Healthcare/Retirement

As a full-time or part-time employee of Connecticut State University, you are entitled to a variety of benefits. If you have any questions about these benefits, please contact your Human Resources office.

• Medical Insurance: For a summary of the health care options provided to CSU employees, please visit the State Comptroller’s website. The open enrollment period is typically during the month of May, at which time you can change your health insurance. Please note that if there has been a life-altering event, such as your spouse losing their job, you will be able to make changes to your health insurance plan outside of the open enrollment period.
• The Health Enhancement Plan (HEP): The Health Enhancement Program (HEP), approved by the CSU-AAUP members as part of the SEBAC 2011 Agreement, is designed to make sure people have the information they need to make decisions that can improve their health ‐‐ decisions that can save their lives. It will save money for the state and for state employees, who pay about 14 percent of the state’s healthcare costs through their premium shares, by focusing on healthcare prevention. For more information on the HEP and to set up your own personal HEP account, click here.
• State Employees Retirement System (SERS): As a Connecticut state employee hired to teach in higher education, you may choose membership in one of four retirement plans. For detailed information on the various plans available to you, please visit the State Comptroller’s website.
• Alternate Retirement Plan (ARP): The Alternate Retirement Program (ARP) requires full-time and part-time faculty to contribute 6.5% of their salaries to a pension plan, while the state contributes 6.5% to the plan. There are currently 24 funds available for investment purposes. For more information, please visit the State of Connecticut’s Defined Contribution Plans website.  For a comparison of all the available retirement plans, please see here.
• Hybrid Retirement Plan: SEBAC 2011 created a new Hybrid retirement plan option for professional employees of Higher Education institutions. The plan was created by Paragraph II.C. 7 of the Agreement. Click here to read more.

Reassigned Time

Reassigned time may be given for curriculum development, faculty development and instructional enhancement (Article 10.6.5), department administration (Article 10.6.1), administrative and quasi-administrative duties (Article 10.6.2), research (Article 10.6.4), supported research (Article 10.10), and grants with outside agencies (Article 10.11). See the below Contract articles for additional information.

10.6.1 Departments shall receive load credit for administrative responsibilities under the following formula:

(Full-time equivalent (FTE) department members shall be determined by adding the number of active full-time members of the department on the date specified in Article 12.2.2 and the average number of full-time equivalent part-time members during the fall and spring semesters of the previous academic year.)

Such load credits shall normally be assigned to the department chairperson, but may be assigned to other department members with the approval of the appropriate Dean.

Because chairpersons and others who are allocated reassigned time during the academic year for departmental administration have a continuing responsibility, both within and outside of the academic year for department business, the parties agree that ten-month chairpersons shall receive compensation as specified in Article 12.5.5. It is the expectation of the parties that in any significant absence of a department chairperson the chair stipend may be assigned, with the concurrence of the Dean, to an acting chairperson(s), as necessary, at the beginning of the nearest applicable biweekly pay period.

10.6.2 Load Credit for Non-Instructional Work

Additional non-instructional load credit for administrative and quasi-administrative duties performed by full-time members may be assigned by the President or designee. Such designation should follow departmental consultation. In each instance, a written description of the assignment and its duration, including the amount of reassigned load credit, shall be made with copies provided to the member, the chair of the affected department, and CSU-AAUP. Any in-house title attached to such assignment must carry the approval of the President, or designee, prior to use.

10.6.4 Reassigned Time for Research

At the discretion of the President or designee following an advisory system established by the Chief Academic Officer, full-time members may be awarded reassigned time for research purposes or for supplementary laboratory credit of up to one quarter (1/4) load credit for each class hour of each laboratory selected. Total allocations for research shall be no less than sixty percent (60%) of the minimum credits allocated and for supplementary laboratory credit, no less than twenty-five percent (25%).

Load credits allocated for this purpose shall be no less than:

10.6.5 Reassigned Time for Curriculum Development, Faculty Development, and Instructional Enhancement

At the discretion of the President or designee, full-time members may be awarded reassigned time for curriculum development, faculty development, or instructional enhancement. The following are the definitions for each of these categories:

Faculty Development – workshop, symposium, conference, acquiring new skills related to discipline or necessary for new technology, licensing, certification.

Curriculum – academic program review, revision of majors, work on interdisciplinary programs, major revision of courses, creation of new courses, program academic development, transition of curriculum to new technologies, workshops on instructional matters (internal), program accreditation.

Instructional Enhancement – theatre/show/radio station/planetarium/ studio/weather center direction, team teaching coordination, publication editor, honors program direction, academic program/center/institute direction and coordination, grants coordination, field experience coordination, advisement center direction, Graduate Council, coordinating majors, adaptive technology supervision, coordination of student teaching supervision, academic grant development or administration.

Load credits allocated for these purposes shall be no less than:

10.10 Reassigned Time for Supported Research

Reassigned time for supported research may be in the amount of one (1) load credit for each $1,000 of indirect cost funds generated by the research up to a maximum of nine (9) load credits of reassigned time per semester except where granting agencies or similar agents require greater reassigned time as a condition of consideration in the grant proposal and for which the institution has agreed and for which it is compensated. Such reassigned time may be used to fulfill the matching funds requirement as now stipulated by many granting agencies. However, reassigned time may be granted by the appropriate academic Dean after consultation with the department chairperson in support of otherwise non-supported research.

10.11 Grants with Outside Agencies

During the fall and spring semesters, outside agencies may purchase up to nine (9) load credits of a full-time member’s workload, except where granting agencies or similar agents require greater purchased time as a condition of consideration in the grant or contract proposal to which the institution has agreed and for which it is compensated.

Internal Grants/Funding

University Research Grants: Proposals that enhance the educational mission, visibility, and research stature of Connecticut State University will be considered for university research grant funds. Eligibility: Permanent, full-time faculty who remain on the faculty for the duration of the grant-supported activity are eligible, including faculty on sabbatical leave. However, faculty on unpaid leave are not eligible. Purpose: Research is defined as any scholarship activity which results in one or more of the following: 1) the creation of new knowledge in a particular discipline, including making connections across traditional fields (i.e. multidisciplinary research); 2) the application of disciplinary/multidisciplinary knowledge, methodologies and/or insights to problems of individuals or groups in the broader society; 3) the production of creative works in the arts; and 4) research in student learning for a particular discipline or area of learning. Funding limits: Awards are limited to $5,000 per faculty member. The budget must justify and show the relationship of budget items to proposed activities.  Legitimate budget items include: faculty stipend, support services, supplies and equipment, and travel.  If a stipend for the applicant is part of the budget, the contractual limit of $2,500 per applicant for the stipend includes the total of salary and normal fringe payments (before tax withholding) as needed. Deadline: Proposals are due on February 1 at 5pm.

Full-time Faculty Development Grants: As described in Article 9.6 of the CSU-AAUP Collective Bargaining Agreement, funds are allocated for faculty development defined as, “activities by and for members that enhance their ability to be productive and innovative professionals”. Eligibility: Individual full-time faculty members, groups of faculty members working within departments or interdepartmental programs, and groups of faculty organized to address issues of broad departmental, school or university impact. Please be aware that an individual faculty member or a departmental level or institution-wide level project will be eligible to receive only one award from the funds available for the 2007-08 funding period. Purpose: Disseminating and promulgating creative activities appropriate to one’s field/discipline, taking courses/or attending conferences, workshops, seminars relevant to one’s field/discipline, hiring consultants/speakers with specific expertise, and engaging in activities which contribute to the acquisition of materials, development and extension of skills related to teaching, scholarship and professional service. Funding limits: None. Deadline: Please contact your local campus for deadlines. Summer Curriculum Grants: As described in Article 9.11 of the CSU-AAUP Collective Bargaining Agreement, funds are allocated for curriculum related activities performed by full-time members during the summer.  These activities should go beyond the normal effort involved in course preparation. Eligibility: Proposals are accepted from individual faculty members, groups of faculty members with common interests and departments. Purpose: Priority will be given to departments and individuals who focus on one or more of the following: innovative curriculum development and the application of new pedagogical approaches; innovative course delivery or course structures, such as on-line courses or courses offered in a Friday/Saturday format; integration of effective assessment into course or program design that supports departmental and institutional assessment goals; development of capstone courses and/or interdisciplinary/integrative courses; and program development in existing or new majors and/or specializations that integrate critical thinking, writing across the discipline, or civic engagement. Funding limits: None. Deadline: Please contact your local campus for deadlines.