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<p class=MsoNormal>Courtesy of today’s (September 8, 2010) Moscow-Pullman
Daily News.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Faculty Senate discusses benefits-related policy changes<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Proposed revisions include spousal employment, reduced
student fees for dependents<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>By Holly Bowen Daily News staff writer<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Faculty Senate discusses benefits-related policy changes<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Proposed revisions include spousal employment, reduced
student fees for dependents<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>By Holly Bowen Daily News staff writer<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>September 8, 2010<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The University of Idaho Faculty Senate has resurrected a set
of three proposed benefits-related policy changes that didn't make it to the
final approval stage last year.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The senators' hope is that by sending the proposals back to
the originating Faculty Affairs Committee, further revisions will respectively
align them with state law and ensure they are compatible with the financial
challenges the university is facing.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Senate Chairman Dan Eveleth said Tuesday that UI President
Duane Nellis shot down one of the proposed new policies and the one proposed
policy revision in question because they potentially violate Idaho's
constitution.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The proposed new policy would provide dual career
accommodation for the married spouses or domestic partners of UI employees. A
UI human resources staff member would assist the spouse or partner with finding
local employment, including at the university.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Spouses and partners participating in the dual career
accommodation could even be eligible for jobs open only to existing UI
employees, and the university could alternatively create a one- to three-year
temporary position for the person if his or her skills met a need at the
institution.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Eveleth said the major issue with that proposed policy, as
well as a proposed revision to an existing policy that grants student fee
discounts to spouses of UI employees, is the wording that extends the benefits
to domestic partners.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>"From what the president told me, he likes the idea in
spirit, but it was the partner distinction that really causes a
challenge," he said.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>In 2006, a majority of Idaho voters approved an amendment to
the state constitution that made a marriage between a man and a woman the only
type of valid and recognized domestic legal union in the state. Because the UI
is a state institution, it is bound by that rule.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Sen. Dale Graden, a history professor, said the UI's legal
counsel visited the senate last year and concluded the domestic partner wording
was unconstitutional. However, he said the wording in question was intentional
because there are faculty members who want the domestic partnership issue
addressed.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>"I don't think we're going to be swinging the State
Board of Education to our way of thinking on this issue," he said. "I
want to pursue this, but I want to do it strategically."<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Senators discussed the idea of using the general word
"family" in lieu of more specific terms like "spouse" and
"partner" before voting to send the proposals back to Faculty Affairs
for further assessment and tweaking.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The other proposed new policy that senators revisited and
returned to Faculty Affairs would grant a 50 percent reduction in in-state
student fees to the dependents of UI employees. The proposal's paperwork states
the goal is to promote employee recruitment and retention and improve culture
and climate at the university by expanding employee benefits.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Several senators expressed a desire Tuesday for more information
about the potential financial impacts of such a policy on the university. They
also wanted to know how other universities have fared with similar policies.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>"I feel that if we're making suggestions about
something that has a financial impact, we need to know what that is," Sen.
Anne Marshall of the College of Art and Architecture said.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Seeya round town, Moscow.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Tom Hansen<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Moscow, Idaho<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>“Domestic
partner benefits are among the most tangible ways that an employer chooses to
express the value it holds for a loyal employee. Without domestic partner
benefits, gay and lesbian employees will forever remain a separate and unequal
group of workers.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>— Human
Rights Campaign<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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