(a) First year of service. A new trustee and a new
system administrator shall complete at least seven (7) credit hours
of training in the core content areas within the first year of service.
The seven credit hours shall include training in all of the core content
areas. A trustee or system administrator must earn no less than half
a credit hour in each content area. No more than two credit hours
earned in any one core content area shall be applied toward meeting
the 7-hour minimum requirement contained in this subsection.
The core content areas are:
(1) fiduciary matters;
(2) governance;
(3) ethics;
(4) investments;
(5) actuarial matters;
(6) benefits administration; and
(7) risk management.
(b) Subsequent years of service. A trustee and a system
administrator shall complete at least four (4) credit hours of continuing
education in either the core content areas in subsection (a) or non-core
content areas, or any combination thereof, within each two-year period
after the first year of service as a new trustee or new system administrator.
(1) The non-core content areas include:
(A) compliance;
(B) legal and regulatory matters;
(C) pension accounting;
(D) custodial issues;
(E) plan administration;
(F) Texas Open Meetings Act; and
(G) Texas Public Information Act.
(2) The Board may allow continuing education credit
for courses not specifically covered under the non-core content areas
on a case-by-case basis.
(c) MET completed up to six months before the trustee's
date of assuming position on the governing body or system administrator's
hiring date may be counted for the first-year-of-service requirement
in subsection (a).
(d) If a trustee's term will expire before the end
of the trustee's two-year continuing education cycle, such trustee
will be exempt from the continuing education requirement in subsection
(b) of this section for that two-year period; provided, however, that
the trustee shall be subject to the continuing education requirements
of subsection (b) of this section and as prescribed by §607.113(b)
of this chapter upon the trustee's re-election or reappointment.
(e) A trustee serving concurrently on multiple PRS
boards and a system administrator employed concurrently by multiple
PRSs shall only be required to complete the MET requirements in this
section for service with one PRS.
(f) Credit hours for attending MET activities shall
be based on net actual instruction time. Credit hours for viewing
or listening to audio, video, or digital media shall be based on the
running time of the recordings, and credit hours for attending in-person
educational programs shall be based on actual instruction time.
(g) The Board hereby adopts by reference the Curriculum
Guide for Minimum Educational Training to provide further direction
on core and non-core content areas as contained in subsections (a)
and (b)(1) of this section. Trustees and system administrators are
encouraged to review the Curriculum Guide for content area guidance.
(h) The Board shall make the Curriculum Guide for Minimum
Educational Training available to the PRSs. A PRS can obtain the most
current version of the Curriculum Guide for Minimum Educational Training
from the offices of the State Pension Review Board and from its web
site at http://www.prb.state.tx.us.
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