2.15 Fringe Benefits

Mandatory Fringe Benefits

Workers' Compensation: Subject to law all Wilmington College faculty members are covered by Workers' Compensation. Should a faculty member be injured while on the job, s/he should immediately notify the Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty or the Human Resources Office. Any medical attention received, either from the hospital or from the faculty member's physician, will be covered by Worker's Compensation. The faculty member is responsible for notifying the hospital or the attending physician that a Worker's Compensation claim should be submitted to the Human Resources Office. All accidents must be reported to the Human Resources Office immediately and accident forms filled out for proper documentation.
Social Security: All faculty members are covered by Social Security and proper payments are withheld from paychecks.
Unemployment Compensation: Faculty members are covered to the extent required under Ohio law.
Health Insurance Continuation: Health insurance for faculty members has been extended pursuant to federal law (COBRA). Check with the Human Resources Office for the details of this law. Faculty members are covered to the extent required under this law.
Health Coverage: At the time of hire, full-time faculty members are eligible to apply for health care coverage. The Human Resources Office provides the necessary information and application procedures. Since the regulations affecting eligibility and the options of various types of coverage are subject to change, employees should consult the Human Resources Office for information about the available coverage.
Retirement Plan: Wilmington College offers a retirement plan through TIAA-CREF for all full-time faculty members. Part-time faculty members may also be eligible to participate in TIAA-CREF (contact the Human Resources Office for details of eligibility). Eligible faculty members must participate in the retirement program after completing three consecutive years of service to the College. The faculty member's contribution to the TIAA-CREF program is matched by the College at the current rate (7% in 2016-2017) of the gross annual salary indicated on the contract. Faculty members may contribute more than 5% of their annual gross salary (amount is limited by law) but must contact the Human Resources Office for details. The College will endeavor to have seminars for employees regarding the retirement plan. Representatives of TIAA-CREF will sponsor seminars for the purpose of answering any questions an employee may have.
Short & Long-Term Disability and Life Insurance. Upon hire, a full-time faculty member is covered by disability insurance and life insurance. This life insurance policy costs are paid by the College. Short and Long-term disability insurance costs are paid by the faculty member. Each full-time faculty member is required to carry these plans.
Short term disability benefits begin on the 8th day of a qualified disability absence. Benefits are paid weekly at 70% of base earnings (tax free) and continue for up to 12 weeks. Long term disability benefits begin after an elimination period of 90 days and are paid monthly at 60% of base monthly earnings (tax free). It is not required to apply for disability benefits during non-contract periods such as summer break. However, if the disability should continue into when the normal contract period begins, the faculty member would be required to submit a claim at that time. Then, if disability is determined, the beginning of the disability period will be dated back retroactively to the day that it started for policy elimination period qualification purposes. There will be no adjustment to compensate already received. It is important to consult the Human Resources Office in all cases of disability.
Pregnancies are covered the same as any disability under the short-term disability plan.
Liability Insurance. Faculty members are covered by an institutional policy. A description of the coverage is available from the Business Office.

Educational Aid

The College wants full-time employees and their dependents to have an opportunity to complete an undergraduate college education. To that end, the College supports three tuition benefit programs: tuition remission, tuition exchange and tuition grants. Tuition remission and tuition grants are designed to “bridge the gap” between resources available to the employee and the cost of a college degree. Therefore, both programs operate on the assumption that the employee will use all other assistance available first, applying Wilmington College assistance to the remaining tuition.

General Notes:

An employee or dependent enrolled in any Wilmington College course is subject to the course and College minimum enrollment requirements.
An employee or dependent must be in “good academic standing” as defined by the institution attended to qualify for remission or grants.
When an employee resigns or is discharged, all tuition benefits cease at the time of termination and current tuition costs will be pro-rated accordingly.
Death or disability of an employee will not terminate an existing tuition benefit. The children and spouse will continue to benefit from the policy in force at the time of death or disability whether receiving benefits at the time of death or disability.
The College retains the right to alter any of the tuition benefits programs without notice.
Full-time employees will be eligible for the tuition benefit in the first full semester following beginning date of employment.
No tuition benefits are available for graduate level work.
Summer school enrollment is available on a space available basis.
Tuition remission will be reduced if the eligible student (employee or family member) also receives aid from any source that is restricted to the payment of tuition or if the total aid package exceeds direct cost. Ohio Instructional Grant and Choice Grants may be applied to tuition, but not to room and board. Those who live on campus who are eligible for a Pell Grant, College scholarships or other aid that is not restricted to the payment of tuition will not have the tuition remission reduced unless the total aid exceeds direct costs.
Applicants for tuition remission must file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) annually. The FAFSA is available online.
Employees or dependents enrolled for 6 or more hours will be required to pay the student activity fee and technology fee.

Tuition Remission (Applies Only to Undergraduate Courses Taken at Wilmington College): Full-time employees, and their FAFSA-eligible dependents aged 23 or under and the employee’s spouse may enroll in Wilmington College classes and receive tuition remission subject to the following conditions (No books, fees, or housing expenses are covered). The intent of the employee or dependent determines the conditions that are followed. Courses may be taken to earn a degree, transfer to another institution, or be recorded to document the experience (transcripted courses). Courses may also be taken for enrichment only. In this case the College will record no grade or credit for the courses.

Transcripted Courses:

Employee must have their supervisor’s permission to attend a course during working hours.
Only one course may be taken during an employee’s normal working hours per semester. Time missed from work must be made up.
Eligibility for taking courses must be verified by the Human Resources Office each semester. The verification form will require a work make-up plan for employees that must be approved by the supervisor and the supervisor’s appropriate President’s Council member in addition to the Director of Human Resources prior to registration. It is the employee’s responsibility to file the proper paperwork in a timely fashion to receive tuition remission.
Employee or family member must apply for admission to Wilmington College and become matriculated through the normal admissions and registration procedures. Employee may use Catalog provisions for Special Students prior to actual acceptance; however, Catalog limits do apply.
There is a lifetime limit of 130 semester hours after which only enrichment courses will be allowed (or enough courses to complete one degree with a maximum of two academic majors). Exceptions to this must be appealed to the Office of Academic Affairs and the employee’s appropriate President’s Council member.
Employees or family members may also take enrichment courses under the provisions outlined in the next section.

Enrichment Courses:

Courses taken under these policies will not be transcripted. The Human Resources Office will record use of the benefit.
Courses can be taken on a space available basis only.
Employee must have their supervisor’s permission to attend a course during working hours. Only one course per semester may be taken during an employee’s normal working hours. Time missed from work must be made up.
Eligibility for taking courses must be verified by the Human Resources Office each semester. The verification form will require a work make-up plan for employees that must be approved by the supervisor and the supervisor’s appropriate President’s Council member in addition to the Director of Human Resources prior to registration. It is the employee’s responsibility to file the proper paperwork in a timely fashion to receive tuition remission.
Registration for the courses will take place no sooner than one week prior to the start of classes.
Employees and family members must have the instructor’s permission to take the course. However, faculty members may not deny permission for reasons other than space limitations in the class. Employees must enroll for the class at the Records Office after verification of employment by the Human Resources Office.
In order to record participation, allow all students to have e-mail accounts, place all students in Portal rosters, etc., family members selecting the enrichment course option will need to be given an ID (CARS) number by the College.
There is no lifetime limitation on enrichment courses.

Tuition Exchange:

The College also has reciprocal arrangements with a number of other colleges. The Tuition Exchange and Council of Independent Colleges/Tuition Exchange Program (CIC/TEP) are only available on a limited basis. Please contact the Human Resources Office or the Financial Aid Office for availability of openings. If you are interested in having a dependent take advantage of this opportunity, submit an application to the Student Financial Services by August 1 of the year prior to the academic year in which the student plans to enroll. For more information, check the worldwide web or the tuition exchange website and then contact the Student Financial Services.

Tuition Grants:

For employees hired before June 30, 1992, tuition grants are available for dependent children studying at another accredited college or university. This grant is for one half of the full-time tuition charged by the institution attended, not to exceed one half the tuition of Wilmington College. Applicants for a tuition grant at a private college should first check whether the college is part of a tuition exchange program in which the College participates.

This grant will be for no more than 130 semester hours per student. All tuition grant students are encouraged to apply for any available federal and state aid at the institution in which the student is enrolled. Payments will be made directly to the institution attended.

Other Benefits

Tuition Exchange Programs: Wilmington College participates in several tuition exchange programs. Eligibility requirements and lists of Colleges in the programs are available from the Human Resources Office.
Admission to College Activities: College faculty members are encouraged to participate in the activities of the College including attendance at concerts, athletic events, plays, and various special occasions by or at the College. Members of the full-time faculty and their dependents will be admitted without charge to home athletic events (except special tournament events) by presenting the member's I.D. card at the gate. An admission fee will be required at most other events. A parent must accompany children under 12.
Housing: College-owned housing for faculty is limited, although there are a few units that may be available for faculty members whenever vacancies occur. However, it is advisable that faculty members make every effort to secure their own housing as soon as circumstances permit. Further information as to the present status of rental property may be secured in the Business Office.
Employee Assistance Programs (Substance Abuse): A referral system for substance abusers is in operation at Wilmington College. Referrals are made to the College nurse and treatment takes place at a local professional agency. Up to certain limits, the county will cover the cost of analysis and treatment. More information on the program can be secured from the College nurse.

Faculty Development Opportunities

Wilmington College seeks to help faculty and administrators grow professionally and develop new skills that add to the effectiveness of the overall College program. To this end, the College provides a variety of faculty development activities discussed in this section. Faculty development opportunities currently available to faculty members include: Professional activity fund: It is the policy of the College to promote interest and participation among faculty members in learned, scientific or professional societies appropriate to their teaching fields. The Higher Learning Commission suggests three memberships per faculty member as a reasonable average and it is generally agreed that every faculty member should belong to at least one such association. Payment of membership dues is the responsibility of the faculty member, however, and not the College. Professional memberships related to a teaching field can be paid for by annually budgeted faculty professional development funds. The College does encourage attendance at the meetings of such associations within the limits of its budget and with the following stipulations:
1. Each faculty member is entitled to at least a basic level of support ($600 in 2016-17) per year to cover expenses in attending professional meetings or other professional development activities. This amount is announced at the beginning of each academic year. Faculty should request the use of funds by December 15 of the academic year. All requests for actual reimbursement must be submitted by June 15. After December 15, the Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty will use non-requested funds to augment the basic amount for faculty who have submitted requests for funding in excess of the basic amount. The Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty may reserve a small amount of funds to award faculty who identify opportunities later in the spring semester; however, every attempt should be made to award all available development funds to faculty each year. Funds or reimbursements requested after June 15 will be applied to the next academic year’s budgeted amount.
2. On completing an activity, the faculty member should submit a request for reimbursement to the Office of the Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty, itemizing expenses, and including receipts where possible (the "Travel Expense Report" should be used). Travel by car should be calculated at the authorized rate. Requests for an advance, before attending a meeting, should be made through the Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty to the Business Office, and requests for reimbursement should show the amount of the advance, if any, and the difference.
Faculty development funds: From time to time money, in addition to travel allowances and sabbaticals, will be available for faculty development. This money must be requested from the Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty. In some cases money from this fund will be offered to faculty members to undertake a particular type of development activity.
Classroom visitation: See Section 2.5
Use of outside evaluators: Under certain circumstances, the faculty member may choose to bring in a person from another college to conduct an evaluation of his/her performance. It is the responsibility of the Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty to secure a satisfactory evaluator. In rare instances a faculty member might request that the Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty engage an individual from another school to provide formative advice to the Wilmington College faculty member. The Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty will decide if such a request is justified and will, if s/he decides it is, secure the outside reviewer.
Videotaping classroom teaching: This technique can be used under the same constraints as in-person classroom visitation. Any faculty member can use this process informally with other colleagues or even students. Workshops, seminars, conferences: From time to time the College offers in- house workshops, seminars or conferences on a variety of topics. Such events are not mandatory, but faculty members are encouraged to attend. Many organizations such as the Southwestern Ohio Council of Higher Education (SOCHE) and the Greater Cincinnati Consortium of Colleges and Universities (GCCCU) also offer programs to which Wilmington College sends faculty members. Usually the College covers the expenses to these conferences. There are many national organizations-- the American Council of Education, the American Association of Higher Education, the Council of Independent Colleges, as well as regional organizations, that also offer programs to which Wilmington College faculty members are occasionally sent. Faculty members can also use their funds under 1, 2, and 3, above to attend these events.
Advanced coursework: Under certain circumstances (the faculty member does not have a terminal degree or is being retrained in another field) faculty members should consider coursework either without the intent of a degree or to achieve a degree as a form of faculty development. Usually such course work is at the expense of the faculty member, but under some circumstances money from item one above can be designated for specific coursework. Work to obtain the appropriate terminal degree is usually not considered faculty development work per se as it is designed to make an individual qualified for an initial faculty appointment (see Section 2.1.7).
Faculty research grants: Faculty research is valued at Wilmington College. Out of its commitment to academic development in the realm of research, Wilmington College offers monies to faculty requesting financial support. A pool of money based on endowment return and generally equal to $8,000 is available to faculty requesting up to $1,000 each for support of research and research-related projects. The Instructional Development and Resources Committee will accept applications no later than September 30th. Additional information may be requested during the review process. Awards will be announced by November 1st and payment initiated during November. A copy of the Faculty Research application is contained in Appendix 1.8.
Sabbatical Leaves: After every six-year period of full-time service, any full-time faculty member, whether or not on the tenure track, is eligible for a sabbatical leave. The administration must identify a yearly budget for sabbatical leave by September 15 and alert the Tenure, Promotion and Review Committee to the amount of potential funding for sabbaticals before applicants have submitted proposals. To promote the College’s academic excellence, increase its exposure, and support the professional development of its employees, faculty are encouraged to apply for sabbatical leave when eligible, on a regular basis.

Proposals for sabbatical leave should be filed with the Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty by November 15 of the academic year prior to the year for which the sabbatical leave is requested.

Faculty who have more than six years of service since their last sabbatical leave may apply their additional years to the subsequent six-year periods. Leaves of absence do not count toward the six-year period. A one-semester leave followed by one-semester teaching duties shall count as half a year of service.

Computation of sabbatical leave eligibility is illustrated by the following example: Professor A begins full-time service in 1990. S/he has seven years of full- time service and then takes a sabbatical leave in 1997-98. Since s/he has earned an extra year of service beyond the requisite six years, s/he may apply for sabbatical leave in academic year 2002-03 and be eligible for leave in academic year 2003-04.

The sabbatical leave proposal must outline the project the faculty member will undertake, its significance in his/her discipline and its significance for the faculty member's teaching mission at Wilmington College. The above factors (and only these factors) will be used to rank applications. First-time sabbatical proposals should be afforded preferential treatment by the committee.

The Tenure, Promotion, and Review Committee shall make a decision about which candidates have been awarded sabbatical by January 30. Upon approval of a sabbatical request by the TPR Committee, the faculty member, the area coordinator, and the Academic Dean/Dean of the faculty will work together to draft a detailed staffing plan for course coverage during the time of the sabbatical leave.

Sabbatical leaves are granted for one semester at full salary or for one year at half salary. Full salary is the amount the faculty member would normally receive for a full academic load during the sabbatical leave year. Administrative payments are not made during a sabbatical leave unless otherwise negotiated. Half salary divides the previous figure by two. All benefits continue while on sabbatical leave.

Sabbatical leaves are not automatic entitlements but are granted when the project is mutually beneficial to the College and the faculty member. Staffing arrangements may affect the timing of the leave. If an applicant's request for sabbatical leave is denied by the TPR Committee, s/he may refer the matter to the Dean of Faculty and finally to the President. If candidates are denied sabbatical due to insufficient funding and not due to merit, their applications will have first priority for sabbatical leave the following year.
At the conclusion of the sabbatical leave experience, a report is to be submitted to the Academic Dean/Dean of Faculty indicating the results of the sabbatical leave, primarily emphasizing the value of the sabbatical leave to the faculty member’s research, teaching, and professional development. This report should be submitted to the Academic Dean/Dean of Faculty within 3 months of the end of the sabbatical leave. Failure to submit a sabbatical leave report may result in the faculty member being ineligible for further sabbatical leaves.
Educational Leave: This type of leave is designed to allow a faculty member to complete an advanced degree necessary for continued employment or to improve the teaching competence of a faculty member. It may take the form of work toward a conventional doctorate, a period of work in an applied setting, such as an industrial laboratory, a public school, a welfare agency or job rotation to another College area (administration, student services or maintenance). It may also include service on a state, national or international basis (such as the American Friends Service Committee). Usually educational leave does not carry any salary with it, but it normally does allow the retention of limited benefits. There are occasions, however, where salary might be continued. Each educational leave is designed to fit individual circumstances and it will have to be negotiated between the faculty member and the Area Coordinator and the Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty.