C. Ohio retirement systems 1. PERS membership is mandatory for student employees enrolled for 5 or fewer credit hours in any quarter. These deductions are remitted to PERS for the purpose of accumulating service credit toward future retirement benefits. PERS exemption requests will be honored for the duration of a student's employment unless enrollment drops to less than 6 credit hours. Upon termination or entry into exempt status, student employees who participate in PERS can either leave their accumulated contributions on deposit in order to qualify for future retirement benefits, or request a refund of their accumulated contributions.
Refunds are subject to tax withholding according to federal and state tax law.
GTAs who are STRS members have the option to continue their contributions to STRS, or to request exemption from contributing to STRS on their GTA earnings. Further information on student retirement, as well as the necessary forms, can be obtained from and are processed by the Office of Human Resources, Benefits Services. This student dispute process does not apply to graduate associate appointments. Grievance review guidelines for graduate associates may be obtained from the Graduate School. The University recognizes that disputes may arise in the student employment setting.