The Fric proposal contemplates that employees will continue to be able to purchase all of the life insurance that has been offered in the past, including specifically 3x salary for group and 3 1/2 salary for supplemental. What the proposal would do is require employees purchasing up to 3 times salary for group to purchase 1x with their own funds rather than 1/2 x as they currently do as UI currently provides enough flex credits to buy 2 1/2 times salary.  So the proposal would increase the cost of the employees currently buying 3x salary.  FRIC is aware that going from the current plan to the proposed new plan would require Principal’s approval as they are the insurer and that until they have actually approved the new plan there can be no guarantee that FRIC’s recommendation could be implimented.  If Prinicpal were not to agree, FRIC would be given the opportunity to re-evaluate in light of the concern that some people could loose insurance and not be able to replace it on the open market.

As for diaability, the proposal of FRIC would eliminate the opportunity for persons to elect disability on a post-tax basis. FRIC nonetheless went forward because we understand few people elect the post-tax plan because it would cause them to pay higher income tax rates now for the potential of later having post-tax dollars and given the unliklihood of having a diability claim, the scale tilted in favor of what we proposed.  FRIC has requested the Benefits Office to look into the possiblity of an elective disabiltiy policy that would allow persons to buy more than the 60% coverage suggested by FRIC.

Hello Colleagues,

Bruce Justman and I have heard from a few of the faculty in the College of Dentistry.  I wish to summarize their concerns here so as to spark comments from other Councilors.  The primary issue we have heard is about dual spouse faculty and the loss of “monetary value” in benefit with the restructuring of the flex credits.  As we all have heard across campus, this is particularly an issue with faculty and staff with young children who have been depending on the flex dollars as a means of child care support.  However, more senior, dual spouse faculty are also concerned with the loss of what some say could be up to $3,000-6,000. 

There are also concerns with the cutting of disability insurance, and for some, the cap on the life insurance.

Finally, there is concern that in an era when faculty seem to be asked to do more, and with less faculty (yes, this too is a problem in the College of Dentistry), we will have great difficulty in areas of retention and recruitment of younger faculty, particularly dual-spouse faculty.

These are the concerns we have heard so far.  Have any of you heard from your collegiate colleagues on their concerns?

Best regards,

-David

As you know, faculty and staff members of the University have entered into intense discussions of the merits of the proposal from the Funded Retirement and Insurance Committee (FRIC) regarding a new benefits program that could go into effect as early as January 1, 2009. Our President, Sally Mason, is soliciting input from all constituencies prior to making her decision about the FRIC recommendations. A meeting of the Faculty Council is scheduled for June 17 at 3:30 to discuss the FRIC recommendations, and in preparation for that I meeting I have established this Blog to facilitate discussion of the FRIC proposal. Postings on the Blog are limited to Councilors, Shelly Kurtz, faculty co-chair of FRIC, Susan Buckley, Director of Human Resources, and Richard Saunders, Senior Associate Director of Human Resources. Anyone in the university community may observe our interactions, but only the aforementioned individuals may post comments. What I hope to foster is a balanced discussion of the proposal so to inform ourselves of the general view of the Faculty Council and to provide an opportunity for Faculty Council colleagues who will not be able to attend the June 17 meeting to share their views. Please try to set aside any personal self-interest in this discussion because as Faculty Councilors you should be representing your collegiate colleagues. Also please remember that anyone will be able to observe our interactions, including the media. Also, remember that your constituents will have an opportunity to communicate directly with you via links on the Blog. Two important web links are provided. One is to “University Benefits – Communications,” which details the new plan and addresses a number of issues regarding the new plan and its impact and the other is to the FixFlex website that challenges certain aspects of the new plan. Please do not hesitate to pose questions to me and I will attempt to answer them or get answers to them in a timely fashion.