(a) The term negligence, for purposes of interpreting that term in chapter 974, Laws of 1977, shall mean a member's act of withdrawing contributions from his or her former teachers' retirement system, thereby terminating his or her membership in that system, after being advised in writing that such an act would prevent the member being able to claim, as prior service credit in the successor teachers' retirement system, the service with which he or she had been credited in his or her former teachers' retirement system.

(b) The following criteria shall be employed by system staff in determining persons eligible to transfer service credits pursuant to chapter 974 of the Laws of 1977 in determining eligibility to transfer service credits pursuant to chapter 974 of the Laws of 1977, the right to transfer will be available to those persons who had concurrent membership and who withdrew their accumulated contributions from their former retirement system, without knowledge that in so doing they would be prevented from effecting transfer, to the successor retirement system, of service credited to them in their former retirement system.