Features
Employees who retire from CU Boulder are currently entitled to the following IT services:
- IdentiKey
- CU Boulder email (50GB)
- Employee portal (MyCUInfo/CU Resources)*
OIT also provides IT support for retirees to ensure they can continue to access these services.
*Retirees who select their annual benefits through CU's open enrollment process will retain access to the employee portal as long as their IdentiKey credentials remain active.
Who Can Get It
Employees with the following job classifications who retire from CU Boulder are eligible for these services:
- Faculty
- University staff
- Classified staff
Retirees who are awarded emeritus status or become working retirees are entitled to employee-level services; see Accounts & Eligibility - Employees for details.
When & How Your Access Will Change After Retirement
Based on your official retirement date, OIT will automatically adjust your IT services according to the timeline below. Expand each section to learn which services are active during that period. For an overview of the differences between each service tier, see the Accounts & Eligibility page.
During this 90-day process, if you regain a role (e.g., emeritus, working retiree) that entitles you to a higher level of IT services, the process will stop and you'll be automatically provisioned with the appropriate IT services for your new role. See the "If you regain eligibility" section for details.
Days 1–90: No service changes; finish digital offboarding tasks
Shortly after your retirement date, you'll receive an email from OIT telling you that your Microsoft license will be downgraded from an employee license to a retiree license in 90 days. For service change details, see the next expandable section.
Use this time to finish up any remaining digital offboarding tasks before you lose access to Microsoft and Google services.
Day 91 onward: Retiree-level services
Ninety days after your retirement date, your employee Microsoft license will be replaced with a retiree license. When that happens, your access to IT services will change as follows:
| Original License | New License | Services Retained | Services Adjusted | Services Discontinued |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employee | Retiree | IdentiKey, employee portal* | CU Boulder email storage reduced to 50GB | Microsoft 365 Online, Microsoft OneDrive, Microsoft 365 desktop apps, Google Workspace, Google Drive, Microsoft Teams Calls, phone extension, VPN service |
*Retirees who select their annual benefits through CU's open enrollment process will retain access to the employee portal as long as their IdentiKey credentials remain active.
In summary:
- You will lose access to all Microsoft 365 online, desktop and mobile apps, except for Outlook on the web.
- Your Microsoft OneDrive data will be deleted.
- The storage quota for your CU Boulder email account will decrease. If your email storage is over 50GB, you won't be able to receive new messages until you get under the quota. To check your current usage, see Outlook on the Web - Check Mailbox Usage and Quota.
What to Do Before You Retire
During your final weeks of employment, take steps to preserve important OneDrive data and transfer ownership of shared accounts, documents and calendars. Follow the link below to learn more.
If You Regain Eligibility
It's not uncommon for retirees to re-engage with the university after taking some time away. For example:
- A faculty, staff or research faculty member may return as a working retiree.
- A faculty or research faculty member may be awarded emeritus status.
If the retiree gains an HR affiliation that entitles them to expanded IT services, OIT will automatically provision them accordingly.
The retiree may or may not be able to access their pre-retirement Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive files depending on how much time has passed since their retirement date.
Within 90 days of retirement: Data is available; most services are active
If you regain eligibility before the date specified in your latest OIT email about changes to your Microsoft services, you will not receive additional communications about your IT services.
If your new role is different than your old one, use our Microsoft license comparison tool to view which Microsoft services or applications will be gained or lost.
Any IT services you're entitled to in your new role will remain active. If your email or cloud storage capacity is lower than before, any services that exceed the new storage quota will be read-only.
More than 90 days after retirement: Data was deleted; most services are disabled
If you regain eligibility after the date specified in OIT's email about changing to a retiree Microsoft license, you should expect your previous IT services to have been deactivated and your non-email accounts deleted.
When you're onboarded into your new role, OIT will reactivate services and provision new accounts as needed.
For additional information, refer to the webpage for your new role:
Need Assistance?
If you have questions about your eligibility or can't access an eligible service, please contact the IT Service Center at oithelp@colorado.edu or 303-735-4357.
If you need technical support, schedule a Buff Techs appointment.
