(a) All member contributions and state appropriations shall be held in a separate retirement fund by the Treasurer, who may invest and reinvest as much of the fund as is not required for current disbursements in accordance with the provisions of part I of chapter 32.
(b) All participant contributions and state appropriations therefor shall be held in a separate account by the Treasurer and upon certification by the Comptroller shall be forwarded to the company underwriting an alternate retirement program in equal monthly installments. Expenditures from this account may exceed the appropriation to such account if such deficiency is due to anticipated reimbursements to the account and if such reimbursements are anticipated to be made within six months of such expenditures.
(c) The contribution of participants in an alternate retirement program shall be five per cent of salary. The employer contribution for such participants shall be determined from the table below and shall be paid to the separate retirement fund for alternate retirement programs for higher education personnel.