Faculty members who are contemplating retirement in the near future may find the following information useful in making retirement decisions. The following summarizes two faculty benefit programs that allow faculty to work less than full time, either before or after retirement.
Eligible faculty may reduce their time base prior to retirement by participating in the Pre-Retirement Reduction in Time Base program (PRTB). The PRTB program allows eligible faculty to reduce their time base to two-thirds, one-half, or one-third, prior to retirement, while still earning full-service credit with CalPERS; faculty who enter the PRTB program may participate for a maximum of five years. Please note that faculty must be at least 55 years of age to enter the PRTB program and must enter PRTB prior to one’s 65th birthday.
Faculty who transition from the PRTB program to the Faculty Early Retirement Program (FERP) will only be allowed to work up to 50% of the reduced time-base while in the PRTB program.
If you intend to participate in the PRTB program in a given academic year. In that case, you must declare your intention to do so by the second week of the spring semester (i.e., six months prior to the beginning of the academic year in which you participate). For more information on the PRTB program, see Article 30 of the CSU/CFA Collective Bargaining Agreement*
Eligible faculty who are ready to retire may elect to participate in the Faculty Early Retirement Program (FERP) for up to five years post-retirement. A faculty member who chooses to participate in FERP may continue to work up to 50% of the time base they worked during the year prior to retiring, which is typically a maximum of 15 WTU for the academic year, assuming a full-time appointment status was in effect the year before retirement.
Please note that to participate in the FERP, you must qualify under one of the following categories.
a) a member of STRS and at least 55 years of age,
b) a member of PERS hired before 1/1/2011 and at least 55 years of age,
c) a member of PERS hired between 1/1/2011-12/31/2012 and at least 60 years of age, or
d) a member of PERS hired on or after 1/1/2013 and at least 62 years of age.
There is no maximum age for entry into this program.
Suppose you intend to participate in the FERP in a given academic year. In that case, you must declare your intention to do so by the second week of the spring semester (i.e., six months prior to the beginning of the academic year in which you participate). For more information on the FERP, see Article 29 of the CSU/CFA Collective Bargaining Agreement.*
*Please note that the CSU and the CFA are bargaining a new contract, future participation in PRTB and FERP will be subject to the conditions in the new agreement. Any faculty member who declares an intent to participate in either PRTB or FERP may rescind that declaration any time prior to retirement and/or entry into the program(s).
If you would like to discuss your options, you can drop in to the Faculty Affairs via email at [email protected] or make an appointment by contacting us at (323) 343-3810. If you have questions about retirement (and not just about the FERP or PRTB programs), it is strongly recommended that you contact CalPERS at (888) 225-7377.