Retirement may come early for some faculty and professors at Palomar College.

The Governing Board agreed to move forward with an early Supplemental Retirement Program, also known as the “golden handshake,” at its Sept. 9 meeting.

Staff will be offered 75 percent of their annual salary for those who want to retire early, according to officials. The window of opportunity is open until next April.

Deegan stressed that no one is being pushed to retire early, this is incentive only. Staff, faculty and administration eligible for early retirement will be receiving information packets in the coming weeks. To be eligible for the program, employees have to at least be 55 years old and have worked at Palomar for five years, Deegan said.

Palomar is using an outside company PARS to help the process for early retirement. According to the PARS website their objective is “providing superior employee benefits while increasing management effectiveness, reducing operating costs, and relieving staff administration burdens.”