1. (a) The governing board of each institution of higher education shall provide an opportunity to participate in the Optional Retirement Program (ORP) to all faculty members in the component institutions governed by the board. The State Board of Education shall provide an opportunity to participate in the Optional Retirement Program to the commissioner of education.

2. (b) Governing boards shall use any of the following definitions of a full-time faculty member for determining eligibility for participation in the Optional Retirement Program.

   1. (1) A member of the faculty whose duties include teaching or research shall mean all persons whose specific assignments are made for the purpose of conducting instruction or research as a principal activity (or activities), and who hold titles of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, instructor, lecturer, or equivalent faculty title.
   2. (2) An administrator responsible for teaching and research faculty shall mean deans, directors, associate deans, assistant deans, chairpersons, or heads of academic departments if their principal activity is planning, organizing, and directing the activities of faculty as defined in paragraph (1) of this subsection.
   3. (3) A member of the administrative staff of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall mean a member of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board staff whose assignments would require college graduation and prior experience in higher education or experience of such kind and amounts to provide a comparable background, whose national mobility requirements are similar to those of faculty and who fills a position that is the subject of a nationwide search in the academic community.
   4. (4) A professional librarian, a president, a chancellor, a vice-president, a vice-chancellor shall mean a librarian with a degree in library science, presidents, chancellors, vice-presidents, vice-chancellors, deputy chancellors, associate and assistant vice-presidents, associate and assistant vice-chancellors, or the equivalent.

   5. (5) Other professional staff person shall mean administrative and professional positions that are generally and customarily recruited by advertising in national publications such as the Chronicle of Higher Education or in newsletters of national professional associations or at meetings of such associations. In addition, each administrative or professional position must be at a salary rate equivalent to the rate for faculty for the institution.

      1. (A) Administrative positions shall normally report to the office of a chancellor, president, vice-chancellor, vice-president, or dean. Incumbents in such positions serve as director or other administrative head of a major department or budget entity. Incumbents of such positions must be:

         1. (i) appointed by the governing board or the chief administrative officer of the institution, or his/her delegate; and
         2. (ii) responsible for the preparation and administration of the budget, policies, and programs of the department or entity.
      2. (B) Professional positions shall include positions in nationally recognized fields which require advanced degrees and/or specialized professional or artistic training, experience, and achievement. These would include titles such as physicians, athletic coaches, engineers, and lawyers.
3. (c) For purposes of determining initial eligibility for ORP, the term "full-time" shall mean employment for the standard full-time workload established by the institution at a rate comparable to the rate of compensation for other persons in similar positions for a definite period of four and one-half months or a full semester of more than four calendar months.

4. (d) An ORP retiree is defined as an individual who participated in the Optional Retirement Program while employed in a public institution of higher education in Texas and who established retiree status by enrolling in retiree health insurance provided by the Employees Retirement System, the University of Texas System, or the Texas A&M University System, regardless of whether currently enrolled.

   1. (1) ORP retirees as defined in this subsection who later return to employment in Texas public institutions of higher education are not eligible to have further ORP contributions made to their ORP account.
   2. (2) ORP retirees as defined in this subsection who enrolled in retiree health insurance on or before June 1, 1997, are exempt from paragraph (1) of this subsection.

Source Note:The provisions of this §25.2 adopted to be effective April 3, 1992, 17 TexReg 2126; amended to be effective May 27, 1997, 22 TexReg 4290.