Dear faculty colleagues:
On March 10, 2021, we received a communication from the H&S Faculty Senate requesting additional benefits and considerations for faculty and staff who may be impacted as part of our transformation to a more sustainable institution for our current and future IC community. This request was subsequently supported by Faculty Council, and we write today to respond to these requests. We share your desire to support our colleagues who may be impacted and are committed to taking meaningful action where possible. Below is an outline of our current benefit policies, as well as some adjustments we have made in support of this goal.
1. Educational BenefitsOur current policy provides for an eligible employee, or that employee’s dependents who are receiving educational benefits at the time of the employee’s termination, to continue to receive those benefits through May 31 of the academic year following the employee’s termination date. Currently, an employee who is enrolled as a student under the Tuition Remission Program at the time of furlough may enroll for a final total of up to 8 credits through the end of the academic year in which that employee was terminated. To minimize disruption to our impacted students’ academic goals, we will now expand this benefit as follows, for the period of January 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022: - Any employee who receives notice of involuntary termination or non-reappointment during this period and who has a dependent currently enrolled at Ithaca College at the date of their termination will continue to receive the tuition remission benefit for the duration of their dependents’ enrollment at Ithaca College, not to exceed 8 semesters of total enrollment. Please note that once an individual is no longer an employee of Ithaca College, this benefit may be considered taxable income in which case the individual may be responsible to report it as such to the IRS and pay applicable taxes.
- For the period of January 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022, any employee enrolled as a student under the Tuition Remission Program who receives notice of involuntary termination or non-reappointment during this period may enroll under the Tuition Remission program for a final total of 8 credits through the end of the semester during which the termination date occurred AND an additional total of 8 credits during the academic year following the termination date. Please note that once an individual is no longer an employee of Ithaca College, this benefit may be considered taxable income and the individual will be responsible to report it as such to the IRS and pay applicable taxes.
- If an employee is currently enrolled in a program in which they are working to complete their first Bachelor’s degree and they require additional semesters to complete their degree, they may petition Human Resources for an exception to continue enrollment through the completion of their degree.
Please be sure to consult the Human Resources website for further details regarding the College’s educational benefit programs.
2. Computer account access and other professional development needsFor the period of January 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022, the College will expand netpass, email, and library privileges for non-unionized faculty to a total of 12 months of additional access following the date of their termination. Contingent faculty are represented by a union and the College is addressing requests of the union separately as it is obligated to do by federal law. Unfortunately, we are not able to extend the same privileges to staff, as they are subject to the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Under the FLSA, if an employee is allowed to work by representing the college, by either initiating or responding to emails from a college account, we are obliged to pay that individual for time worked. As the individual’s employment would have been terminated, this results in unacceptable administrative burden and legal liability. We will be exploring the possibility of developing an “affiliated scholar” status but it will take several months to develop policies and configure our systems accordingly to handle the additional status; therefore, it is impracticable to consider in the current timeframe of requested needs. Terminated faculty and staff will continue to have access to college facilities that are afforded to all local Ithaca community members in accordance with our policies.
3. Further professional development assistanceAll faculty and staff who are involuntarily separated from the College have free access to job search and retraining assistance through Express Employment Professionals and Workforce NY. Unfortunately, the College does not have existing staff or budget to support any additional initiatives at this time. As vacancies at the College become available, we are actively reaching out to faculty and staff who may have been impacted by furloughs or layoffs to be considered to fill these positions if they meet the minimum requirements.
4. NTEN Faculty rehiring
As a recipient of federal funds, Ithaca College is obliged under Affirmative Action guidelines to conduct searches for vacant positions, unless they meet very strict criteria for a search waiver. The Office of Human Resources will work to expedite searches and hires for open positions. Faculty who have previously taught at Ithaca College may be excellent candidates for open positions, but it is important to understand that the College cannot guarantee preferential treatment for faculty who have not been reappointed.
We appreciate the input provided by the faculty and have worked hard to meet as many of your expressed needs as possible given these unique circumstances. While we are limited by laws, regulations, budget, and administrative burden in what we can offer during this time of transition, we have made every effort possible to support the valued faculty and staff members who have served Ithaca College so well.
Sincerely,
La Jerne Terry Cornish, Ph.D.
Provost and Senior Vice President, Academic Affairs
Hayley Harris
Vice President of Human Resources and Planning
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