Leaving Fort Lewis College

As you prepare to separate from Fort Lewis College, we hope your experience here adds value to your future endeavors. We understand this is a critical transition, and these resources will assist you in making a smooth transition.

Complete the Employee Off-Boarding Checklist & Exit Survey

Once you decide to leave, please notify your supervisor as soon as possible. All employees who voluntarily leave FLC must complete the Employee Off-boarding Checklist and Exit Survey and have it signed by the appropriate FLC department.

This process ensures you receive the appropriate payout and return all College property. If you cannot complete the clearance process before your final payroll, you may need to collect your final pay via a paper check held at the Payroll Office.

Exit type instructions

Resignation - Voluntary separation initiated by the employee

An employee who voluntarily resigns from the College must give advance notice (recommended timeframes for specific employee groups are listed below). Proper advance notice allows the College to adequately and accurately prepare for the employee’s departure (including making calculations to prepare final payment, addressing IT access, addressing insurance concerns, etc.).

  • Faculty: For employment to end after the Fall semester, notice should be presented during the previous Winter semester; for employment to end after the Winter semester, notice should be given in the last Fall semester.
  • Administrative and Professional Staff: Four weeks
  • Classified Staff: Ten working days

An employee who has decided to resign should submit a letter of resignation to his or her supervisor. The letter of resignation must include the date of the final work day. 

Failure to provide sufficient notice for all employee groups may result in the delay or non-payment of leave payouts and forfeiture of reinstatement privileges.

For faculty, resignations must coincide with the end of the contract period (for tenured, tenure-track, and renewable faculty, the end of the contract period is April 30), and final payments will be made at that time. Any resignation submitted for a date after the end of the contract period but before the beginning of the next contract period (typically September 1) will require back payment to the College for any benefits’ expense paid on behalf of the resigning faculty for which they would not have usually been entitled.

The employee and College have responsibilities to ensure that the employee has the appropriate payouts (if applicable), that all outstanding obligations are settled, and that the College complies with all regulatory concerns.

Required: Employee Off-boarding Checklist

Retirement - Voluntary separation after meeting retirement eligibility rules

In planning for retirement, an employee should give as much advance notice to his or her supervisor as possible, as it usually takes several months to accommodate and prepare for such a significant change. A retiring employee (or even an employee considering retirement) is strongly encouraged to meet with an HR consultant to learn about benefit options and coverage, in the case of a PERA employee, to coordinate the retirement application process.

The employee and College have responsibilities to ensure that the employee has the appropriate payouts (if applicable), that all outstanding obligations are settled, and that the College complies with all regulatory concerns.

Required:  Employee Off-boarding Checklist

Visiting faculty - Completion of the agreed upon contract period

When a subsequent appointment is unavailable or offered for the next term, please follow the protocol for leaving Fort Lewis College.

REQUIRED: Faculty Off-boarding Checklist

Termination - Involuntary separation for proper cause or release during the probationary period

An employee whose conduct, actions, or performance violates or conflicts with the College’s policies may be subject to discipline by the College’s or State’s progressive discipline process. The last step in the discipline process is Termination.

An employee who is terminated for serious misconduct (examples of serious misconduct include, but are not limited to, theft or dishonesty, violence, violations of campus policies, or refusal to follow a legitimate work directive) will not be eligible for re-employment and may be subject to criminal charges if the conduct involves criminal activity.

Decisions to terminate an employee and the actual Termination must be coordinated and scheduled through the Office of Human Resources. This will ensure that specific procedures are followed and that final paychecks and/or other relevant matters are processed promptly.

In the case of Termination, the College is primarily responsible for ensuring that the employee receives the appropriate payouts (if applicable), that all outstanding obligations are settled, and that the College complies with all regulatory concerns.

Layoff - Separation due to the lack of work or job abolishment

In the event of a layoff due to a lack of work, funding, or reorganization, supervisors must obtain approval from the Office of Human Resources before eliminating a position. Layoffs of any type or size can only occur with the approval of the President and, in the case of Classified employees, the Appointing Authority. Specific timelines and notification procedures must be followed for a layoff to take place.

In the case layoff, the College is mostly responsible for ensuring that the employee receives the appropriate payouts (if applicable), that all outstanding obligations are settled, and that the College complies with all regulatory concerns.