After one year of service, membership is available in the Sarah Lawrence College TIAA-CREF Retirement Plan for contractual regular faculty and non-teaching employees who work at least 1000 hours per year. Generally this includes contractual regular faculty who teach at least 2 days per week and non-teaching employees who work 20 or more hours per week for at least nine months during the year. (Guest faculty are not eligible for this benefit.) This plan is operated by the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association and the College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) and complies with the regulations as set forth in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).
If a new employee was previously employed in an eligible category for one year with an institution of higher education, the one-year waiting period at Sarah Lawrence College will be waived and participation in the plan will begin on the date of employment. It is the employee's responsibility to alert the Human Resources Office of eligibility for this waiver of the waiting period. The College will not make retroactive contributions to the retirement plan if an employee fails to complete the Retirement Annuity Application, or fails to notify the Human Resources Office of eligibility for direct transfer.
The College contribution to the plan is an amount equal to 8% of annual base salary. No employee contribution is necessary, but an employee may choose to make additional payments through a salary deduction agreement as per the SRA Plan.
College contributions will cease during unpaid leaves of absence and during any other period when an employee is not receiving a salary from the College.
Upon retirement, the employee should contact Human Resources and TIAA-CREF to determine their annuity or cash benefits.