SUU Seal (for official use only)
 

POLICY #5.35 
SUBJECT: Retirement Programs

I. PURPOSE

The purpose of this Policy is to outline the Retirement Programs available to eligible Southern Utah University Employees.

II. REFERENCES

  1. Southern Utah University Policy 8.1 Classified Staff Personnel System
  2. Southern Utah University Policy 8.2 Benefits
  3. Utah Code §Title 49 Utah State Retirement and Insurance Benefit Act
  4. Utah System of Higher Education Policy R851 Guidelines for Retirement Programs

III. DEFINITIONS

  1. POST: Acronym for Peace Officer Standards and Training, a regulatory program with
    responsibility for licensing peace officers, ensuring compliance with peace officer
    continuing education requirements, and conducting investigations for disciplining the
    licenses of peace officers.
  2. Retirement Plan Eligible Employee: An employee whose employment is 0.75 FTE or more
    (whether executive, faculty, or staff), and receives benefits normally provided by the
    University, is eligible for employer contributions into a Retirement Plan.
  3. University’s Defined Contribution 401(a) Plan: The University makes tax deferred
    contributions to retirement plans managed by TIAA-Cref and/or Fidelity established on
    behalf of university employees. Employees decide how to allocate the contributions among
    the investment choices. Funds are available, following the Internal Revenue guidelines,
    when an employee terminates or retires from the University.
  4. Utah Retirement Systems (URS) Plans: The University makes tax deferred
    contributions to retirement plans managed by Utah Retirement Systems on behalf of
    certain University employees. The retirement plans, governed by Utah Code Title 49 and
    managed by URS, include defined pension, defined contribution, and hybrid retirement
    plans.

IV. POLICY

  1. Scope of policy: This policy applies to individuals with specific full-time equivalency (FTE)
    employment at the University. The University’s Human Resources Office coordinates
    enrollment and eligibility for the Retirement Plans, as defined herein.
  2. An Eligible Employee hired before January 1, 1979 is permanently enrolled in the Retirement
    Plan elected by the Employee on or before that date.
  3. An Eligible Employee who entered employment with the University on or after January 1,
    1979, shall (except as otherwise required or allowed by Utah law) be enrolled in the
    Retirement program applicable to the group to which the Employee’s position is classified
    by the University. Effective July 1, 2024, in accordance with the Utah Board of Higher
    Education Guidelines for Retirement Programs, the University classifies the following
    groups as eligible for participation in either (a) the appropriate URS Plan or (b) the 401(a)
    Plan:
    1. Employees who work within the University’s Public Safety Department, in a POST-
      certified position (e.g., Police Officer, Corporal, Sergeant, Captain, Chief of Police, etc.), which is documented with URS, shall be enrolled in Utah Retirement System.
    2. All employees who make an irrevocable election to participate in URS (pursuant to
      section IV.E. below) shall be enrolled in URS. Plan type within URS shall be
      determined based on employee’s prior service credit within the URS system.
    3. All other employees eligible to participate in university-funded Retirement Programs
      shall be enrolled in the 401(a) Plan.
  4. Notwithstanding the provisions in this section, an eligible person first employed after July 1, 1993, and enrolled in URS, whose employment classification is changed after June 30,
    2024, to a classification eligible to participate in the 401(a) Plan, shall remain with URS.
  5. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section as required by Utah law, all employees who
    begin eligible employment with the University who have previously participated in URS and who make a timely, irrevocable election to participate in URS as a University employee, shall be enrolled in URS.
  6. If an employee resigns or terminates employment and is subsequently rehired into a full-
    time position, the employee shall be enrolled in the same Retirement Plan that the Employee was previously enrolled in at the University at the time of separation.
  7. Details relating to Retirement Plan administration, contribution levels, investment options, and supplemental retirement accounts are disclosed to eligible employees upon hire and are available on the University Human Resources Benefits Web Page.
  8. All regular full-time employees are covered by FICA Social Security. The University pays the employer portion of the Federal Insurance Contributions Act tax (FICA) contribution to the Social Security Administration in addition to the employer contribution made by the
    University to URS or TIAA/Fidelity for full-time benefited employees.
  9. Procedures
    1. At the time an employee completes hiring paperwork, Human Resources
      determines eligibility, based on employee classification, for retirement benefits. If
      eligible, Human Resources gathers the necessary paperwork from the employee to
      enroll the employee into the appropriate Retirement program.
    2. Under the coordination of the University Retirement Committee, Assistant Vice
      President of Human Resources and Vice President of Finance and Administration,
      the University monitors Retirement Plan performance over time and recommends
      investment options changes and plan administrative changes within the 401(a) Plan,
      as needed. Such changes will comply with other applicable University policies,
      such as procurement, etc. Investment and plan administrative options for URS
      plans are determined at the state level.
    3. At the time an Eligible Employee leaves Retirement-Eligible employment at the
      University, Human Resources will notify the corresponding Retirement Plan of the
      employee’s end date of retirement contributions.

V. RELEVANT FORMS/LINKS

VI. QUESTIONS/RESPONSIBLE OFFICE

The responsible office for this Policy is the Vice President for Finance. For questions about this Policy contact the Office of Human Resources.

VII. POLICY ADOPTION AND AMENDMENT DATES

Date Approved: July 27, 1990

Amended: March 22, 2007; August 26, 2024