  • Working with UVM officials on matters such as health care insurance and other post-retirement benefits
  • Maintaining our website and an RFAO listserv to keep members up-to-date on Executive Board activities
  • Hosting annual fall and spring luncheons with a guest speaker
  • Administering the UVM Retired Scholars Award Program
  • Working with the UVM Foundation
  • Involvement in the Association of Retirement Organizations in Higher Education (AROHE)

RFAO-FORUM Listserv

The RFAO established the RFAO-FORUM listserv that is a bidirectional forum for communication among RFAO members. The RFAO-FORUM is separate from the UVM-RFAO listserv, which is unidirectional providing UVM & RFAO announcements to members. The RFAO-FORUM is a means for RFAO members to communicate and converse with other RFAO members.

To join the RFAO-FORUM, send an email and include the following text in the body of the message:
subscribe RFAO-FORUM first_name last_name
After sending the email, you will receive a confirmation email with a link to activate your subscription.

To post to the RFAO-FORUM, send your message to the RFAO-FORUM listserv using the same email address that you used to join the listserv.

UVM Retired Scholars Awards for 2023-2024:

The Office of the Provost in conjunction with the Executive Board of the RFAO made the following awards to

  • Daniel Baker, Associate Professor Emeritus of Community Development and Applied Economics. To support the project "Utilization, Impacts and Sustainability of the Ecological Sugar Project: Assessment and Recommendations for Technology Transfer". The award will assist in funding field interviews by local partners of 30 sugar producers in Honduras regarding their use of adapted maple syrup evaporators, utilizing a survey instrument developed by Baker. The findings will be submitted to a respected rural development publication. $2000
  • Cameron Davis, Senior Lecturer Emerita of Art and Art History. To complete the set design for Emergent Universe Oratorio (composer Sam Guarnaccia). In partnership with Albany Pro Musica, the EUO Set Design is a video animation design projected onto a screen behind the choir, orchestra, and orator throughout the 80 minute performance that is scheduled to take place at RPI in Troy, NY. $2000
  • Scott Morrical, Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry, and of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics. To cover publication costs for a journal article to be based on research data already collected on the virus but not yet publicly available. The running title is "Expression, purification & characterization of cyanobacteriophage-encoded glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase enzyme". $2000
  • Robert Rodgers, Professor Emeritus of Classics.  To support research assistance in the verification of citations from medieval manuscripts and other publications. This award will facilitate the timely completion of a Critical Edition of Res Rusticae, which Rodgers has under contract with Oxford University Press and its Classical Texts series. $1000

For details about the UVM Retired Scholars Award Program, go to the Provost's website.