Texas Administrative Code › Title 19 - EDUCATION › Part 1 - TEXAS HIGHER EDUCATION COORDINATING BOARD › Chapter 25 - OPTIONAL RETIREMENT PROGRAM › Subchapter A - OPTIONAL RETIREMENT PROGRAM › Section 25.5 - ORP Vesting and Participation

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) Vesting
				  Requirement. An ORP participant at a Texas public institution of higher
				  education shall be considered vested in ORP on the first day of the second year
				  of active participation, as defined in §
										25.3 of
				  this title (relating to Definitions), in ORP in lieu of TRS at one or more
				  Texas public institutions of higher education. An ORP participant at the Board
				  shall be considered vested in ORP on the first day of the second year of active
				  participation, as defined in §
										25.3 of
				  this title (relating to Definitions), in ORP in lieu of ERS at the Board.
(1) Year Defined. For purposes of this
				  subsection, a year shall mean twelve cumulative, but not necessarily
				  consecutive, months of ORP participation.
(2) Leave-without-Pay. A full calendar month
				  of leave without pay shall not be included in the calculation of a year for
				  vesting purposes.
(3) Summer
				  Credit. Because a year for academic faculty members does not normally include
				  the three summer months, an academic faculty member shall be credited the three
				  summer months toward vesting in ORP provided the faculty member is
				  participating in ORP at the end of the spring semester immediately preceding
				  the summer and resumes participation in an ORP-eligible position at the same or
				  another Texas public institution of higher education at the beginning of the
				  fall semester immediately following the same summer.
(4) More than One Period of Employment. As
				  provided in subsection (c) of this section, partial vesting credit shall be
				  retained when there is a break in participation prior to satisfying the vesting
				  requirement. Therefore, the vesting requirement may be satisfied during more
				  than one period of participation. For example, a new faculty member who
				  terminated employment after six months of active participation, and
				  subsequently returns to ORP-eligible employment at the same or another public
				  Texas institution of higher education, with no intervening active service as a
				  TRS member, shall only have to participate for an additional six months to meet
				  the definition of "year" for vesting purposes.
(5) Non-Texas ORP Plan. The vesting
				  requirement may not be satisfied by prior enrollment, participation or vested
				  status in any plan other than the ORP plan authorized under Texas Government
				  Code, Chapter 830.
(6) Separate
				  Vesting. Because the election of ORP in lieu of TRS at a Texas public
				  institution of higher education and the election of ORP in lieu of ERS at the
				  Board shall be considered separate and distinct elections, the vesting
				  requirement for ORP in lieu of TRS may not be satisfied by previous
				  participation or vested status in ORP in lieu of ERS at the Board. The vesting
				  requirement for ORP in lieu of ERS at the Board may not be satisfied by
				  previous participation or vested status in ORP in lieu of TRS at a Texas public
				  institution of higher education.