Optional Retirement Plan (ORP)
The University of Alaska provides the Optional Retirement Plan (ORP) to faculty, along with non-academic officers and senior administrators. The ORP is a defined contribution (DC) plan. UA is the plan administrator for the ORP. All benefit-eligible employees are required to participate in a retirement account. For information on the Public Employee's Retirement System (PERS) or the Teacher's Retirement System (TRS), please review their respective webpages.
ORP Enrollment
Faculty
Faculty who are in a benefit-eligible position will choose between the Teacher's Retirement
System (TRS) and the Optional Retirement Plan (ORP) within 30 days of hire into an
eligible position as long as they have never had the option to select ORP in a previous
position with the university.
Academic Officer / Non- Academic Officer / Senior Administrator
Academic officers, non-academic officers, or senior administrators may choose between
PERS/TRS and ORP within 30 days of hire into an eligible position as long as they
have never had the option to select ORP in a previous position with the university.
Staff
Staff are not eligible for ORP unless they have selected ORP with prior employment
at UA. Staff participate in PERS.
Temporary
Temporary employees are not eligible to participate in PERS, TRS, ORP or the UA Pension
Plan. Temporary employees can participate in a 403(b). Review our 403(b) webpage for more information.
Retirement election paperwork is sent to employees via DocuSign. This is a one-time decision in all except rare cases.
New Employees - Irrevocable Decision - 30 days
Retirement elections are irrevocable. This means that, if an employee selects the
ORP, this decision cannot be changed as long as they are employed at the university
- even if they separate from the university and return after a break in service. New
benefit-eligible employees will be provided with their retirement election paperwork
within their first 30 days of hire.
Mandatory Participation
Participation in a retirement plan is mandatory for all benefit-eligible positions.
Reminder | The Default
If there is a choice between more than one retirement plan, the choice must be made
within 30 days of hire. If no election is made, employees will automatically default
into PERS or TRS depending on the nature of the position. If the ORP is selected and
no fund sponsor is subsequently elected, TIAA will be the default plan sponsor.
Irrevocable Decision
Retirement elections cannot be changed except in very specific circumstances when
an employee is transferring positions between certain employee classes. Depending
on prior elections, an employee moving employee classes (i.e. from faculty to staff) may receive an option to change their retirement plan.
Transferring Positions - Reach out to ua-benefits@alaska.edu
If an employee is transferring positions within UA (between temporary, staff, faculty,
or executive) they may be given additional retirement choices depending on their
initial election. If needed, additional retirement election paperwork will be sent
after the transition. For questions, please email ua-benefits@alaska.edu.
Transferring Positions - Reach out to ua-benefits@alaska.edu
If a temporary employee is transferring to a benefit-eligible position, they will
receive retirement depending on prior work history and elections. Email ua-benefits@alaska.edu for additional information.
Review the options below to get an idea of retirement options depending on past service with the university or the State of Alaska. Official retirement selections will be sent to by a member of the UA Benefits team. For questions, please email ua-benefits@alaska.edu.
| Work Status | Retirement Plan |
|---|---|
| I am faculty and I have never worked for the University of Alaska or any State of Alaska employer before. | I will choose between TRS and ORP within my first 30 days. |
| I am a non-academic officer or senior administrator and I have never worked for the University of Alaska or any State of Alaska employer before. | I will choose between PERS and ORP within my first 30 days. |
| I am faculty and I have worked for the University of Alaska before in a faculty benefit-eligible position. | My retirement plan will be the plan I previously selected (either ORP or TRS with or without UA Pension Plan). |
| I am a non-academic officer or senior administrator and I have worked for the University of Alaska before in an ORP-eligible position. |
My retirement plan will be the plan I previously selected (either ORP or TRS/PERS with or without UA Pension Plan). |
| I am faculty and I have worked for the University of Alaska before in a staff benefit-eligible position. |
If I previously selected ORP with my staff position, I will be placed back in ORP. If I have never had the option to select ORP with my previous position, I will be given the option now between ORP and TRS. |
| I am faculty and I have worked for a State of Alaska employer before (either faculty or staff) but this is my first faculty position with the University of Alaska. |
My retirement plan will be my previous TRS plan if I was a faculty member. If I was previously staff with another State of Alaska employer, I will choose between TRS and ORP within my first 30 days. |
| I am working in any benefit-eligible position and I have worked for the University of Alaska before and participated in ORP. |
I will be placed back in ORP. |
Employees in ORP may change fund sponsors at any time using the Fund Sponsor Enrollment Form.
Once submitted, the change will affect where new contributions are deposited and will not automatically transfer account balances. Employees may keep the accounts separate or consolidate accounts. To combine funds, employees will need to contact the previous fund sponsor and request a rollover form to transfer the balance from the previous fund sponsor to the new fund sponsor.
Employees may change their fund sponsor only. They may not change their retirement plan from the ORP to either PERS or TRS once they have selected the ORP.
These changes are not allowed.
ORP Basics
There are three ORP Tiers depending on the date of hire into an ORP-eligible position.
| ORP Tier | Dates of Eligibility |
|---|---|
| ORP Tier I | Hired into ORP through June 30, 2005. |
| ORP Tier II | Hired into the ORP from July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2006. |
| ORP Tier III | Hired into the ORP on or after July 1, 2006. |
The university partners with four fund sponsors to manage the ORP and UA Pension Plan:
- TIAA
- Fidelity
- Lincoln
- VALIC/Corebridge
To learn about changing the fund sponsor, review the drop down under "Enrolling & Making Changes."
| Fidelity Contact Information | Lincoln Financial Contact Information | TIAA Contact Information | VALIC/Corebridge Contact Information |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Fidelity Investments UA website 1-800-343-0860
|
Lincoln Financial Group website 1-800-348-1212 Local Anchorage number: 907-561-3187 Local Fairbanks number: 907-452-6393 |
TIAA website 1-800-842-2776 |
Corebridge website 1-800-448-2542 Local Anchorage number: 907-279-8302 |
It is the employee's responsibility to maintain accurate beneficiary records with their fund sponsor (TIAA, Fidelity, Lincoln, VALIC/Corebridge). Review the "Fund Sponsor" drop down for more information.
ORP Details
The University of Alaska contributes the following percentages depending on the ORP Tier:
| ORP Tier | Employee Contribution |
|---|---|
| ORP Tier I | 14% employer contributions |
| ORP Tier II | 12% employer contributions |
| ORP Tier III | 12% employer contributions |
| ORP Tier | Employee Contribution |
|---|---|
| ORP Tier I | 8.65% employee contributions |
| ORP Tier II | 8.65% employee contributions |
| ORP Tier III | 8% employee contributions |
Employees are 100% vested in the employee contributions they make to their retirement account. Employer contributions follow the vesting schedule shown below.
| ORP Tier | Years of Service | Employer Vesting Percent |
|---|---|---|
| ORP Tier I | NA | Automatically vested in all employer contributions |
| ORP Tier II | NA | Automatically vested in all employer contributions |
| ORP Tier III | Less than 3 years of service |
0% vested in employer contributions If a non-vested employee leaves the university and returns to a benefit eligible position with one year of separation, vesting will continue where the employee left off. If a non-vested employee leaves the university and does not return within one year of separation, the three year vesting schedule will start over. |
| ORP Tier III | 3+ years of service | 100% vested in employer contributions |
Not Allowed
In-service withdraws are not allowed. This includes hardship distributions and/or
loans against the account. The only exceptions to in-service withdraws are employees
who reach retirement age. Review the "Planning and/or Applying for Retirement" drop
down for more information to see if you qualify for an in-service distribution based
on your age.
Market Gain/Loss Income
The ORP is a Defined Contribution (DC) plan. DC plans are account-based plans where
the employee and employer contributions are invested into mutual funds or money market
funds where they grow tax-deferred until withdrawn. The ORP DC plan is managed by
one of the four fund sponsors listed in the drop down labeled "Fund Sponsors" above.
UA is Not Authorized
UA is not authorized to provide financial advice to employees. Please contact the fund sponsor directly to discuss.
Separated from All Service for 45 Days and Age 59.5+
Per IRS guidelines, withdraws from the ORP can begin with the member is age 59.5.
Withdraws prior to age 59.5 may face additional tax penalties for early withdraw.
Withdraws can only be made from the ORP after a former employee has been fully separated
from service for at lease 45 calendar days. Review the offboarding webpage for up-to-date information.
Employed in a Temporary Position and Age 60+
An employee participating in the ORP who reaches the age of 60 and is still employed by the university may withdraw funds from the ORP only if in a non-participating position (i.e. is in a position not eligible for retirement).
Review the offboarding webpage for up-to-date information.
Employed in Any Position and Age 70.5+
An employee participating in the ORP who reaches age 70.5+ and is still employed by the university may withdraw funds from the ORP while in any position. This may mean that the employee is contributing to the ORP while also making withdraws
from the account. Review the offboarding webpage for up-to-date information.
No Medical Benefits
There are no medical benefits associated with the ORP. The University contributes
12% to this retirement plan (vs. 5% and 7% for PERS and TRS respectively) to assist
with obtaining independent medical coverage in retirement.
Review offboarding webpage
Employees who are separating from the university (but are not retiring) have a few
different considerations for their ORP accounts. Review the offboarding webpage for information on separating from the university.
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