The Chronicle of Higher Education

By Jennifer Ruark

Las Vegas

Now is an ideal time for colleges and universities to increase employee benefits, according to several administrators and consultants speaking here this week at the national meeting of the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources.

Had the bright Las Vegas lights and the ringing of nearby slot machines temporarily made them forget the recession? To the contrary, the tough budget climate was very much on their minds, and they argued that economics make it essential to expand benefits like wellness programs, flexible work schedules, and professional-development training. Not only can institutions save money on health insurance by offering such programs, the speakers said, but they can also attract and retain the best employees, and make them more effective at work.

“Healthy employees are happy and productive,” said Wade Larson, human-resources director at North Idaho College. Mr. Larson described how a wellness program instituted at the small community college had in just one year saved it half a million dollars in employee benefits—a real boon for a college that lost $2-million in state support this fiscal year. At the same time, with salaries frozen, the program increased benefits for the roughly 500 employees eligible for them.

View full text at http://chronicle.com/article/In-Hard-Times-It-Pays-to/48883/

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