Section
5
EMPLOYEE
BENEFITS
The institution will
reimburse new full‑time faculty for expenses incurred in relocation to
Houghton College according to the following schedule:
Moving cost Percent
reimbursement
First
$1,000 100%
Second
$1,000 50%
The maximum reimbursement is $1500 for moving expenses of $2000 or more. Interim full‑time faculty are eligible for the moving allowance as described above.
Appropriate documentation to support the moving expense reimbursement request must be furnished to the academic dean's office before payment can be made.
5.2
Second mortgages (Home Purchase
Assistance Program)
Second mortgage loans
are available to assist full‑time contract employees in acquiring
permanent housing. Application for this
assistance is made through the Vice President for Finance of the college. This assistance is subject to the following
conditions:
1. The employee must demonstrate adequate financial expectations to sustain mortgage commitments as well as initial resources to meet the required closing costs and property tax prorations. The loan application should provide the information necessary for evaluation by the college administration in approving or disapproving the mortgage loan.
2. A second mortgage loan may be granted for up to twenty percent of the contract price of the property, not to exceed $10,000.
3. A second mortgage loan will apply to the initial purchase of a home. It does not apply to improvement of an existing home or the purchase of land unless the employee plans to build a new house on it immediately. If an employee exchanges residential property, he may transfer the unpaid second mortgage amount to the new home up to the $10,000 limit.
4. The second mortgage amount must be used as a portion of all of the down payment on the home and not as a reserve for renovation expenses or a contingency reserve.
5. The principal of the mortgage must be repaid over the life of the first mortgage on a monthly payment of principal and interest basis. The annual interest rate will be tied to the federal home loan mortgage rate plus one percent or two points above prime as determined by the college Vice President for Finance. If there is no first mortgage, the college mortgage must be paid over a five‑year period. Each payment will be applied first to the payment of accrued interest and then to principal until the principal sum is fully paid.
6. When
an employee terminates his employment with the college, the unpaid balance of
the second mortgage will immediately become due and payable. If an employee sells the property on which
there is a second mortgage, the unpaid balance must be repaid at the time of
closing.
7. The borrower is responsible for all legal fees to prepare the bond and mortgage including recording fees. A copy of the insurance policy and the bond and mortgage must be delivered to the vice president for finance.
(Revised
March 1994)
Payroll is handled on a
direct‑deposit system to any member of Automated Clearing House. Employees will receive pay stub information
each payday through intracampus mail.
Salaried employees are
paid biweekly on Fridays.
Faculty members are
typically paid over the 12‑month period.
Compensation for additional instruction (for example, Mayterm,
tutorials, honors projects, PACE, practicums) is paid when the assignment is
completed
All new employees must
complete both federal and state withholding forms to establish tax withholding
rates. This form must be reaccomplished
whenever there is a change in number of dependents or when a change in the
amount to be withheld is needed.
The college offers a
section 403(B) defined contribution retirement plan to eligible employees. The
purpose of the retirement plan is to enable qualifying employees to maintain
their standard of living following retirement by providing income over and
above income that may be provided by Social Security.
5.4.1 TIAA-CREF
Teachers Insurance and
Annuity Association (TIAA) and the College Retirement Equities Fund (CREF)
sponsors the college retirement plan. TIAA is a non-profit, legal reserve life
insurance and annuity company incorporated in New York. It provides annuities
and insurance at low cost for educational institutions. CREF is a separate
non-profit corporation companion to TIAA, established to accumulate, invest,
and then disburse funds for retirement in the form of lifetime income and other
payment options. CREF funding vehicles include foreign and domestic stock,
bond, and money market options. A participant may allocate plan contributions
to TIAA and/or CREF funding vehicles in any whole number percentages that total
100 percent of the amount designated.
5.4.1.1
Participation
An eligible employee may begin
participation in this plan on the first month following the completion of one
year of service at Houghton or another accredited institution of higher
education. Eligible employees must also
be 21 years of age or older.
5.4.1.2
Eligibility
An "eligible employee" means
any employee working at least 1,000 hours per year (1/2 load for faculty)
except adjunct faculty members.
5.4.1.3
Premium
Participants shall contribute 3 percent
of their base contracted salary through payroll deduction (after tax) or reduction
(before tax). This will be matched by an 9 percent contribution by the college
and remitted to TIAA-CREF. A participant may elect to contribute more than 3
percent, but the college contribution remains at 9 percent. There are certain
limits to this option. See the Director of Human Resources for more
information. Taxes on the earnings are
deferred until withdrawn at retirement.
5.4.1.4
Vesting
Employees are immediately and fully
vested upon remittance of the contributions of both employee and college
matching funds to TIAA-CREF.
5.4.1.5
Terminating Employee
Terminating employees may take their TIAA
and CREF annuity accounts with them. TIAA-CREF retirement and survivor benefits
are fully vested at all times. This full-vesting allows participants to move
freely among other education institutions that offer TIAA-CREF plans, thereby
continuing to accumulate retirement benefits. Terminating participants who move
to an institution or employer that does not offer a TIAA-CREF plan, may leave
the accumulated contributions with TIAA-CREF where they will continue to
accumulate earnings.
5.4.1.6
Repurchases
TIAA-CREF's repurchase provision allows
individuals with small accumulations to receive the value of their annuities in
a single sum after terminating employment with the college. There are two
separate sets of repurchase rules.
For participants who received their
oldest annuity before January 1, 1992, the annuities may qualify for repurchase
if:
1.
None
of the participant's TIAA and CREF annuities are more than five years old or
their total value is no more than $2,000.
2.
The
participant is not employed by or moving to an employer with a retirement plan
using TIAA-CREF annuities; and
3.
The
participant is not receiving TIAA-CREF annuity income payments.
Participants who received their oldest
TIAA-CREF annuity on or after January 1, 1992, may be eligible to repurchase
their annuities if they meet these conditions:
1.
The
participant has terminated employment;
2.
The
participant has $2,000 or less in TIAA;
3.
The
participant is not receiving or transferring money from TIAA over a 10-year
period.
5.4.1.6
Retirement Option
Annuity participants may elect to
withdraw or transfer their accumulations to other 403(B) plans or individual
Retirement Accounts (IRAs) at retirement. This option may be limited by the
investment vehicle which you have chosen. Retirement is defined as separation
from service after attaining age 55. If an employee terminates service from the
college before attaining age 55, they must wait until age 59-1/2 to withdraw or
transfer their accumulated funds. Current employees who have reached the age of
65 and are employed on a less than full-time basis are also eligible for a
withdrawal. Those electing these options are advised to seek professional tax
counsel.
5.4.1.7
Survivor Benefits
When the death of the participant is
prior to the commencement of retirement income, the full current value of the
Accumulation Account(s) is payable to the beneficiaries named by the
participant. Distribution of survivor benefits
is subject to spouse's rights laws and the required distribution rules set
forth in IRS Code section 401(a)(9).
5.4.1.8
Enrollment
Applications for plan enrollment and
further information are available in the Human Resources Office.
5.4.1.9
Supplemental Retirement Annuities
Supplemental Retirement Annuities (SRAs)
enable employees to set aside tax-deferred funds over and above the retirement
program. Applications and further information are available in the Human
Resources Office.
5.5
Hospital and medical insurance
Houghton College
provides group hospital and medical insurance for all full‑time
employees. Information or questions
regarding medical insurance should be directed to the human resources office.
All health plans
currently offered by the college require some employee contribution. This includes all full‑time employees
and their dependents, including full‑time employees whose workload has
been reduced to at least one‑half by the administration due to
retrenchment and personnel cut backs.
(Note: coverage is available on a contributory basis for tenured faculty
who assume the status of half‑time leave of absence/half‑time
teaching for one year.) Coverage
becomes effective with the first day of full‑time employment and
terminates at the end of the month the employee terminates. Faculty who terminate at the end of the
school calendar may continue coverage through August 31. Those employed at least half-time are
eligible to enroll in the plan at their own expense.
A waiver may be granted
because of conscientious objection or because of duplicate coverage
elsewhere. Those electing coverage
under a plan available through a spouse working outside of the college are
eligible for a taxable cash payment.
(Updated
7/02)
5.6
Disability insurance and workmen's compensation
5.6.1 Long‑term total disability benefits plan: A non-contributory
Total Disability Benefit Plan is provided for all full-time Houghton College
employees through TIAA. Total
disability under this program is the "inability of the employee, by reason
of sickness or bodily injury, to engage in any occupation for which the
employee is reasonably fitted by education, training or experience."
The plan provides for
benefits beginning on the first of the month following six (6) consecutive
months of total disability and continuing during such disability until age
65. The monthly income benefit combined
with any benefits payable from Social Security and Workers' Compensation
provides for an amount equal to 60 percent of your monthly wage base to a
maximum of $3,000 per month.
Also, a monthly benefit
equal to 12 percent of your monthly salary will be credited as premiums to your
TIAA-CREF retirement plan, if you are enrolled.
5.6.2 Workmen’s compensation: When an employee is
injured, regardless of how minor the injury may be, he or she should
immediately report this to his or her supervisor and the director of human
resources. Even though the injury may
not be significant enough to require medical care, it is still important that a
record be filed listing the circumstances.
When a report is filed, the employee may be asked to contact a
physician.
In every accident of any
significance, contact should be made immediately with the Health Center. This is for the mutual protection of the
college and the employee. When an
accident of any type occurs it is very important that a report be made
IMMEDIATELY. A supply of reports is available
from the human resources office. This
report, when filled out, should be left with the supervisor to be sent directly
to the human resources office.
Whenever any accident
occurs, the supervisor of the employee should make a personal investigation and
write up his or her own report. The
personal report and the supervisor's report should be turned in to the
personnel office immediately or within 24 hours.
Houghton College provides term life and accidental death and dismemberment insurance for all full‑time employees. This coverage provides for life insurance benefit of twice the annual salary. This benefit is provided at no cost to the employee.
5.8
Tuition benefits – Employee Tuition Assistance Grants
Overview: the college provides
employee and dependent tuition assistance grants (ETAG) as a fringe benefit for
certain employees. The amount of assistance provided depends, in part on
(1) Whether the student is
an employee or the dependent of an employee,
(2) The employee’s tenure
with the college and status as full or part time,
(3) The full or part time
academic status of the student requesting assistance. An individual is
considered a "dependent" of an employee if the individual is claimed
as a dependent on the employee's tax return.
General Rules: To qualify for an ETAG
from the college for an employee or their dependent, the employee must have
served at least two years in the full time employ of Houghton College prior to
the commencement of the term. Years of service at another accredited
institution of higher education counts towards this two-year waiting period.
This two year waiting period will be waived for employees taking courses
determined by the Director of Human Resources to be job related. The student
must fully comply with the application and acceptance process at the college.
Admission to the college is not guaranteed. The employee must complete all
required financial aid forms within the typical deadline dates associated with
such filings. Tuition assistance covers up to 8 semesters or 125 hours (128
hours for B.Music) whichever is greater.
Full Time Dependents: Employee dependents
(as defined by the IRS) will receive an ETAG equal to tuition less $750 per
semester, if they meet the following tests:
1. The employee has served
at least two years in the full time employ of the college prior to the commencement
of the term.
2. The dependent has been
duly accepted by the college for admission and is considered to be a full time,
matriculated student. Students who do
not require a full load in their last semester may qualify for tuition assistance
and be considered part-time students for one semester only.
3. The employee has
appropriately filed all requisite financial aid applications and forms within
the deadlines established.
Financial Aid Allocation: With the exception of
the New York State Tuition Assistance Program (NYS TAP), all need and
performance based financial assistance provided from third parties to the
dependent will be available for the dependent to use for tuition, room, board,
books and other educational costs beyond those covered by the ETAG. Amounts
received for the NYS TAP will serve to partially offset the college’s
contribution toward the ETAG.
Part Time Students: Full and part time
employees taking courses determined by the Director of Human Resources to be
job-related will be eligible for a 100% discount. Further, the class-time for
these courses will be considered working hours and will not need to be made up.
Non-class study time will not be considered working hours. Employees taking
classes during normal working hours must receive the approval of their
supervisor prior to enrolling in the course.
Full time employees taking courses which are not job related will be eligible for a 95% discount. Part-time employees taking non-job related courses will be eligible for a 90% discount. Time spent during normal working hours in class will need to be made up during the same workweek.
Dependents of employees
may take courses on a less than full-time basis and receive a 90% discount.
The following courses
are exempted from employee tuition assistance for part-time students (either
employees or dependents):
Music - All Applied Courses
Art - All Courses except Art History and
Appreciation
Physical Education - All applied courses
and those requiring an activity lab.
Other - Tutorial, independent study, student teaching, field
internships, audits of computer courses.
Tuition Assistance for
P.A.C.E.:
A full time employee or spouse who desires to enroll in a P.A.C.E. cohort will
be eligible for an ETAG if they are the first employee/spouse to be admitted to
and request tuition assistance for that cohort. Any additional employees in the
same cohort must receive permission from the Director of Human Resources. The
ETAG applies only to tuition and will result in a $500 tuition charge for each
of the three terms. All other costs will be borne by the student.
(Revised September 2000)
5.9
Tuition waiver exchange programs
Houghton College
participates in several programs whereby dependent children of employees may
receive reduced or free tuition when enrolled in member colleges. The major programs presently available are
for Wesleyan institutions, participating member institutions of the Council for
Christian Colleges and Universities and Tuition Exchange Program (see www.tuitionexchange.org for
participating colleges). Policies for
the programs differ. Persons interested
in applying for tuition waiver should contact the VP for Enrollment Management
for specific details.
The college encourages each faculty member to belong to appropriate professional organizations and to subscribe to scholarly journals in his or her area of teaching expertise. To assist in this, the college will allow up to two memberships/subscriptions and a maximum expenditure equal to 30 percent of the annual travel allowance allocated for each faculty member. The faculty member should pay the membership or subscription fee, then present a receipt or a cancelled check as a basis for reimbursement of fees. However, a faculty member may present a membership form properly filled out to the office of the academic dean so that a college check can be sent with the membership form.
Membership should be restricted to professional organizations that have been established for collegial and scholarly exchange. Similarly subscriptions should be limited to academic journals.
5.11
Professional development/travel
Money may be used for professional development related to the teaching assignments or research interests of the faculty member. Acceptable requests might include but are not limited to: travel to professional conferences, travel for research or course development, books, musical scores, specialized software of a course-specific or research-specific nature, equipment and materials necessary for research, payment to research subjects, and payment to research assistants.
Money may not provide compensation for
individual faculty time expended on development activities.
Each department chair will administer the department budget in collaboration with department faculty. Faculty are expected to submit requests to their respective department chair for the use of funds by March 31. Funds not expended or designated for use by the end of the fiscal year would revert to the FDC for allocation to those requesting funds normally allocated by the FDC.
5.11.1 Travel and expense reports
To prepare your Business
Expense Report, the following procedure should be followed:
1. During the trip, please secure receipts for
each purchase including gasoline (if purchased with cash), hotels/motels,
meals, etc.
2. Attach all of the receipts to the Business
Expense Report, and submit it to your supervisor for approval.
3. Return your approved expense report form (with all receipts attached) to the bank within five days after your return from your trip.
NOTE: When you take a college‑sponsored trip, the bank is able to provide you with a cash advance for your expenses. A second advance will not be issued until the first one has been accounted for.
NOTE: Institutional automobiles are not available for personal use. (See also '3-23, Travel on Behalf of the College.)
The following schedule
of honoraria is designed to help recognize unusual scholarly achievement among
the faculty of Houghton College (up to a maximum of $350 per year).
Book,
solo art show, solo recital.................................................................................................................. $250
Refereed article, invited paper/lecture in discipline..................................................................................
$100
Solo recital, part-time faculty........................................................................................................................ $150
5.13.1 Sundry accounts: Each employee will be assigned a sundry
account number. Typical uses for such
an account include Campus Store charges and rental charges for college
facilities or equipment.
5.13.2 Salary withholding: You may elect to make increased payments
to TIAA/CREF or to make regular gifts to the college (for example, for a
building fund or for scholarships) by having the desired amount withheld from
your paycheck. Specific start and stop
instructions in writing are required.
Also, TIAA disability insurance and second mortgage loan repayment may
be made through salary withholding. No
other allotments are possible.
All faculty members and
spouses should secure photo identification cards from the college post
office. These ID cards will be
necessary for access to recreational facilities, sports events, library
circulation privilege, and for lecture series.
Parents may request ID
cards for their dependent children 7th grade or higher. There is a charge to replace lost ID
cards.
Houghton College operates
a campus store for the convenience of students, faculty, and staff. The campus store handles textbooks as
ordered by faculty, and it also offers for sale other academic and personal
supplies.
Purchases may be charged
by an individual to his or her sundry account, subject to a $6 minimum per
charge transaction.
A ten percent discount
on campus store purchases of $1.00 or more (excluding all textbooks) will be
granted to the following:
1. full‑time
employees of Houghton College and their spouses
2. full‑time faculty and staff of
Houghton Academy (identification card must be shown)
3. pastoral staff of Houghton Wesleyan Church
4. all college
offices and organizations
5. trustees
6. retirees who
have a senior citizen discount card
7. faculty
emeriti
Note: the ten percent
discount does not apply to children
or other dependents of those persons listed above, nor does it apply to other
pastors or to area fire department members.
Also, textbooks for use in regular classes will not be discounted.
5.16
College purchasing services
The Administrative
Services Office has arranged for special employee discounts on a variety of
items. Office supplies, furniture,
computer equipment, mattresses, and cellular phone packages are the current
offerings. Those interested in taking
advantage of these discounts should contact Administrative Services for
purchasing details.
The college urges each employee to discharge his or her civic duty when called upon for jury duty. While an employee is on jury duty, Houghton College will continue the employee's normal scheduled pay during the contract period, provided the employee will give to the college moneys paid by the court for services rendered excluding transportation.
Since the college pays
wages to the employee while on jury duty, the employee is expected to return to
work for any day or part of a day when the jury is not in session.
Houghton College
employees and their immediate families may use library facilities by using
their college identification. Renewals
are subject to recall. Library hours
and other regulations are the same as for students.
On‑campus
mailboxes are provided primarily for intracampus mail. All college employees are strongly
encouraged to use home delivery or village post office boxes for all regular
mail.
5.20
Parking and vehicle registration
All faculty and staff
employees of Houghton College must register all vehicles that will be parked on
the college campus with the Security office and place the permit issued on the
vehicle. A vehicle is properly
registered if the appropriate parking permit (or decal) has been permanently
affixed to the vehicle wherever designated at the time the permit is issued. This should be done at the beginning of
employment or whenever there is a change in vehicle or license.
This permit or decal
will allow each faculty and staff member to park his or her vehicle on campus
in areas marked for faculty and staff parking and in areas designated for 10‑20
minute parking.
From 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday through Friday, staff and faculty may not park in student commuter
parking areas.
Although not posted, the
speed limit on campus reportedly is 20 miles per hour; it is 10 miles per hour
in all parking lots. Citations may be
issued for traffic violations. Traffic
regulations are to be observed by all members of the faculty and staff of
Houghton College.
5.21.1 Maintenance service
The college cannot
furnish services such as those of an electrician, plumber, or carpenter to
faculty and staff members except in matters pertaining to college‑owned
property. No employee should take upon
himself such assignments for personal projects for faculty and staff during
working hours. In cases where
authorization has been made with the vice president for finance and cleared
with the superintendent of buildings and grounds to perform work for faculty
and staff, there will be a charge for this service. The billing will include actual cost (including labor) plus a
five percent administrative charge.
5.21.2 Ambulance service
(Note: This is not a college service)
Ambulance service in the
Houghton community area is furnished by the Houghton Volunteer Fire Department
to bill for these services. Therefore,
Houghton residents who share in the benefit of this service should contribute
to the organization.
During the academic
year, the Physical Education Center is normally open from 7 a.m. until midnight
on weekdays and from 2:00 until 5:00 p.m. on Sundays. Faculty and staff with Houghton identification cards (see Item
5.14) and their guests may use the Nielsen Physical Education Center and other
athletic facilities according to current restrictions and regulations.
The Nielsen Physical
Education Center, tennis courts, ski slopes, and cross‑country course are
available for faculty and staff when not in use by college classes. Ski equipment may be rented for a nominal
fee. The racquetball courts, the pool,
and one basketball court will be open for exclusive faculty‑staff use
from 11:45 a.m. until 1:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Please consult the Physical Education
Department for specific regulations governing these areas.
Appropriate, modest
athletic wear is required for participation in athletic activities. Also, eye guards are mandatory for all
racquetball players.
Children under 12 must
be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian, except for designated special
programs. Also, children 12 years old
and older are not entitled to bring a guest unless accompanied by a
parent.
5.23
Use and reservation of facilities and equipment
5.23.1 Facilities
Faculty and staff who
desire to use college facilities for special events such as weddings,
anniversary celebrations, or other special activities or conventions should
make arrangements through the conference director. Arrangements should be made well in advance. A nominal fee for the use of the college
facility will be charged to the employee.
5.23.2 Equipment
The college, as a
general policy, cannot make its equipment available to faculty and staff
members for personal use. The inventory of equipment is not sufficient to
permit this type of service. These
items are not for personal use and must be available to the people who use this
equipment as part of their daily work.
In some cases, a limited
rental service may be granted if prior arrangements have been made with the
superintendent of buildings and grounds and the vice president for
finance. Where such equipment needs an
operator, a rental charge will be made for the equipment as well as for the
time of the college operator.
College instructional
equipment may be used only by the faculty, administration, and college
organizations for college‑sponsored purposes. Off‑campus use is limited to the college Public Relations
Program, to Houghton Church classes under supervision of the Christian
Education Dept., and to the Houghton Volunteer Fire Dept.