Online enrollment in the Voluntary Investment Program (VIP) is easy. Simply complete sections 1 and 2 below. Both sections are required to process your request.

Review the Voluntary Investment Program page prior to beginning your online enrollment.

Disclaimer: The University provides educational information and tools to help you make choices that suit your individual goals. The University cannot provide investment advice to its employees.

Section 1: What the Fund Sponsor Needs from You

Note: A UW-specific VIP contract with any of the four fund sponsor(s) with which you intend to invest is required PRIOR to using the online UW VIP enrollment via Employee Self Service (ESS). This provides your direction for investment of contributions when your funds are forwarded by the UW each payday. This is a one-time action, needed only the first time you send VIP funds to a new fund sponsor. Non-UW accounts with the same fund sponsors (such as an IRA or an account from a prior employer) cannot be used.

If you begin a UW VIP deduction without opening a UW VIP fund sponsor account, contributions will be forwarded by the UW but will be defaulted to a money market account (Calvert and TIAA-CREF) or a life cycle fund (Fidelity and Vanguard). It will be your responsibility to contact the fund sponsor directly to provide any required information, such as beneficiaries, and to reallocate your contributions.

Step 1:

Decide how you would like to allocate your investment. (See Maximizing Your Retirement Savings.)

Step 2:

Read the prospectus carefully before investing in any mutual fund. These are available through the fund sponsors' websites.

Step 3:

You can contribute to more than one fund sponsor. To open an account, follow the instructions on the fund sponsor's website. You can submit your application electronically to Calvert, Fidelity, or TIAA-CREF. The Vanguard application is a PDF file that you must download, print, complete, and mail to Vanguard. Note: to download, view, and print the PDF forms on this site and the fund sponsors' sites, you need to have the free Adobe® Acrobat® Reader™ installed on your computer.

You may invest in any of the mutual funds listed on the fund sponsor sites.

• Calvert Group - access and plan number: 107
• Fidelity Investments - access and plan number: 87238
• TIAA-CREF: - access and plan number: 100215
• Vanguard Group - access and plan number: 091208
  We regret that Vanguard is not currently able to support online contract enrollment. You must allow time for U.S. mail to deliver your form to Vanguard before enrolling in UW VIP online (section 2 below) .

Reminder: If you begin a deduction in VIP without opening an account, contributions will be rejected. You are responsible for contacting the fund sponsor to provide your beneficiary information.

Step 4:

Print a copy of your fund sponsor contract to keep for your records. The UW automatically receives its own electronic copy.

Section 2: What the UW Needs from You

Make changes to your VIP contributions through Employee Self Service (ESS) using the "Retirement & Savings" tab.

Changes made through 5 p.m. on a payroll calculation night will be deducted from the next paycheck. For calculation cutoff dates, see the Payroll Office website for the current payroll cutoff schedule.

If you prefer not to use ESS, you may submit the VIP Enrollment/Change Form. Complete, print, and sign the form and mail it to Benefits & Work/Life.

Note: If we receive your VIP enrollment form by the 15th of the month, your contributions will begin on the 25th. If your form is received by end of the month, contributions will begin on the 10th of the following month.

Security and Privacy Information

The personal information you provide to fund sponsors is protected by encryption so it cannot be read as it is transmitted over the Internet. The encrypted data are transmitted via a secure socket layer (SSL) connection (a Netscape browser standard, adopted by Microsoft for their Internet Explorer and by some other browsers). Look for one or more of these "secure connection" indicators on your browser:

• A security alert window tells you that you are about to use a secure connection. Some browsers let you choose whether to display this window.
• An SSL icon shows when you're in a secure connection:
  • A symbol of an open padlock changes to a closed padlock when you're in a secure connection.
  • A symbol of a "broken key" icon is replaced by an unbroken key.
  • A blue line runs across the top of the content window.
• The website's address changes to one that begins with "https" (check for the "s").

The encrypted data go to a secure site, where your information is stored on a private computer that is not directly accessible via the Internet. At the secure site, your information is validated and kept in restricted-access files. More information about each of the fund sponsors' policies for protecting your personal data can be found at their websites. (Clicking a fund sponsor's name below opens a new browser window. Close the window to return to this page.)

• Calvert : See Calvert’s Privacy Statement for a connection to details about their internet security..
• Fidelity: See "Privacy" link at the bottom of the page.
• TIAA-CREF: See "Online Privacy Policy" link at the bottom of the page.
• Vanguard: See the "Privacy policy" and "Online security" links at the bottom of the page

IMPORTANT: do not share your user ID and password with anyone!

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