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BRANDEIS UNIVERSITYDefined Contribution Retirement Planfor Faculty, Professional, andAdministrative EmployeesSummary Plan DescriptionJune 2020
TABLE OF CONTENTSBENEFIT OVERVIEW . 1CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PLAN . 2EMPLOYEE VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS . 2Eligibility for Employee Voluntary Contributions . 2Participation in Employee Voluntary Contributions . 2Enrollment. 2Participation in Employee Voluntary Contributions Ends . 3Amount of Employee Voluntary Contributions . 3Legal Limits on Annual Pre-Tax Contributions to All Retirement Plans . 3How to Change the Rate of or Stop Employee Voluntary Contributions . 4EMPLOYEE REQUIRED CONTRIBUTIONS AND UNIVERSITY MATCH . 4Eligibility for Employee Required Contributions . 4Participation in Employee Required Contributions Begins . 4Credit for Past Service with Certain Other Employers . 4Reemployment . 5Enrollment Forms . 5Notification . 6Employee Required Contributions and University Match . 6Legal Limits. 7CONTRIBUTIONS WHILE ON AN APPROVED LEAVE OF ABSENCE. 7CONTRIBUTIONS WHILE ON ACTIVE DUTY IN THE ARMED FORCES. 8EMPLOYEE REQUIRED CONTRIBUTIONS AND UNIVERSITY MATCH DURING DISABILITY . 8ROLLOVER CONTRIBUTIONS . 8INVESTMENT OPTIONS. 9AVAILABLE INVESTMENT OPTIONS . 9INVESTMENT RESPONSIBILITY . 10FEES . 10HOW TO CHANGE YOUR INVESTMENT PROVIDER FOR FUTURE AND PAST CONTRIBUTIONS. 11HOW TO CHANGE YOUR FUND ALLOCATION OR TRANSFER FUNDS WITHIN AN INVESTMENTPROVIDER . 11VESTING . 11LOANS . 12IN-SERVICE WITHDRAWALS . 12WITHDRAWALS AFTER AGE 59½ . 12HARDSHIP WITHDRAWALS . 12PARTICIPATION IN A PHASED RETIREMENT PROGRAM . 13WITHDRAWALS UPON TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT OR RETIREMENT . 14TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT RETIREMENT. 14HOW YOUR PLAN ACCOUNT WILL BE PAID . 14Normal Forms of Payment . 14Optional Forms of Payment . 14DISTRIBUTIONS AFTER DEATH . 16Unmarried Participants . 17Married Participants . 17Spousal Rights to Survivor Benefits .17i
Death During Qualified Military Service . 18Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROs) . 18BENEFICIARY DESIGNATIONS . 19ROLLOVER DISTRIBUTIONS . 19APPLYING FOR A DISTRIBUTION. 19TAXATION OF PLAN DISTRIBUTIONS . 20QUALIFIED RESERVIST DISTRIBUTIONS . 20TEMPORARY CORONAVIRUS-RELATED LOAN AND DISTRIBUTION OPTIONS . 21ELIGIBILITY . 21IN-SERVICE CRD WITHDRAWALS . 21PARTICIPANT LOANS . 212020 SUSPENSION OF REQUIRED MINIMUM DISTRIBUTIONS . 22ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION . 23PLAN ADMINISTRATION . 23SPOUSE . 23NON–ASSIGNMENT OF BENEFITS . 23AMENDMENT AND TERMINATION OF PLAN . 23NO EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS . 23UNION AGREEMENTS . 23PLAN BENEFIT CLAIM AND APPEAL PROCEDURES .23Filing a Claim for Benefits . 23Benefit Claims Procedures . 24PLAN BENEFITS NOT INSURED . 25PLAN FUNDING . 25STATEMENT OF ERISA RIGHTS . 25Receive Information About Your Plan and Benefits . 25Prudent Actions by Plan Fiduciaries . 26Enforce Your Rights . 26Assistance with Your Questions . 27BASIC PLAN INFORMATION. 28ii
Benefit OverviewThe Brandeis University Defined Contribution Retirement Plan for Faculty, Professional, andAdministrative Employees (the “Plan”) allows eligible employees to make tax-deferredcontributions from their eligible compensation paid by Brandeis University (the “University”) tosave for retirement. The Plan consists of employee voluntary contributions, employeerequired contributions and University matching contributions.The University established the Plan in 1952 and until December 31, 2008, the Plan consistedof employee required contributions and University matching contributions. EffectiveDecember 31, 2008, the University spun off eligible employees’ accounts under theBrandeis University Tax Deferred Annuity Plan (established in 1966 and consisting ofemployee voluntary contributions) and merged them into the Plan.The Plan is a defined contribution plan subject to section 403(b) of the Internal RevenueCode (the “Code”)) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”).The purpose of the Plan is to provide participants with retirement benefits through: Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association (TIAA): TIAA provides atraditional annuity and a variable annuity through its real estate account. You canreceive more information about TIAA by writing to TIAA, 730 Third Avenue, NewYork, NY 10017, calling 1-800-842-2733, or visiting https://www.tiaa.org. College Retirement Equities Fund (CREF): CREF is TIAA's companionorganization, providing variable annuities. You can receive more informationabout CREF by writing to CREF, 730 Third Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017,calling 1-800 842-2733, or visiting https://www.tiaa.org. Fidelity Investments: Fidelity Investments provides mutual funds throughindividual custodial accounts. You can receive more information about themutual funds available through Fidelity Investments by writing to FidelityInvestments Tax-Exempt Services Company, 82 Devonshire Street, Boston, MA02109, calling 1-800-343- 0860, or visiting https://www.fidelity.com.The University is the Plan Administrator and has designated the Vice President for HumanResources to be responsible for Plan operation. The plan year begins on January 1 andends on December 31.This Summary Plan Description (“SPD”) describes the key features of the Plan as in effecton January 1, 2019. Complete details are set forth in the formal Plan document. If youwould like a copy of the Plan document or have questions about the Plan, please contactthe Benefits section of the University’s Office of Human Resources by calling theUniversity’s Benefits Manager (781) 736-4459 or by efits/retirement.html. If there is anydiscrepancy between this SPD and the official Plan document(s), the provisions of theofficial Plan document(s) are controlling and will govern.1
Contributions to the PlanEmployee Voluntary ContributionsThis section of the SPD summarizes the Plan’s provisions relating toemployee voluntary contributions.Eligibility for Employee Voluntary ContributionsAll faculty, staff, and administrative employees of the University (including postdoctoral fellows and temporary employees) are eligible employees and may makeemployee voluntary contributions, except for: Employees whose primary association with the University is as students exemptfrom FICA taxation; andLeased employees (within the meaning of Code section 414(n)).Participation in Employee Voluntary ContributionsIf you are an eligible employee, as described in “Eligibility for Employee VoluntaryContributions” above you may make Voluntary Contributions by entering into a “SalaryReduction Agreement”. There is no service requirement for Voluntary Contributions, so youcan begin making “Salary/Supplemental Reduction Contributions” to the Plan immediatelyupon your employment at Brandeis. Under a Salary Reduction Agreement, you elect to havepart of your pay contributed to the Plan on your behalf. If you are reclassified or deemed tobe reclassified as a nonexempt employee for purposes of the federal Fair Labor StandardsAct, you may nevertheless remain a participant in the Plan despite your reclassification.EnrollmentAll enrollments are completed online by logging on to the Brandeis Retirement Planningwebsite at https://nb.fidelity.com/public/nb/brandeis/home. You can also enroll by calling theRetirement Service center at 800.343.0860.You will indicate how much you want to contribute, as a percentage of pay. The amountyou elect to contribute will remain in effect until you change the rate of or stop employeevoluntary contributions. Your online election form also authorizes the University to remityour employee voluntary contributions to your selected investment provider(s) (i.e., TIAAand / or Fidelity Investments). Your employee contributions (voluntary and required)cannot reduce your pay to the extent that there would not be enough remaining pay tosupport taxes, pre-tax benefits, or regular recurring deductions.Enroll in five easy steps:1. Click Enroll Today from the home page of https://nb.fidelity.com/public/nb/brandeis/homeand follow the steps to set up your username and password.2. Choose the amount you wish to contribute to the Plan.3. Choose a retirement service provider (Fidelity Investments or TIAA).4. Choose your investments options.5. Designate your beneficiariesTo complete an on-line enrollment form with TIAA, go tohttps://www.tiaa.org/public/tcm/brandeis. The University will make all determinations about2
Plan eligibility and participation. The University will base its determinations on its recordsand the Plan document on file with the Plan Administrator.Participation in Employee Voluntary Contributions EndsYour participation in employee voluntary contributions under the Plan ends when you are nolonger employed by the University, elect to stop making such contributions to the Plan or areno longer eligible to participate. If you are a former employee who is reemployed by theUniversity as an eligible employee, you may re-establish contributions to the Plan by loggingon to the Brandeis Retirement Planning website athttps://nb.fidelity.com/public/nb/brandeis/home and making your elections.Amount of Employee Voluntary ContributionsYou determine the percentage (if any) of your eligible compensation from the University youwish to contribute to the Plan as employee voluntary contributions. Employee voluntarycontributions are made on a pre-tax basis, which means that the contributions are deductedfrom your eligible compensation before taxes are withheld. Income taxes are also deferredon any investment gains your employee voluntary contributions may earn while they areheld in the Plan. Although your employee voluntary contributions reduce your eligiblecompensation for income tax purposes, pay-related University benefits, such as retirement,life insurance coverage and long-term disability insurance, are not affected.Legal Limits on Annual Pre-Tax Contributions to All Retirement PlansThe IRS limits your total annual pre-tax contributions to all retirement plans. Generally, themaximum combined amount of pre-tax employee contributions (required and voluntary) youmay make to the Plan may not exceed 19,500 for calendar year 2020 ( 19,000 forcalendar year 2019). However, if you are or will be at least age 50 by December 31, youmay contribute up to an additional 6,500 of age 50 catch-up contributions ( 6,000 forcalendar year 2019), for a total of 26,000 for calendar year 2020 ( 25,000 for calendaryear 2019).These dollar limits are adjusted annually to reflect cost-of-living increases. If, for anycalendar year, you make pre-tax employee voluntary and / or required contributions underthe Plan and also make pre-tax contributions to any other retirement plan(s) (other thanCode section 457 plans) sponsored by the University or any other employer(s), such as403(b) plans, SIMPLE plans, 401(k) plans or Keogh plans, you must combine all your pre-taxcontributions to all such plans to determine whether or not they exceed the applicable legallimits for that year. You are solely responsible for monitoring your pre-tax contributions to allretirement plans to ensure your contributions stay within these annual limits. You must notifythe Benefits section of the Office of Human Resources if you are making pre-taxcontributions to other retirement plans. You should also read IRS Publication 571 (TaxSheltered Annuity Plans (403(b) Plans) For Employees of Public Schools and Certain TaxExempt Organizations), or consult with your own tax advisor to avoid exceeding thecontribution limits and possible related tax penalties.In addition to the limits federal laws apply to the dollar amount that may be contributed,other laws seek to ensure that higher-paid employees are not benefiting from the Plan indisproportion to lower-paid employees. In some cases, contributions may be returned toyou, for which you will be subject to current income taxation. You will be notified if you areaffected by any such limits.3
How to Change the Rate of or Stop Employee Voluntary ContributionsYou may change your rate of employee voluntary contributions or stop employee voluntarycontributions online at the Brandeis Retirement Planning website Note: If you are also making employee required contributions to the Plan, you may notchange your rate of employee required contributions or stop your employee requiredcontributions altogether, and your employee required contributions will remain in effect untilyou are no longer eligible to participate in the Plan or the Plan is terminated.Employee Required Contributions and University MatchThis section of the SPD summarizes the Plan’s provisions relating to employeerequired contributions and University matching contributions (referred to as the“University match”).Eligibility for Employee Required ContributionsAll faculty, staff and administrative employees who are age 21 or older and who havecompleted one year of eligibility service with the University (as described in “Participation inEmployee Required Contributions Begins”, below) are eligible employees and may elect tomake pre-tax employee required contributions, except for: Employees in positions normally scheduled for a 35-hour week who arescheduled to work fewer than 17½ hours per week;Employees in positions normally scheduled for a 40-hour week who arescheduled to work fewer than 20 hours per week;Faculty members with full-time equivalent appointments of less than 50%, to theextent that such appointments are equivalent to fewer than 20 hours per week;Employees whose primary association with the University is as students exemptfrom FICA taxation;Temporary employees;Post-doctoral fellows; andLeased employees (within the meaning of Code section 414(n)).Participation in Employee Required Contributions BeginsIf you are an eligible employee as described in “Eligibility for Employee RequiredContributions” above, you may voluntarily begin to make pre-tax employee requiredcontributions under the Plan on the first day of the month following the first anniversary ofyour date of hire by the University. If, however, your date of hire by the University is the firstday of a month, you may begin to make employee required contributions on the firstanniversary of your date of hire.Although each eligible employee (described in “Eligibility for Employee RequiredContributions” above) has the discretion to initially elect to make or not to make employeerequired contributions, once you initially elect to make such contributions, your election willremain in effect until you no longer are an eligible employee or until the Plan is terminated.Credit for Past Service with Certain Other EmployersThe Plan’s one-year eligibility service requirement for making employee requiredcontributions will be waived for any eligible employee who within three months before his orher date of hire by the University had been an employee of a Code section 501(c)(3) highereducational institution and was credited with at least one year of benefit eligible service at4
such educational institution. To qualify for this waiver, your former employer must complete a“Service Credit at Other College or University” form, available from the Benefits section ofthe University’s Office of Human Resources, 2nd Floor Bernstein ‒ Marcus Building, MailStop 118 or on line n addition, in the case of any eligible employee who had been an employee of the BethIsrael Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) prior to August 10, 2016 and who became aneligible employee of the University on August 10, 2016, his or her service with BIDMC will becounted toward satisfying the Plan’s one-year eligibility service requirement for makingemployee required contributions.ReemploymentA former employee who is reemployed by the University as an eligible employee will beeligible to make employee required contributions upon meeting the eligibility requirementsas stated above. A former employee who satisfied these requirements before termination ofemployment will be eligible to make employee required contributions immediately afterreemployment by the University provided he or she is reemployed as an eligible employee.Enrollment FormsTo make employee required contributions under the Plan log onto the BrandeisRetirement Planning website at https://nb.fidelity.com/public/nb/brandeis/home. You canalso enroll by calling the Retirement Service center at 800.343.0860.The amount you elect to contribute will remain in effect until you no longer are an eligibleemployee or until the Plan terminates. Your Salary Reduction Agreement election alsoauthorizes the University to remit your employee required contributions to your selectedinvestment provider(s) (i.e., TIAA and / or Fidelity Investments). Your online election alsoauthorizes the University to remit your employee voluntary contributions to your selectedinvestment provider(s) (i.e., TIAA and / or Fidelity Investments). Your employeecontributions (voluntary and required) cannot reduce your pay to the extent that therewould not be enough remaining pay to support taxes, pre-tax benefits, or regular recurringdeductions.Enroll in five easy steps:1. Click Enroll Today from the home page of https://nb.fidelity.com/public/nb/brandeis/homeand follow the steps to set up your username and password.2. Choose the amount you wish to contribute to the Plan.3. Choose a retirement service provider (Fidelity Investments or TIAA*).4. Choose your investments options.5. Designate your beneficiaries*To complete an on-line enrollment form with TIAA, go tohttps://www.tiaa.org/public/tcm/brandeis. TIAA requires separate contracts be established forvoluntary contribution and required contributions. Voluntary Contributions to the TIAA GroupSupplemental Retirement Annuity (GSRA) Contract GSRA and Required contributions to theTIAA Retirement Annuity (RA) Contract.The University will make all determinations about Plan eligibility and participation. The5
University will base its determinations on its records and the Plan document on file with thePlan Administrator. An employee who has been notified that he or she is eligible to makeemployee required contributions but who fails to enroll will be deemed to have waived all ofhis or her rights under the Plan except the right to elect to make such contributions at a futuredate.NotificationThe University will notify you when you have satisfied the eligibility requirements for makingemployee required contributions. If you are reemployed by the University as an eligibleemployee, you must initiate enrollment or reenrollment in employee required contributionsunder the Plan.An eligible employee who complies with the requirements and begins to make employeevoluntary and / or required contributions is entitled to the benefits and is bound by all theterms, provisions, and conditions of the Plan, including any amendments that, from time totime, may be adopted, and including the terms, provisions and conditions of any fundingvehicle(s) to which contributions for the participant have been applied.Employee Required Contributions and University MatchWhen you begin to make pre-tax employee required contributions under the Plan, thosecontributions will be invested in the funding vehicle(s) that you have chosen at TIAA and / orFidelity Investments. Your employee required contributions are expressed as a percentageof your eligible compensation from the University, according to the table below. TheUniversity will contribute the University match only for participants who are makingemployee required contributions. Your election to make pre-tax employee requiredcontributions may not be retroactive.Important Notes: In general, once you elect to make employee required contributionsunder the Plan, you may not stop such contributions and your employee requiredcontribution election will remain in effect until you are no longer eligible to participatein the Plan or the Plan is terminated.Temporary Suspension of University Match: Effective July 1, 2020, the Universitymatching contribution has been suspended. Due to the suspension, you will bepermitted to suspend your employee required contributions. If you do not elect tosuspend your employee required contributions, these contributions will continue. Ifyou elect t o suspend employee required contributions during the suspension period,your employee required contributions will automatically resume upon resumption ofthe University matching contribution. The following chart and descriptions of theUniversity match provisions shall not apply during the period of suspension. You willbe notified when University match will resume.6
Contributions as Percentages of Eligible CompensationApplicable PayrollPeriodEach payroll period beginningbefore the July 1st followingyour 50th birthdayEach payroll period beginningon or after the July 1stfollowing your 50th h5%8%5%10%Your eligible compensation for any payroll period means your base salary or wages paid bythe University during the period (including, for faculty, contractual or summer salary andcompensation for additional courses taught or supplemental pay for acting as departmentchairperson), excluding overtime, bonuses, vacation payouts, one-time increases, and anynon- cash remuneration. Eligible compensation also includes any amounts that would havebeen included under the definition above but for a salary reduction election under Codesection 125, 132(f)(4), 403(b) or 457(b). Eligible compensation also includes any differentialpay you may receive from the University if you are called to active duty in the uniformedservices. Eligible
The University established the Plan in 1952 and until December 31, 2008, the Plan consisted of employee required contributions and University matching contributions. Effective December 31, 2008, the University spun off eligible employees' accounts under the Brandeis University Tax Deferred Annuity Plan (established in 1966 and consisting of
