Employee Support

Prospective Employees

Find out how the benefits package helps makes the Â鶹´«Ã½ a great place to work!

 
 

Prospective Employees

Considering working with the Â鶹´«Ã½? Come find out what makes Â鶹´«Ã½ a great place to work!

Enrollment Guide

The Enrollment Guide provides more detail on

  • Health Care Coverages
  • Insurances
  • Employee Wellness & Support.

Questions?
If there are questions on the benefits provided below, please reach out to Â鶹´«Ã½ Benefits at ua-benefits@alaska.edu or (907) 450-8242.

Table of Contents

Temporary Employees
Temporary employees should review our temporary employee page for detailed information on what benefits are available and when.

 


Health Care Coverages

The University has the following options for medical, dental, and vision coverage:

Medical Plans

  1. Premium medical 
  2. Basic medical
  3. HDHP
  4. Opt-out (if have coverage elsewhere)

Dental Plans

  1. Premium dental
  2. Basic dental
  3. Opt out

Vision Plans

  1. Vision
  2. Opt out

Eligibility
All benefit-eligible employees who are working at least 20 hours per week can enroll themselves, their spouse/Financially Interdependent Partner (FIP), and their children in any combination of medical, dental, and vision.  (A FIP is a non-married spouse is defined by the  FIP Explanation Document and requires the Statement of Financial Interdependence (FIPs) to be completed. Covered FIPs and covered children of FIPs are a post-tax benefit.)

Enrolling in Coverage
New benefit-eligible employees have 30 days after their first day of employment to enroll in medical, dental, or vision. They can also choose to opt out. Forms and information are provided to new employees from our benefits department.

Coverage Begins
Coverage can begin on an employee's first day of work as long as the enrollment form is submitted by 5:00pm on the Thursday immediately prior to the end of their first pay period. Forms submitted after the first pay period, but within the 30 day requirement, will have coverage start on the first day of the pay period in which the form is submitted.

Additional Premera Programs
The Â鶹´«Ã½ - in partnership with Premera - offers multiple other benefits including  telehealth providers; mental and behavioral health with TalkSpace and BrightLine; Livongo for diabetes, hypertension, and weight management; BoulderCare for opioid use insurance; traveling for certain health care services, and more!

TouchCare
The Â鶹´«Ã½ has partnered with TouchCare to answer all your health care questions. Whether you are needing need more clarification on the plans, help picking the best plan for you, or an advocate in your corner when you receive a bill you think may be in error - TouchCare is here for you!

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) and Health Savings Accounts (HSA)
The University of Alaska provides FSA and HSAs to qualified benefit eligible employees.

1. Health Care FSA (HC FSA) for medical charges
2. Dependent Care FSA (DC FSA) for daycare charges
3. Limited Purpose FSA (LP FSA) for dental and vision charges in conjunction with an HSA
4. HSA with a qualified HDHP

 

Retirement

The Â鶹´«Ã½ has the following retirement account options for employees depending on the nature of their position and past service with the University or the State of Alaska:

Required Retirement Accounts

1. Staff - Public Employees Retirement System (PERS)
2. Faculty - Teachers Retirement System (TRS)
3. Executives / Faculty - Optional Retirement Plan (ORP)*

*Staff may be eligible if previously worked at Â鶹´«Ã½ while contributing to the ORP.

Â鶹´«Ã½ Pension Plan*

The Â鶹´«Ã½ contributes 7.65% of an employee's salary (up to $52,000 maximum salary) each year. This account is made up of employer contributions only (no employee contributions). 


*Not applicable for all employees

Voluntary Retirement Accounts

1. Tax-deferred 403(b)
2. Roth 403(b)
3. 457(b) - executives only

These accounts are made up of employee contributions only.


Insurances

The Â鶹´«Ã½ offers the following insurance account options for employees depending on their needs:

 

Life Insurance (Securian)

Basic Life Insurance
Provided at no cost to the employee to cover the employee in the amount of $100,000.

Supplemental Life Insurance
Available for purchase through post-tax payroll deduction. Covers the employee's choice of self, spouse/Financially Interdependent Partner (FIP) and/or children.

Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D)
Available for purchase through post-tax payroll deduction. Covers the employee's choice of self-only or family.

MASA Air and Ground Ambulance

The Â鶹´«Ã½ partners with MASA to provide employees with supplemental emergency air and ground transportation through MASA. This is a unique plan built for Â鶹´«Ã½ employees that covers emergency transportation reimbursement along with an indemnity plan.

Benefit Enhancement Program - Powered by Corestream

The Benefit Enhancement Program - Powered by Corestream provides discounts to Â鶹´«Ã½ employees for Hospital Indemnity Insurance, Identity Theft Insurance, Legal Insurance, and Pet Insurance.

 


Employee Wellness & Support

 

Wellness Program

The Â鶹´«Ã½ provides a Wellness Program for employees and their spouses/Financially Interdependent Partners (FIPs) to earn money back on their medical premiums. Employees and their spouses/FIPs are eligible for up to a $600 rebate each if the program is completed individually.

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

The Â鶹´«Ã½ offers an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) through ComPsych. These benefits include short term counseling, career development, and more. Services are typically free of charge and the EAP extends to any member of an employee's family living in their household. 

LifeWorks (Securian)

LifeWorks is provided through Securian, the Â鶹´«Ã½'s Life Insurance vendor, and provides legal counseling, grief counseling, and more. Many of these benefits are free of charge or provided at a reduced rate.

 

 

Time Off

 

Â鶹´«Ã½ Paid Holidays

  • 12 paid holidays each calendar year
  • Observes a hard closure during the business days between Christmas and New Years (unpaid)
  • Covers employee salary when serving on Jury Duty (separate from employee leave banks)
  • Provides up to 16.5 days of paid leave for Military Leave (separate from employee leave banks)

Annual Leave

Staff begin accruing annual leave immediately at 5.54 hours per pay period with a cap of 240 hours per fiscal year. One personal holiday per fiscal year is also awarded after the employee's first 6 months.

 

Faculty Time Off (FTO)

Eligible faculty typically receive 120 hours of Faculty Time Off (FTO) each academic year. This information is outlined in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and appointment letter.

 

Sick Leave

Both faculty and staff will begin accruing sick leave immediately at 4.62 hours per pay period. There is no cap on sick leave accrual and there is no monetary value.

 

 

 

Medical Leave

 

Family Medical Leave (FML)

Family Medical Leave (FML) provides unpaid job protected leave for employees who need to be absent for their own serious health condition or to care for an immediate family member with a serious health condition.

 

Paid Parental Leave

Employees who are welcoming a new addition to their family may be eligible for Â鶹´«Ã½'s parental leave. Parental leave offers 5 days of paid leave in the first 6 months after birth or adoption/placement as long as the parent is on FML.

 

Short-term and Long-term Disability (Unum)

The Â鶹´«Ã½ provides both Short-term and Long-term Disability to all benefit-eligible employees at no charge. This helps cover lost wages due to a serious health conditions that keeps employees from working.

Leave Share Program

The Leave Share Program allows employees to donate their sick leave to another employee who is on approved Family Medical Leave (FML) and is experiencing leave without pay.

 

 

 

Education Benefits

 

Tuition Waiver

The tuition waiver is available to all employees immediately, as long as they are employed as of the first day of instruction. Employees can take 8 credits per semester, 16 per year. Dependent children (under the age of 24) and spouses/FIPs receive the tuition waiver with no cap on credits. The tuition waiver can be used at any Â鶹´«Ã½ campus.

Alaska529

The Â鶹´«Ã½ provides payroll deduction support for employees who wish to open an Alaska529 account to save pre-tax dollars for education purposes.

Sabbatical Leave

Sabbatical leave is available to faculty to enrich their studies.