During its monthly meeting on Sept. 11, the Board of Regents (BOR) approved a systemwide approach to voluntary benefits.    

Starting in January 2014, all University System of Georgia (USG) colleges and universities will offer the same voluntary benefits, which include supplemental life insurance, dental, vision, short- and long-term disability, and flexible spending and health savings accounts.  

In addition, institutions will be able to offer other ancillary benefits not provided by the board; for Georgia Tech, that means we will continue to offer our group legal plan through ARAG and our critical illness and permanent whole life plans.

Currently, each institution offers its own selection of these benefits. According to the section of the meeting agenda about the changes (available on pages 22-33 of the agenda), the new approach is meant to provide equal coverage for all USG employees and to eliminate redundancies and unnecessary costs.  

The Office of Human Resources will communicate more details about these voluntary benefits and open enrollment for 2014 in the weeks to come. This year’s open enrollment will be held Nov. 11-22 and is reduced from a four-week period to two weeks. All employees currently enrolled in benefits plans are encouraged to review their current benefits selections, as they will be required to re-enroll in plans this year.

The BOR also approved its fiscal year 2015 Operating and Capital Budget Request. This includes $1.932 billion in operating funds (to be distributed among institutions) and $211 million in capital funds, which includes $80 million in bond funds for major repairs and renovations to be shared by all USG institutions.