University President Dan Mote has requested that the Board of Regents allow this university to extend health and tuition remission benefits to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees’ domestic partners out of the university’s own pocket.
The request comes after years of disagreement between the regents, who govern the University System of Maryland’s 11 colleges and universities, and officials at this university, who say the lack of domestic partner benefits puts this institution at a disadvantage to more progressive – and increasingly competitive – universities. Fifty of the 60 member institutions of the Association of American Universities offer similar domestic partner benefits.
Although the national debate over gay marriage, domestic partners and LGBT equity is not new, Mote’s request marks the first time the university has offered a financially backed alternative that breaks from domestic partner policies the regents have traditionally supported.
“As an institution, I think we are ready to say this is an important enough issue for us that we will manage it financially one way or another,” said Ann Wylie, Mote’s chief of staff. “We decided that it was a good time just to force the issue, so to speak. Just to say, ‘Let us do this.'”
By taking the financial burden of offering benefits to domestic partners, and by limiting the recommendations’ scope to the College Park campus, officials here hope to answer the regents’ two major arguments: costs and disagreement among other institutions in the system.
Extending health benefits is estimated to cost about $770,000, Wylie said. Dale Anderson, a member of a working group that studied the issue and drafted the request placed by Mote, said on average, 1.5 percent of employees at other universities sign up for the benefits when they are offered.
The group Anderson was a member of was formed after a 2005 report studying how LGBT faculty and staff feel about the campus climate found concerns regarding domestic partner benefits.
Without health benefits for unmarried partners, faculty and staff can be subject to overwhelming financial burdens associated with health care. The report also found there was a sense of discrimination against LGBT staff members, who weren’t receiving the same benefits as married faculty and staff. Domestic partner benefits also apply to heterosexual couples who choose not to marry.
“[The report] made it sort of clear that it is strongly felt by the vast majority that this was something that matters to our community, and that it’s the largest single issue of concern among faculty and staff,” Wylie said.
It’s still unclear how the regents will respond to the university’s request. In a recent interview, regents Chairman Cliff Kendall said domestic partner benefits were already going to come before the board for reevaluation soon, but he wasn’t sure exactly when.
“I think it will come up again in the near future if it’s not on the next agenda,” Kendall said. He couldn’t immediately be reached for comment yesterday regarding Mote’s request, which was made last week to system Chancellor Brit Kirwan.
Kendall did say, however, that the regents consider the opinions of Mote and Kirwan – both of whom are in support of extending benefits – “very important” when making their decisions, and that university officials’ support of domestic partner benefits will be considered “very carefully.”
What that and the recent recommendations will mean for the future of domestic partner benefits at the university is unclear. But, with four new regents appointed by Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley now sitting on the board, the regents’ promise to re-address the structure of university benefits and the university’s willingness to take on the financial burden associated with those benefits is bringing hope to many university officials.
“I’m hoping that our desire and our clear commitment to this will assist in us getting these benefits,” Wylie said. “[The lack of benefits] isn’t consistent with our commitment to diversity and everything we stand for. We’ve made a name for the importance of diversity in our community and this is a glaring omission.”
Elsewhere in the state, a bill sponsored by Del. Heather Mizeur (D-Montgomery) that will require insurance companies to write policies for domestic partner benefits if an employer requests them has been passed by both the House and the Senate. It is currently awaiting the governor’s signature.
Contact reporter Kevin Rector at rectordbk@gmail.com.
