Retired Faculty Association

TURFA provides opportunities for members to share information, experiences, scholarship, service, and engage socially. In addition, TURFA acts as the chief advocate for the privileges and benefits afforded all retired faculty and librarians by Towson University.

As retired faculty members and librarians, we remain a vital part of Towson University’s successes and a source of enrichment for the students we have taught. TURFA is an organization FOR and OF retired faculty and librarians. We work together to create a welcoming atmosphere for newly retired members and bring them into our community as they begin this new stage of their lives.

As faculty and librarians begin to consider retirement and develop new goals for this next stage of our lives, we realize that one of the most valuable relationships we developed at the university was the relationship among faculty members. Throughout our careers we have been lending support, providing insight, posing questions, and exchanging ideas with each other. This process deepened our intellectual experience and strengthened our pedagogy. The TU Retired Faculty Association provides a framework for these relationships — and the pleasures they bring — to continue. Our members remain interested in enriching our community and themselves.

Membership

TURFA actively works to expand and codify the benefits of TURFA membership. We create social and intellectual opportunities by organizing events for members. Events might include trips to local sites of interest, interesting speakers, bike rides, a dinner get together, etc. A survey report about Towson University retired faculty and librarians documented that retiring from Towson University does not mean disengaging from your intellectual community. TURFA aims to facilitate and stimulate that continued engagement among our members.

TURFA membership is open to all retiring full time faculty, adjunct faculty and librarians as well as those who have a long-term association with the university or are partners of members.

The Advocate

TURFA’s biannual newsletter, The Advocate, provides articles written to inform and entertain. It includes in-depth interviews with retirees and others from TU, updates about issues of concern, information about recent activities and current initiatives, and brief In Memoriam notices.

AROHE 

TURFA is a Proud Member of AROHE

Towson University is the first University System of Maryland institution to join the Association of Retirement Organizations in Higher Education (AROHE). AROHE advocates for and serves campus-based organizations for retired faculty and staff.  Through its network we share TURFA successes and initiatives and learn about those of sibling organizations.

TURFA is a collaborative venture of retirees and the Office of the Provost. See the About page to learn more of our history, our governing structure, and where you might fit in and feel most comfortable.