USF staffers line up for buy-outs

TAMPA - The front door to the University of South Florida’s administration building looked more like a first stop for black Friday shoppers this morning.

Several faculty members lined up outside to be one of the first to sign up for the school’s first-ever early retirement program.

The school tried to avoid something like this from happening by allowing staffers to register for the program online. However, a handful still chose to show up in person.

The retirement program is so popular because it’s a much better deal than what many similar universities are offering. But it will only be awarded to a certain amount of people because once the money set aside for the program runs it, it’s over. University officials say they may pull extra funds for the program if there’s a lot of interest in the early buy-outs.