Andrews Emeriti House Photos by Chris Meyer Physical Plant carpenter Dave Eads plasters over holes and imperfections on a wall inside the new Emeriti House at IU Bloomington. Two-thirds of IUB emeriti faculty choose to remain in Bloomington after retirement. That’s a valuable resource base, and the dean of faculties wants it used well.

Located at the corner of Hawthorne Street and Atwater Avenue, one block east of the Atwater Parking Garage, the future Emeriti House was most recently occupied by Summer Session offices.

“The Dean of Faculties Office has been working to find a place where emeriti can work and meet, and we think this structure is well located and spacious enough to provide an excellent place for emeriti activities,” said Moya Andrews, dean of the faculties, vice chancellor for academic affairs and professor of speech and hearing sciences in Bloomington. “Here at IU, we have two-thirds of our emeriti faculty who choose to remain in Bloomington during retirement, and so they provide a great resource for the university. They deserve to have a comfortable, centrally located place to use as a focal point for their activities.”

Under renovation, with money reallocated from the Office of the Dean of Faculties, as well as an additional donation from the Office of Affirmative Action, Emeriti House will provide 12 workstations that can be used on an as-needed basis, a conference room for meetings and a kitchen.

According to Andrews, Ellen Pettay, who worked in the University Faculty Council/Bloomington Faculty Council Office for many years, will become the first coordinator of Emeriti House.

“With a coordinator, we have the potential to do more to connect retirees to additional ways they can continue to contribute,” said Andrews. “For example, Patrick O’Meara, dean of international programs, hopes that he can persuade more retirees to volunteer to meet with the many international visitors who come to IU and wish to discuss programs and academic issues with a knowledgeable faculty member.”

Andrews said that because the Bloomington campus already has an active Annuitants Association, Emeriti House will avoid duplication of that association’s programs and, instead, will focus on other activities that are academically focused. She will head a board of retired faculty, which will include past IUB Chancellor Ken Gros Louis, which will survey emeriti to gauge interests and needs.

“We believe that Emeriti House itself, as well as the activities there—an art show of retirees’ creative work pursued in retirement is being planned, for example—will enrich and expand what is currently available for retirees on our campus. It will, hopefully, be a symbol that we value our retired faculty and their contributions to making our university the great institution it is,” she said.

http://www.indiana.edu/~emeriti/emindex.html