Benefits Eligibility and Enrollment Information for New IUP Faculty

Tenure-Track Faculty Members:

• Tenure-track faculty members are eligible for enrollment in the State System's Health Care Coverage, Retirement Program, University Paid Life Insurance, and other voluntary benefit programs. For the 2024–25 academic year, benefits will begin on August 24, 2024.

Temporary Faculty Members

• Temporary faculty members with an appointment of 12 credits for both semesters of the academic year are eligible for enrollment in the State System's Health Care Program at the full-time employee cost (18 percent of the health care premium), Retirement Program (mandatory enrollment), and other voluntary benefit programs. 
• Temporary faculty members with an appointment of less than 12 credits but at least six credits for both semesters of the academic year are eligible for enrollment in the State System's Health Care Program at the part-time employee cost (57.5 percent of the health care premium), Retirement Program (mandatory enrollment), and other voluntary benefit programs.
• Temporary faculty members with an appointment of less than a full academic year, or, with an appointment of less than six credits for either semester of the academic year, are not eligible for enrollment in the State System's Health Care Program or the other voluntary benefit programs offered. However, in some situations, faculty members may be eligible for enrollment in the retirement program and/or health care coverage under the State System's ACA Program. If eligible, these faculty members will receive written notification of eligibility and information on plan options.

Here is detailed information on your benefit options:

• Medical/Dental/Rx/Vision
• University Paid Group Life Insurance - only applies to Tenure Track Faculty
• Retirement and Savings Plans
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• Voluntary Long Term Disability Insurance
• Voluntary Group Life and Personal Accident Insurance

Tenure-Track Faculty Members:

Use this worksheet, Benefits Enrollment Worksheet for Tenure-Track Faculty Members, to keep track of your benefit elections and to gather all the information you will need to enroll in benefits through Employee Self-Service (ESS). 

Temporary Faculty Members

Use this worksheet, Benefits Enrollment Worksheet for Temporary Faculty Members, to keep track of your benefit elections and to gather all the information you will need to enroll in benefits through Employee Self-Service (ESS).

As a new hire, your initial benefits enrollment period is 30 days following your eligibility date or September 23, 2024, for faculty hired for the 2024 fall semester. Following this initial enrollment period, you may only make changes (adding/removing dependents) to your health and prescription drug coverage during the annual health care open enrollment or within 60 days of a qualifying event.

Enroll in benefit programs through Employee Self-Service (ESS):

Please note that you will not be able to access your Employee Self-Service (ESS) account until on or after your eligibility date of August 24, 2024, for the fall semester. All benefit elections made within your initial enrollment period will be retroactive to your eligibility date.

If you are unable to enroll in your benefit elections using ESS, please email the benefit-services@iup.edu.

To access ESS, Next, select Indiana University of PA - MFA from the dropdown box, then click Continue. When the IUP Single Sign On page appears, enter your IUP network credentials. If you are already signed in to another Single Sign On service such as MyIUP, D2L, or IUP email, you will be automatically signed in to ESS after choosing Indiana University of PA.

Once your ESS Account is set up, log into ESS and select My First Days to enroll in the following benefit programs:

• Mandatory Enrollment:
  • Retirement Plan
• Optional Enrollments:
  • Health and Prescription Drug Coverage
  • Flexible Spending Accounts
  • Voluntary Group Life and Personal Accident Insurance
  • Voluntary Long Term Disability Insurance
• Automatic Enrollment for Tenure Track Faculty only:
  • University Paid Basic Group Life Insurance

If you are adding dependents to your healthcare coverage, additional original documentation is required and may be scanned/emailed to benefit-services@iup.edu, or mail copies to the Office of Human Resources, Sutton Hall, Room G8, within 60 days of the enrollment start date.

Before enrolling in health care coverage, carefully review the State System Health Care Eligibility Rules for Spouses and Dependents. New faculty members can enroll their spouse/same-sex domestic partners on their health care coverage; however, if the spouse/same-sex domestic partner is eligible for health care coverage through his/her employer, they must also be enrolled in their employer's plan regardless of the cost.

The Pennsylvania Faculty Health and Welfare Fund provides vision and dental benefits to faculty members. Enrollment in these benefits must be done directly through the Fund.

The VGLIP and LTD programs are fully employee-paid. The cost for VGLIP is determined by the employee's or spouse's age, amount of coverage elected, and tobacco usage (see cost calculator in Step 3 above). The cost for LTD is determined by your annual salary and the waiting period option you elect (see cost calculator in Step 3 above).

The guaranteed coverage amounts only apply if enrolling within the initial benefits enrollment period. After the initial benefits enrollment period, if you apply for coverage the guaranteed coverage amounts will not apply and coverage will not be issued until the insurer approves acceptable evidence of good health, which requires the completion of a medical history statement and could include a paramedical exam or physician's statement.

Benefit deductions cannot begin until enrollments are completed. If enrollment is completed following the conclusion of the first pay cycle of the academic year, retroactive contributions may be required.
Faculty pay schedule for 2024–25