Breadcrumb
Emeritus & Retired Faculty & Staff Association
The Humboldt-Emeritus, Retired Faculty and Staff Association (Humboldt-ERFSA), working with the statewide organization (CSU-ERFSA), strives to secure and protect the rights & benefits of Humboldt/CSU retirees.
The association works to keep Cal Poly Humboldt retirees connected with each other and with the activities that are ongoing at the Cal Poly Humboldt campus. We have monthly luncheons during the academic year with dynamic and versatile speakers. Presenters include faculty, staff and students affiliated with Cal Poly Humboldt, as well as the occasional community members.
All California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt retirees who are CALPERS annuitants, any Cal Poly Humboldt emeritus faculty or staff, and CALPERS annuitant retirees from other CSU campuses, are eligible for membership in this Association, as well as encouraged to become members in the CSU Emeritus and Retired Faculty and Staff Association.
To join Humboldt-ERFSA, please pay electronically at:
https://commerce.cashnet.com/humboldthmo?CNAME=FACULTY+ASSO
Applying for Emeritus Status
- Retiree completes: Humboldt-University Senate: Informational Template for Emeritus Status.
- Retiree’s Nominator completes: Fall 2025 Humboldt Staff & Faculty Emeritus Nomination form.
Nomination letters are due September 1, and February 1.
Faculty Handbook: Section 540:Emeritus Faculty and Staff Policy
Emeritus status may be granted to any currently retired academic, administrative, staff or faculty if they have a written nomination from their former department personnel committee, Department Chair, or Supervisor in their former academic unit or working unit ; or the Cal Poly Humboldt-Emeritus, Retired Faculty and Staff Association (Humboldt-ERFSA) can nominate them when their previous supervisors or department chairs are no longer employed or in a position to nominate them verifying they meet the criteria for emeritus status:
- retirement from the Cal Poly Humboldt;
- having provided ten or more years of full-time service or its aggregated equivalent at this campus; and
- meritorious contributions to teaching, scholarship, and/or service to Humboldt/CSU.
- A history of conduct or behavior that contravenes basic university policies or the university purpose, vision or core values and beliefs, including serious criminal offenses, fraud, or Title IX violations, is cause for denial of Emeritus status. Individuals involved in ongoing investigations for such conduct or behavior are not eligible for emeritus status until the conclusion of the investigation(s).
Benefits of Emeritus Status at Cal Poly Humboldt
In accordance with Email Policy P21-01, Section I.E.: Retired faculty and staff with an official emeritus designation may retain their individual employee email accounts as long as their accounts remain active (defined as accessing the account at least once a year and not allowing the password to expire).
So far as space, resources, and priorities permit, Cal Poly Humboldt offers amenities to assist emeriti faculty, staff and administrators in their scholarly or professional pursuits, including but not limited to: the assignment of an appropriate office space if available, and access to equipment or services; the right to compete for research grants through the Sponsored Programs Foundation; use of the library; attendance at department faculty meetings as ex-officio, non-voting members with floor privileges; the same discounts for use of academic resources such as books and software as active faculty; eligibility for the appointment and/or election to faculty committees; and free parking. Emeritus faculty, staff, and administrators are also encouraged to become members in the CSU Emeritus and Retired Faculty and Staff Association, as well as the Humboldt ERFSA (https://erfsa.humboldt.edu/).
Cal Poly Humboldt Emeritus Status ID
There are two ways to get your Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty Emeritus Status ID.
- At the library’s front desk ask for an emeritus faculty ID. The staff looks up your emeritus status & then they will print you an ID. The library hours vary.
- Online--the instructions link is: https://library.humboldt.edu/services/ID/index.html
How to obtain parking permit
Emeritus Faculty may obtain an Humboldt free Parking Permit by sending an email in advance to parking@humboldt.edu or requesting a parking permit at the Humboldt Parking Kiosk. You must bring your Humboldt Emeritus ID to show the Parking staff to get your free parking permit.
Meeting/Event Schedule
Time: 11:30 am
Place: In-person Meeting at Baywood Golf and Country Club 3600 Buttermilk Ln, Arcata , CA
September 11, 2025: Justin Luong, 2024 Grant Recipient, Assistant Professor, Forestry, Fire and Rangeland Management.
"The effect of local solar microgrids on rangeland vegetation and soils"
Solar microgrids may be an important production method to help meet growing clean energy demands but could impact rangeland ecosystems. We evaluated how solar microgrid developments affected the in situ plant communities and soil properties of three soil microgrids on coastal prairies in Humboldt county. Initial findings suggest that solar microgrids affected plant communities but did not strongly affect soil biogeochemistry.
Introduction by Jeffry Borgeld, Humboldt-ERFSA Membership Chair
https://justinluong.com/menu/currentresearch.html
October 9, 2025: Silvia E. Pavan, 2024 Grant Recipient, Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences.
"An exploratory expedition to Rio Abiseo National Park: revealing a mysterious new species of mammal and garnering genomic resources from a World Heritage Site"
I am broadly interested in biodiversity, and I work with fieldwork exploration and collections-based research to discover and describe species, and to understand small mammals diversity and evolution. I am going to share with you some of the results from an exploratory expedition to Rio Abiseo National Park in Peru. I am investigating the unknown diversity on this World Heritage Site, revealing high endemicity and several new species of small mammals. Publication: The one describing the new species of marsupial, and please follow this link for an outreach publication framing a new marsupial species, described as a result of the project (published last month!).
Introduction by Susan Dobie, Humboldt-ERFSA Program Chair
November 13, 2025 (sequential speakers):
Introductions by LouAnn Wieand, Humboldt-ERFSA Treasurer
12:00 - 12:30 PM
Amy K. Conley, 2022 Grant Recipient, Lecturer, Education.
"Building community and identity through local language practice"
We aimed to increase a sense of belonging at school, attendance, and connectedness to tribes for indigenous 8th graders by having tribal elders teach greetings and names for local fauna for three local indigenous languages and Spanish. We were successful in our efforts as well as increasing the number of indigenous and non-indigenous students planning to take an additional language as high school freshmen.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1gBEdnWcZKZIKbOrqkdseH-jP-Mxi4Bdb_4pdVA150SE/edit?usp=sharing
12:30 - 1:00 PM
Morgan Barker, 2023 Grant Recipient, Sustainability Librarian, University Library.
"Sustainable Librarianship - Sustainable Library Certification at Cal Poly Humboldt"
This Certification is helping to define a new and intentional dimension of librarianship. Over the past two years, all Library faculty and staff have been on a collaborative journey toward earning Sustainability Library Certification. Through this collective effort, we have demonstrated just how deeply library work is woven into the fabric of academics and curriculum, research, and community engagement.
https://libguides.humboldt.edu/sustainability/sustainable_library_certification
December 11, 2025: Amy Uyeki and Vicki Ozaki, Team HAPI Members.
"Under One Umbrella: Building and Empowering the Community of Humboldt's Asian and Pacific Islanders"
Since its inception in 2021, Humboldt Asians & Pacific Islanders in Solidarity (HAPI) have worked to empower the Asian American/PI community and amplify diverse voices and perspectives for a more engaged and inclusive future. Team HAPI members Amy Uyeki and Vicki Ozaki will provide an overview of HAPI with current and past projects. One focus will be the Eureka Chinatown Project (ECP) which is reclaiming the dark history of the Eureka Chinatown expulsion and its relevance in our lives today. Plans for the Eureka Chinatown monument will be shared as well as envisioning future projects for both ECP and HAPI.
Introduction by Kumi Watanabe-Schock, Humboldt-ERFSA Communication Chair
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Zu8sNjDtuQsVJk0rdxHeq6ApHcYLb27E/view?usp=drivesdk
How to join
(local and state organizations)
Humboldt-ERFSA
To join Humboldt-ERFSA, please pay electronically at: Cashnet or send your check to the Cashier’s Office, SBS 285, 1 Harpst St, Cal Poly Humboldt, Arcata, CA 95521. Semester dues are only $35.00 to help defray the cost of advertising, mailings, socials, and other miscellaneous expenses, you can also opt to pay for the entire year, by using the "Quantity" drop down menu to the left of the amount, shown below:
You can click the down arrow and will be able to pay for up to two (2) semesters at a time.
CSU-ERFSA
To join CSU-ERFSA please go to CSU-ERFSA Membership. CSU-ERFSA dues range from $5 to $10 per month depending on the retiree's gross monthly retirement benefit from CalPERS (or in a few cases STRS). A portion of these dues is returned to the member's local affiliated campus retiree organization if any. The membership information page includes more details and a membership application. For more information visit csuerfsa.org.
Executive Committee
The day-to-day operations of Humboldt-ERFSA are carried out by the Executive Committee, which is composed of volunteer members of the association.
Humboldt-ERFSA Executive Committee Members
Marshelle Thobaben, Emerita Professor, Nursing, President, and ERFSA Senate Representative to the University Senate
Jeffry Borgeld, Emeritus Professor, Oceanography, Membership Chair
Lou Ann Wieand, Emerita Professor, Psychology, Treasurer
Susan Dobie, Emerita Lecturer, Communications, Program Chair
Kumi Watanabe-Schock, Emerita Library Media Coordinator, Communication Chair
Steve Karp, Liaison with the President's Office; Acting Vice President, University Advancement and Executive Director, Cal Poly Humboldt Foundation
Contact individual Humboldt-ERFSA Executive Committee Members by clicking their names above.
You may also use this link to contact the entire Executive Committee.