Board Member Education

Educational Offerings

All members of the Massachusetts retirement community are welcome to attend any of our sessions, especially retirement board members, administrators, and staff.

Board members must complete 18 hours of training per term

Board member responsibility

• You are responsible for tracking your credits
• A minimum of three hours of training must be completed every year
  Note: years are based on the start of your term, not calendar years
• No more than 9 hours may be credited in any one year

Example:

• If your term begins in April 2018 :
  • You must complete a minimum of 3 credits by April 2019
  • You cannot earn more than nine credits between April 2018 and April 2019
  • You must earn 18 credits by April 2021
• Members can attend more than 18 hours worth of training per term if they wish

Tracking your credits:

• Ensure you have properly registered for classes and your attendance is recorded to receive proper credit.
• Complete the Training Affidavit Form within PERAC's PROSPER application if you take an approved online course that does not offer attendance verification

Failure to meet credit requirement: 

• If you fail to complete the educational requirement, you are prohibited from serving on the board beyond the end of your current term. 

PERAC Responsibility

• PERAC is required to sponsor at least nine hours of training each year
  • Topics covered include, at a minimum, fiduciary responsibility, ethical conduct, and conflict of interest.
• An additional nine hours are to be related to topics prescribed by the Commission and provided by the Massachusetts Association of Contributory Retirement Systems (MACRS) and other local, state, regional, or national entities