2012 Overview

Dear Faculty and Staff,
As we advance in our commitment to invest more deeply in the excellence of Seattle University’s faculty and staff, we are making a number of changes in benefits and compensation. Many of you have taken the opportunity to learn about these developments by attending one of the open forum sessions that Vice President of Human Resources and University Services Jerry Huffman has been holding. With Open Enrollment beginning tomorrow, I wanted to not only remind you to participate but also to highlight some of the changes that will be effective for 2012 and how they help us better serve our employees.

By now you should be well aware that the university is significantly increasing its contribution to health premiums for employees who elect dependent / family coverage and employees with single coverage will be asked to pay a modest share of their premium costs. Employees with family coverage have expressed concern over the high costs of their premiums, and, for some, this cost has approached $800 a month. I am very pleased that we are able now to address this concern while still covering a very substantial amount of the premiums charged to employees with single coverage. As I said in my State of the University, we must all share in the cost and responsibility of benefits. This transition in premium costs is a big step in the right direction.

As was also announced this month, the university has selected Premera as its new PPO provider. This, too, is a very positive move for the university. It will allow us to better contain healthcare costs, which we all know, continue to rise sharply, while providing new opportunities in terms of wellness initiatives and customer service.  These are the most immediate changes, and the ones that are undoubtedly at the forefront of your mind on the eve of Open Enrollment. You can find more detailed information at www.seattleu.edu/hr.

Of course, this isn’t the full story. The university is moving forward in many other important ways to invest more robustly in the good work our faculty and staff are doing. We are in the midst of very ambitious five-year plan to bring salaries into alignment with benchmarked positions in the marketplace, while also including performance as a factor in how compensation decisions are made across all divisions of the university. Our retirement plan is also being restructured to enhance customer service and investment performance.

As we move forward, you will continue to be informed of all developments in our compensation and benefits programs and you will be invited to share your input at every step along the way. I truly believe that we are positioning ourselves to better serve our faculty and staff, make Seattle University more attractive to prospective employees and secure the fiscal health of our university. Thank you for the continued work you do to advance our vital educational mission.

Sincerely,

Stephen V. Sundborg, S.J.
President