The Phased Retirement Program for Tenured Faculty was implemented in 1998 for a five-year trial period at the 15 constituent institutions of the University of North Carolina that award tenure. In 2001, the UNC Board of Governors voted to continue the program as a benefit for UNC faculty. The program was designed "to promote renewal of the professoriate in order to ensure institutional vitality and to provide additional flexibility and support for individual faculty members who are nearing retirement." The program has three major goals: better personnel planning, enhanced recruitment and retention, and increased quality of faculty.