(a) The Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System is directed to include within the membership of the Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System, as created by § 24-4-103, all employees of Arkansas Tech University, Southern Arkansas University, University of Central Arkansas, and Henderson State University who are not otherwise covered by some other existing public employee retirement plan other than Social Security.

(b) (1) (A) The effective date of membership of the employees in the system shall be January 1, 1963.

(B) All the employees enrolled in the system shall be subject to the rights, privileges, and limitations of §§ 24-4-101 -- 24-4-105, 24-4-201, 24-4-202, 24-4-203 [repealed], 24-4-204 [repealed], 24-4-205, 24-4-207 -- 24-4-209, 24-4-301 -- 24-4-304, 24-4-401, 24-4-402, 24-4-507, 24-4-508, 24-4-510 -- 24-4-512, 24-4-513 [repealed], 24-4-601 -- 24-4-603, 24-4-605, and 24-4-606.

(2) Becoming members of the system shall be a condition of continuing in or obtaining employment, as the case may be.

(3) Any employee included within the membership of the system shall be given credit for service rendered prior to July 1, 1957, as an employee of a public employer, as defined in § 24-4-101, or of any state college named in subsection (a) of this section, if so employed by one of the institutions of higher learning on July 1, 1957.

(c)

(1) Any employee receiving retirement coverage under the provisions of this section who was an employee of one (1) of the institutions of higher learning on January 1, 1963, may apply for and receive current service credit for service rendered as an employee of that institution from July 1, 1957, to July 1, 1963, but only if the employee pays to the system all necessary contributions, at the rate of four percent (4%) for the employee and four percent (4%) for the employer, that would have been paid had the employee been a member of the system during that time.

(2) The contributions shall have been paid in full on or before July 1, 1966.

(d) Excluded from the provisions of this section are employees classified as student labor, graduate assistants, and seasonal agricultural workers.