Discussion of possible changes to Emorys employee benefits
program dominated the Feb. 26 meeting of University Senate, held
in Woodruff Librarys Jones Room.
President Bill Chace, who would have to leave early to catch a
plane, opened the meeting with his remarks. First, in response to
the Senates January resolution concerning designated smoking
areas, Chace said he has asked public healths Susan Butler
and Facilities Managements Bob McMains to chair the task force
proposed in the resolution.
Turning to benefits, Chace said he has received numerous e-mails
about the proposed changes, many of which described a set of tacit
understandings about what it means to work for Emory. The
courtesy scholarship, he said, is held in particular valuation by
University employees.
Any adjustments we must make, we must make in light of those
understandings, Chace said. But we are also bound by
an obligation to the future.
Addressing those who have suggested Emory spend more of its $4.3
billion endowment until the economic situation improves, Chace said
the endowment is not a rainy day fund, and the formula
that has been calculated for endowment spending is designed to protect
the body of the fund and is based on years worth of economic
analysis and observations. I think it would be a very serious
mistake and probably a moral failure to increase the spending rate
because wed be cheating the future to pay for the present,
Chace said.
Sid Stein, chair of the Senates fringe benefits committee,
said his group had met with senior administrators in the recent
fortnight and received a lot of e-mail about benefits changes. Stein
said the committee did not view its task as having to determine
whether benefits changes should be made, but rather to evaluate
proposed changes and possibly come up with alternatives.
Stein said the committee examined benefits packages at peer institutions
and determined Emorys benefits rank more or less in the middle
range, though he did say benefits for Emory staff members do tend
to compete more favorably with staff benefits at other institutions.
Emory Hospitals, Stein said, are particularly hamstrung by current
benefits packages since their competition is other Atlanta health
care facilities, not other universities. Since the hospitals are
tied to the University in what benefits they offer, they are forced
to provide greater benefits than other area hospitals and thus have
more trouble competing economically in other areas. One possibility,
Stein said, is to separate Emory Hospitals from the University,
though he predicted this change would not be a popular one on campus.
Though the committee had not yet made any final recommendations,
Stein said it was favorably disposed to three of the
proposed changes: instituting a sliding scale for courtesy scholarships
in which the longer an employee works for Emory, the larger the
percentage the University pays for scholarships, with employees
with 10 years or more of service receiving 100 percent funding;
reducing from 26 to 21 the age at which employees can receive matching
retirement contributions from the University while adding a five-year
vestment period, which means if an employee leaves Emory before
completing five years of service, all matching contributions revert
to the University; and altering Emorys contributions to its
VEBA fund.
Emorys VEBA (voluntary employees beneficiary association)
trust is a fund into which the University invests money to pay for
retirement benefits for future retirees. Emory is required to calculate
and report the liability and expense associated with providing medical
benefits to current and potential retirees, and the University goes
beyond this by actually setting aside money. This fund, calculated
over a 20-year period, takes into account existing assets, actual
and expected investment returns, expected claims costs and other
variables, and it is expected to increase sharply in the near future.
Stein said the committee is in favor of at least temporarily altering
the way Emory approaches the VEBA fund in order to deal with current
economic realities.
Reporting for the Emory College Executive Committee, Judith Miller
said the committee has set up a LearnLink conference to provide
information and field questions about benefits. Stein, Judith Miller
and Vice President for Human Resources Alice Miller said several
town hall meetings have been scheduled to discuss benefits changes
(see
story).
With the meeting running late, Senate members voted unanimously
to postpone Judith Raggi-Moores update on honorary degree
recipients until the March meeting, which will be held March 26
at 3:15 p.m. in the Jones Room.
If you have
a question or concern for University Senate, e-mail President Frank
Vandall at fvandall@law.emory.edu.
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