The following Brief History presents an outline of the
interrelationship of the State University Retirement System (SURS), the
state-wide association, State Universities Annuitants Association (SUAA) and
the Chapter at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (SUAA-UIUC).
Brief History
1941 - The University Retirement System act provided
"for the creation, maintenance, and administration of a Retirement System
for the benefit of the staff members and employees of the
University of
Illinois
and certain other state educational and scientific agencies.�
1963 - The System adopted its
current name, State Universities
Retirement System (SURS).
1970 - The UIUC Chapter of the
Annuitants of the State Universities Retirement System (Now SUAA-UIUC) was established. The
organization grew from efforts by active and retired employees in 1969, leading
to legislation mandating an annual annuity increase per year. It helped secure
provision in the 1970 revision of the Illinois Constitution that guaranteed
pension and retirement rights for all State employees (Art. XIII, Sect. 5).
1971 - A meeting with other
Illinois state universities� representatives led to the creation of the
state-wide State Universities Annuitants
Association (SUAA), a not-for-profit 501(c)(4) organization created to
�advocate a strong and secure public employee pension and health benefit
system.� for SURS annuitants and participants.
SUAA Foundation is a
separate research arm that provides information on pension and benefit issues
to the Illinois Legislature.
SUAACTION, an arm of SUAA,is a political involvement committee that provides ways to get directly
involved in the legislative and political process.
More information is available at
the web sites �
www.surs.org
is the site for official retirement information.�Members Access� is the gateway to your
specific information and valuable links.
www.suaa.orgis the state-wide association with a
Springfield office. Start
by reviewing About SUAA � Why SUAA, Benefits and Join Now.Chapters are located on each
Illinois public
university and community college campus and membership is open to any dues
paying member.While
membership is through one of the chapters, the SUAA Springfield office handles
the application, dues, and record keeping processes. SUAA-UIUC
