ERISA Plan Administration Committee
Member Roles and Responsibilities
The ERISA Committee members have important responsibilities because they act on behalf of participants in the benefit plans that are covered by ERISA, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. The ERISA plans at Stevens include the health, dental, vision, disability and life insurance plans in addition to the recruitment plan.
The fiduciary responsibilities of the ERISA Committee members include:
- Acting solely in the interest of plan participants and their beneficiaries and with the exclusive purpose of providing benefits to them;
- Carrying out their duties prudently;
- Following the plan documents and assuring that the plan documents are consistent with ERISA;
- Diversifying plan investments if applicable;
- Paying only reasonable plan expenses.
In carrying out their responsibilities, the members of the Committee are expected to:
- Understand the plans and responsibilities;
- Carefully select service providers;
- Make timely contributions if applicable;
- Avoid prohibited transactions;
- Make timely reports to government and disclosures to participants as required.
The ERISA Committee engages auditors, actuaries, attorneys, investment consultants, plan record keepers and others to help it carry out its responsibilities. The Committee members are responsible for ensuring that audits are completed as required, tax returns and other reports are filed with applicable government agencies and actuarial calculations are completed as needed.
Additional information is available from the Division of Human Resources.
