Emeritus Faculty

Policy Statement

A retired faculty member on whom the university has conferred the designation of professor, associate professor, associate research professor, research professor, associate teaching professor, or teaching professor, emeritus or emerita (all referred to herein as emeritus faculty) continues to be a member of the university community, whether employed by the university or not, and is granted by this policy a number of privileges, services and benefits, as enumerated below.

Tenured faculty should also refer to the university's Policy to Provide Retirement Options for Tenured Faculty.

Financial and Retirement Planning

The university will make available to faculty and their spouses programs and materials relevant to financial and retirement planning. The university will designate a person within Human Resources who will be a readily accessible contact for assistance to prospective retiring faculty members in getting information on health care (including Medicare), Social Security, pension elections and other matters related to retirement. Materials available should include a compendium of the provisions of the various benefit plans that pertain to retirement, booklets issued by various government agencies on topics such as Medicare and Social Security, and informational materials prepared by organizations such as the AARP.

In addition, programs and materials will be provided by outside organizations and professionals rather than by the university itself, but at no cost to the faculty members. These programs will include the opportunity to meet individually or in groups to discuss aspects of financial and retirement planning.

It is understood that assistance with financial planning under this policy will not encompass such arrangements or advice as would cast the university in the role of a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, with respect to investment advice.

Emeritus Status

Emeritus faculty are encouraged to continue playing an active role in their academic discipline, in their department and in the intellectual life of the university generally. To foster this continued role and an on-going relationship with Carnegie Mellon University:

1. Emeritus faculty continue to be members of their academic departments and will be listed as such in the university catalogues, the Faculty/Staff Directory, etc. They continue having the right to attend and participate in department and university faculty meetings and other activities as before retirement, but without the right to vote.
2. Emeritus faculty members shall be retained on all mailing lists that contain information of general interest to faculty members, unless they specifically request that their name be omitted from such lists. They will be retained on invitation lists for faculty social functions to which non-retired faculty of equivalent rank are invited, and invited to become, or continue being, members of the Faculty Club. Likewise, they shall continue to have faculty privileges at the university bookstore, art store and computer store, and access to the same recreational and dining facilities that they could use before retirement.
3. Reasonable office space shall be assured to emeritus faculty who need it. While this space may be shared, it should be a genuine office.
4. An emeritus faculty member can serve as the principal investigator on grants and can supervise doctoral students with approval from the respective department head.
5. Emeritus faculty shall have access to electronic mail and networking through the university's Computing Services, as do other faculty. Likewise, they shall retain full access to library facilities, including borrowing rights and interlibrary loan privileges.
6. Emeritus faculty shall continue to have the same access to parking as before retirement, and will retain their seniority in space allocation. For emeriti who are not employed by the university, free parking of up to 50 days is granted in one of the university areas; additional parking can be purchased by the emeriti at half the regular rate.

The above is not meant to preclude the availability of other university services or resources where arrangements have been made with the respective department and dean.

Benefits

Emeritus faculty are entitled to all benefits the university grants to retired faculty members, in particular, eligibility for the university tuition remission and grant program and medical insurance benefits. These benefits are detailed in the Carnegie Mellon University Benefit Plan for full-time faculty.

Exceptions

When an emeritus faculty member is employed by the university, the provisions of the appointment shall prevail, but they shall not deprive the appointee of any of the entitlements specified under the previous paragraphs.