Faculty, with the rank of instructor or above, who are employed by the University of North Carolina; field faculty of the Cooperative Agriculture Extension Service; the President and senior academic and administrative officers of the University of North Carolina who are appointed by the Board of Governors on recommendation of the President pursuant to G.S. 116-11(4), 116-11(5), and 116-14 or who are appointed by the Board of Trustees of a constituent institution upon the recommendation by the Chancellor pursuant to G.S. 116-40.22(b); and non-faculty instructional and research staff who are exempt from the State Personnel Act are eligible to participate in the Optional Retirement Program if they are permanently employed at least three-fourths time for nine or more months per year on a recurring basis.

As an eligible employee, you have 60 days from commencing employment to elect to enroll in the ORP. During this period, you will need to select an ORP carrier and complete certain enrollment forms that are available in your Human Resources/Benefits Office. Failure to make an election will result in automatic membership in the Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System (TSERS), the defined benefit plan. This consequence is irrevocable.

Employer and employee contribution percentages are established by the General Assembly. Employee contributions to the ORP are made on a pre-tax basis as provided under Section 414(h) of the Internal Revenue Code. As a result, the University will deduct this contribution from your pay before calculating federal or state income tax withholding. This should slightly increase your after-tax pay when compared with what your pay would have been if your contributions were made on an after-tax basis. The money you and the University contribute will be invested in an annuity contract or mutual fund offered among the approved carriers.

When you enroll in the ORP, you may elect to allocate both your contributions and the University’s contributions to any one of the carriers or you may direct your contributions to one carrier and the University contributions to another. These allocations may be changed during any future month for which your payroll office can accommodate the change. You must also decide what portion of your contributions and the University’s will go into a fixed account and/or what portion will go into an investment account. You may change your allocation for future premiums at any time by contacting your ORP carrier.

Vesting means ownership of the assets held in your accounts, with the determination of vesting being controlled by Plan provisions. Vesting does not mean that you have an immediate right to these assets, but merely that you will not forfeit them upon termination of employment. You are immediately 100% vested in the value of your employee contributions. The value of your employer contributions is 100% vested after five years of participation in the ORP.

Note. Whether or not, under the foregoing three requirements, you become vested in the University’s prior employer contributions to your ORP account(s) does not affect vesting of retirement plan contributions for you by a subsequent employer under its own retirement plan.