Retiree Benefits
Retirees have made outstanding contributions to students, fellow colleagues, and the university status. Cal Poly recognizes those contributions and provides numerous benefits to retirees who have contributed so much. The Retired Faculty and Staff Association (RFSA) believes our retirees are outstanding, and are provide here a list of those benefits that we are aware of and the procedure for accessing them below. Please let us know if there are benefits that we have not included.
Benefits for all retirees
- Email from RFSA. Get on Email list.
Not getting Emails from RFSA? Email is the primary method RFSA uses to communicate with its members. We share updates regarding events and field trips, Cal Poly technology, and learning opportunities. Recently, we found that some retirees have accidentally unsubscribed for RFSA emails.
Important note: For each email sent by Cal Poly, there is a choice of unsubscribing from that particular email list (i.e. department-specific emails) or from all email sent by Cal Poly.
If you'd like to subscribe (or re-subscribe) to RFSA email correspondence, click here to complete the short re-subscription form.
It would be helpful when you are talking to retiree friends that you let them know about this possibility, especially if they have accidentally unsubscribed from our email list.
- Use of the Kennedy Library for everything available to the public.
- Attendance of public events such as the Performing Arts Center.
- Use of dining facilities and on campus and off campus stores.
- Visiting public spaces such as the Arboretum.
- Access to Cal Poly Report online: https://calpolynews.calpoly.edu/cpreport/reportindex.html
Additional benefits for Emeritus faculty and staff
What is Emeritus status? And what are the benefits? Read on below to see a complete list of benefits and how to get them.
Academic, management and staff employees, including employees of the University’s official Auxiliary Organizations, who retire immediately upon their separation from Cal Poly and meet the required criteria, shall be awarded emeritus status with its accompanying privileges. The criteria for emeritus status shall be: (1) the employee’s completion of a minimum of ten (10) full-time equivalent years of service at Cal Poly, (2) verification by the respective program manager in consultation with the immediate supervisor that the employee’s service has been meritorious, and (3) approval by the President or President’s delegate. Emeritus status continues at the prerogative of the President.
Privileges associated with the emeritus status include: library service; complimentary parking permit upon request; use of campus dining facilities and Cal Poly University Store; attendance at classes with instructor's permission; access to certain University computer services, including email account; admission to campus events the same as active employees; access to Cal Poly Report on-line; emeritus business cards upon request; campus photo identification card; office space and staff assistance for continued University service (if available and with program manager authorization); eligibility to purchase Recreation Center membership; and group discount tickets authorizing reduced admission fees for many attractions in California the same as active employees.
All Emeritus retirees are listed by the university
The faculty and staff who have completed a minimum of ten full-time equivalent years of meritorious service at Cal Poly are awarded emeritus status. A complete list of faculty emeriti is available at: https://content-calpoly-edu.s3.amazonaws.com/academic-personnel/1/PDF/Emeriti-Faculty.pdf.
Contact Human Resources for information regarding staff emeriti. The University appreciates its emeriti members’ contributions to the Cal Poly community.
Attendance at classes with instructor's permission
This includes auditing a class if there are seats available, with the instructor's permission. However, no credit can be given. Open University registration would be required for credit.
Admission to areas reserved for faculty and staff
Office space and staff assistance for continued University service
- Services such as continued scholarly or administration support to a program.
- Requires authorization of program manager.
- Only if space is available, and may be reallocated as needed by the program manager.
Group discount tickets
Authorizing reduced admission fees for many attractions in California (the same as an active employee), Tickets at Work offers employee discounts and special offers to top attractions, theme parks, shows, events, movie tickets, hotels and more. Click “Become a Member” and use company code “cpoly”.
Eligible to purchase Recreation Center membership
- You must present emeritus photo ID.
- You may self-sponsor guess access at the Cal Poly non-employee rate.
- For more information, go to the Rec Center webpage.
Cost: $50/month
Admission to campus events the same as an active employee.
This includes attending faculty and staff social affairs, use of campus dining facilities, Campus Market and University Store.
Cal Poly Arts, like other campus entities, often extends discounts to faculty, staff, and emeriti (retired faculty) for performances and events.Emeritus faculty can typically access these discounts by:
- Presenting their emeritus ID card at the ticket office.
- Identifying themselves as emeritus when purchasing tickets online or by phone.
Specific CP Arts Discounts:The exact discounts offered can vary depending on the specific event or performance, so it's best to check with Cal Poly Arts directly or consult their website for details.
Free campus parking permit upon request
If you plan to park a vehicle on the campus, you should keep your license plate information up to date on the portal. The location for updating your license plate information has been moved from the homepage of the portal to https://calpoly.t2hosted.com/Account/Portal. At this location on the portal, you will need to select
- Permits, if you want to view your general parking permit.
- Vehicles, if you want to check and see if all your vehicles are registered.
Log into the portal if you haven't done so already. All emeritus faculty and staff members may park their vehicle on campus, without charge, if the vehicle is registered on the portal. If you become employed on the campus, you will need a parking permit.
Technology resources available
Emeritus business cards upon request
To receive these business cards, request them through your department head. These must be provided upon request.
Campus photo identification card (no charge).
E-mail and calendar
Access to University computing services including a Cal Poly Portal account and access to university email and calendar. For more information on what services are included, see Emeritus Technology Support and Services in the Cal Poly ITS Knowledge Base.
Duo Authentication
Our dual authentication system (Duo) was updated on February 19, 2024 and you should have received at least one e-mail regarding the upgrade. It is necessary to use Duo when accessing any technology resource on the campus. It is more secure, and in my experience, the update is easier to use. If you encounter a problem using dual, support information is provided at the following website or you can call the ITS help desk at (805)756-7000.
Cal Poly Email employee list opt-in
Retirees do not receive all of the Cal Poly emails sent by the President's office, Provost's office, etc. Some of you are volunteering or are otherwise connected to the university in some capacity or interest and would like to receive a more complete set of emails. You now have the opportunity to opt in and receive this more extensive set of emails. The instructions for doing so are provided below.
How To Subscribe and Unsubscribe to the rfsa-staff-email-opt-in@calpoly.edu email list:
To Subscribe:
Log into your Cal Poly email account
- Send an email message To:sympa@calpoly.edu.
- In the subject line of your message, type in: subscribe rfsa-staff-email-opt-in.
- No need to add any message in the body of the email. If this is successful, then you will receive an affirmative message from sympa@calpoly.edu.
To Unsubscribe:
Log into your Cal Poly email account
- Send an email message To: sympa@calpoly.edu.
- In the subject line of your message, type in: signoff rfsa-staff-email-opt-in.
- No need to add any message in the body of the email.
Virtual private network (VPN) security tool
Besides accessing the campus resources listed below, using the VPN when using the internet, you will have enhanced security. Cal Poly’s VPN service, available through GlobalProtect, allows you to securely access campus technology resources including the campus wiki and certain software including Autodesk, GIS Software (ESRI/ERDAS/Trimble), Maple, Mathematica, MATLAB/SIMULINK, and Solidworks and more from anywhere with a high-speed internet connection. You must be enrolled in Multi-Factor Authentication (Duo) before setting up VPN. To access the VPN, go to cpvpn.calpoly.edu. You may use this VPN tool to provide improved security for all your network activities.
Zoom license
If your access to Zoom has been discontinued, you are eligible for the license if you volunteer to do something for Cal Poly that a manager feels is valuable to the department. That person should request the license for you through the Help Desk.
Microsoft desktop license
You may have received an email that your desktop license for Microsoft Office was terminated. However, it is possible for you to have it reinstated if you are volunteering with Cal Poly, involved in research, developing a publication that will be associated with Cal Poly, or doing something related to Cal Poly that requires the use of the software.
Visit our tech update for step-by-step instructions to request reinstatement.
Retirees will continue to have access to the Internet version of Microsoft Office via the Cal Poly Portal. To access the Internet version of Microsoft Office, once you are logged into the portal, select Email & Calendar on the left sidebar. Microsoft application icons will appear on the left side of your screen, and then click the one you want to use
*For questions/information regarding your emeritus benefits, please email:
Faculty: Lindsay Howell lmhowell@calpoly.edu
Management/Staff: Erin Carlisle ecarlisl@calpoly.edu