NEIUPI

We are once again in an open enrollment period for the UPI Sick Leave Bank. During the last enrollment period, we had almost 100 members join. This is a good start, but there are over 500 union members who are eligible to join the bank.

The deadline for submitting an application to join is May 18 at 4pm. Forms need to be at human resources by 4pm or they will not be accepted.

To be able to join the Bank, you need to have 12 sick days (90 hours) of saved sick leave at the time of donation. If you elect to donate, 2 days will be taken from your sick leave and placed in the bank. Unlike the last enrollment period, there is no option to donate additional days to the bank.

To join, fill out the Enrollment Form available on the NEIUPI website Sick Leave Bank page and send it to Human Resources, preferably through campus mail, or through USPS at the address below.

If you are already enrolled, you will automatically have one day donated to the bank at the end of June.

If you wish to be removed from the bank, fill out the Discontinuation Form (again, available on the NEIUPI website Sick Leave Bank page) and no further days will be taken.

Anyone wishing to apply to take days from the bank must fill out the Member Request Form, and send it to Human Resources. Days can only be allocated from the bank if you have used all available leave time.

If mailing from home, send to:
Office of Human Resources
Northeastern Illinois University
5555 N Bernard
Chicago IL 60506

Make sure that you send the form early enough that it will arrive at the office by May 18th!

Yes! The waiver is saved. The bill to repeal the 50% tuition waiver for university employees was defeated tonight 26 in favor of the repeal to 75 opposed to the repeal. A great victory! Your phone calls, emails and personal visits convinced the majority of Illinois House members that this was not the cost saving measure it was purported to be.

We won’t need to initiate the postcard campaign so no UPI tables in Village Square. Thanks to all who signed up. Remember the next focus for the General Assembly is our pensions.

Illinois Bill Would End a Prized Perk: Tuition Discounts for Faculty and Staff

By Sara Hebel

Illinois lawmakers are weighing whether to eliminate a faculty benefit that is highly prized by many professors and other university employees: tuition discounts for their children.

The legislation, which has passed a House committee and is now pending before Illinois’ full House of Representatives, would get rid of the benefit, which allows faculty and staff members who have been employed at Illinois public universities for at least seven years to receive half-price tuition for their children. Each year, more than 2,000 students take advantage of the discount, costing the state about $8-million, according to the University of Illinois.

Read more at The Chronicle…

Please find the message from John Miller, the UPI Legislative Chair, about pending legislative actions that may remove the 50% tuition waiver benefit for all university employees. It will affect all NEIU employees so it is important to share this with all members of our community. Here’s the message and requested actions to be taken:

Greetings everyone,
Today, we are asking you to:

1. Call your State Representative
2. “Like” the Save our Waivers Facebook page
3. Share this message with your colleagues at your home institution and across the state.

As you may be aware, HB 5531 is scheduled to be called in the House’s Executive Committee on Wednesday, Feb. 29. This bill “repeals provisions that permit the children of employees of a state university who have been employed by any one or by more than one state university for an aggregate period of at least seven years to receive a 50% tuition waiver. Effective immediately.” I cannot emphasize enough how important this benefit is to many of our members and colleagues across the state. Over the last several weeks, I have received many messages from university employees explaining how their children would not be able to attend a state university without the assistance of this benefit. Additionally, several faculty and staff indicated that they would consider employment at other universities outside of the state if this benefit is repealed. For the sake of our children, our colleagues,and for the quality of public higher education in the state of Illinois, we need to act, now.

The General Assembly is not is session on Monday. This is the perfect day to call your state representative at his or her home district office and ask them to contact the members on the House Executive Committee to vote NO on HB 5531. Our message is very simple:
1. Ask your state representative to please contact members of the House’s Executive Committee to vote NO on HB 5531.
2. Tuition waivers are an inexpensive yet important benefit for state university employees.
3. Tuition waivers help keep our kids in Illinois state universities instead of looking out of state where we can also get in-state tuition rates.
4. Tuition waivers help attract and retain quality faculty and staff at our state universities.
5. Ending the tuition waiver violates an agreement the state made with its employees. Many of us are counting on this benefit to send our own kids to an Illinois state university and will have no means of sending them to school if the state repeals this benefit.

Remember,when contacting your State Representative, please be polite and positive and use your personal phone or email. The person who is answering the phone is working for a living just like you and I. We need their support and a positive and pleasant manner goes a long way. After all, they will be receiving lots of phone calls on this issue today if we all take just a view minutes.

Not sure how to get in contact with your State Representative? It is easy. The Illinois State Board of Elections has a great resource to help you find both the phone number and email address. Remember, try to call your Representative in his or her home district office on Monday. After Monday, you should call his or her Springfield number.

Click Here to Find Your State Representative and Contact Information.

After you have finished calling your state representative, join our Facebook page. Let us know why the tuition waiver is important to you. Also, let us know how your State Representative responded to your message.

Click Here to Join our Save Our Waivers Facebook Page.

Finally,we cannot win this issue alone. We need as many people to call, email and to join our Facebook page. Besides forwarding this to your colleagues regardless of their position at the university, also “Share” our Facebook page. The more people who get involved, the stronger our voice will be.

Monday is only step one of our campaign. On Tuesday and Wednesday we will send a new email message to ask you to contact member of the House’s Executive Committee directly.

Thank you for your support and action.

If you are planning to retire within the next five years and are making that decision using the Money Purchase calculation option, please be aware of a significant change that will become effective this July. A description of the change and how it may affect your retirement plans appears below. Similar information was sent last semester when we learned of these changes and a SURS rep visited campus. If you retire before July 2012, your annuity will not be reduced but if you plan to retire after that date and within the next five years be sure to read the information below.

New Money Purchase Factors Effective Date Set

At its meeting on June 10, 2011, the SURS Board of Trustees set the effective date of the Money Purchase factor changes as July 2, 2012.The changes to the Money Purchase factors are a result of a recent actuarial experience study which recommended a reduction of the assumed rate of investment return and updated the mortality tables due to increased life expectancy.

When SURS calculates a retirement benefit, all eligible calculation types are performed and the annuity is based on the calculation that provides the highest benefit. For individuals retiring after July 2, 2012, the change in Money Purchase factors will result in an approximately 8 percent downward adjustment in the annuity if the Money Purchase calculation is higher than the General Formula calculation.

Members can offset the adjustment by delaying retirement by approximately 10 to 11 months for active participants and 12 to 14 months for inactive participants.

The changes to the Money Purchase factors will not affect:

• Current annuitants

• Self-Managed Plan members

• Members who began participation on or after July 1, 2005

• Members whose benefit is highest under
the General Formula calculation

• Members who are more than five years away from retirement

Retirement calculations are unique to each individual member.

For this reason, SURS encourages all members who might be affected by the Money Purchase factor changes to log on to their account on the SURS Member Website.You can gain a clearer picture of how the factor changes will impact your benefits by performing estimates for retirement dates before and after the July 2, 2012, effective date and then comparing the results.

For more information, visit www.surs.org and click on the Videos tab to access an informational video about the Money Purchase factor changes.

from SURS Advocate, December 2011