(1) The basic period of time for calculating service credit shall be the school term July 1 through June 30. Service credit in the Montana teachers' retirement system shall be based upon the following unless otherwise provided by rule or statute:

(a) nine months or 180 days of full-time employment shall equal 1.0 year service credit for any employment eligible to be qualified under the teachers' retirement system.

(b) twelve months or 360 days in a school term shall equal 1.0 year service credit for military service qualified in the teachers' retirement system.

(c) service credit for public employees' retirement system service qualified in the teachers' retirement system shall be credited to the member's account at the same rate earned under and reported to the public employees' retirement system.

(2) A member employed part-time during the school term shall receive service credit based on the total full-time equivalent verified by his employer divided by the number of months reported. For the purpose of this subsection, seven hours shall be considered one day.

(3) For employees of the university system and community colleges part-time service credit shall be prorated based upon the portion of the full-time contract completed and/or the daily rate of pay if available.