November 26, 2002

"Dramatic" Health Insurance Change

News from China

Loretto Hall Reinvented

Where Do You Eat Lunch?

Webster Voices

Library Holiday Hours

Featured Faculty

Kampus Kudos

St. Louis Calendar Highlight

Employee of the Month

Service Anniversaries

New Employees

Letter to the Editor

Correction

"Dramatic" Health Insurance Change

FOR THE FIRST TIME, ALL EMPLOYEES WILL CONTRIBUTE

In her November 15 memo to the University, Betsy Schmutz, director for Human Resources, described the University’s updated health plans. These plans apply to about 736 University employees in the United States as well as the overseas site directors. Employees outside the United States have a variety of local plans.

We asked Betsy to talk about the changes in health care coverage that employees will need to consider during the open enrollment period, which lasts until December 10.

IW: When the Insurance Committee sat down for the first time earlier this year what challenges did it identify?

BS: We focused on three primary issues.

Number one was the high cost of medical insurance for people with dependent coverage. That was a serious issue. Last year the University actually contributed toward the cost of dependent coverage for nonexempt employees by giving them a one-time salary increase. But the problem wasn’t going to go away. It was still a primary focus of ours.

The second issue was that our employees were not paying anything toward their cost of coverage in an environment where last year we were hit with a 24 percent increase in medical care costs, and we expected high increases coming this year too.

Third, we wanted to make sure that our plans were competitive with other colleges and universities and with other industries, and we wanted to make sure that we have high-quality, competitive plans to offer to our employees.

IW: Employees now have the ability to opt out of insurance coverage. That seems like a very big change.

BS: That’s correct. We’ve got a number of employees who have family coverage through a spouse’s plan. We think it’s important that people have medical insurance coverage, but it does not make a lot of sense for people to be double covered under two different plans. So when we were looking over the financial picture we raised the issue of why don’t we let people opt out

IW: But if we lose too many people, won’t the cost of our plan go up?

BS: No, we have a large enough group today that people opting out of the plan are not going to affect what they call the "credibility" of the group or the future rates. If we lost 90 percent of our people that would certainly be an issue. Our projections are not even close to that. We’re thinking that about 5 to 10 percent of the employees might opt out.

IW: The other big changes that I noticed were that people who are enrolled in employee-only coverage will now have to pick up 5 percent of their insurance costs. Coupled with that were employees who carry dependent coverage. The University will now cover 25 percent of their costs.

BS: I think that having the employees paying a portion of the cost of their coverages is certainly a dramatic change for this University. It was a real tough decision to make. The committee wrestled with this for a long time. But then again, the environment of medical inflation, which is called "trend," is rising somewhere in the mid to high teens today, and we’ve been hit with that over and over and over. Medical inflation is not going to go away. Looking at what’s going on in other industries, we were very unique in that we weren’t charging employees anything for coverage. It was a tough decision but the time was here for the decision to be made. A 5 percent contribution is still a very, very low portion of contribution for employee-only coverage. It’s a way that we can still have strong benefit plans for our employees and give employees a sense of ownership in those plans.

The University is starting to make a contribution to dependent coverage because of the prohibitive cost of that coverage. Some of our lower-paid employees were paying in excess of 30 percent of their gross income on insurance premiums. If you combine individual insurance with family insurance, the University is actually covering about 45 percent of their expenses. I think dependent coverage is a financial issue because it costs the University to take on this responsibility, but it’s also a social issue. We’re making a statement: We think it’s critical to do what we can to make this insurance available to people who need it.

IW: Are there other big changes that employees should be aware of?

BS: The other big change that came about was the change in prescription drug copays for both the Alliance PPO plan and the Blue Choice HMO plan. We’ve changed our prescription drug copays to $10 for generic drugs, $20 for preferred brand drugs, and $30 for nonpreferred brand drugs. I think it’s a small increase. It’s a matter of a couple of dollars per prescription.

In the work that the committee did we looked at what’s going on with claims experience under our plan. It’s claims experience plus medical inflation that really drive the cost of medical insurance premiums. More than 23 percent of our claims were attributed to prescription drug expenses, as opposed to hospitalizations or doctors’ office visits. The national average for prescription drug expenses is about 12-14 percent of claims costs. What we saw is that we have really high claims expenses.

How do we better manage that claims’ expense? It’s high because we’ve got low utilization of generic drugs, and we’ve got very limited utilization of our plan’s mail- order prescription feature.

BS: There was a deductible before. It was $35 for an individual and $105 for a family. The new deductible levels are very competitive with other colleges and universities and with what’s going on in the general insurance market. We looked at some other potential changes in the dental plan. We did not want to make changes in the annual limits under the plan or the orthodonture benefit. The change in the deductibles still gives us a very, very competitive high-quality dental plan.

IW: Could you explain the change in long-term disability?

BS: Formerly we included a survivor income benefit, which is like a miniature life insurance policy. So if one of our employees were receiving long-term disability benefits for a serious ongoing medical condition and if that employee died while receiving those benefits, previously the long-term disability plan would have paid three months' worth of benefits to the survivors. Essentially it was a life insurance benefit. It’s kind of an obscure feature that existed some years ago in long-term disability plans, but as we have strengthened our life insurance benefit, increasing it from $50,000 to $150,000 last year, the long-term disability program became redundant.

IW: Could you explain the medical reimbursement, or 125 Plan or cafeteria plan to me?

BS: The medical reimbursement program gives you the opportunity to set aside part of your paycheck on a pretax basis to set up a reimbursement account where you can submit expenses not covered by your medical or dental plans. If you would like to have a dependent care reimbursement account, you can submit your dependent care expenses. The essence of that program is that when you use the pretax dollars and set them aside, you reduce your taxable income. When you reduce your taxable income you’re paying less taxes so you’re net compensation overall increases. So it lets you pay expenses that you are going to have anyway with pretax dollars instead of after-tax dollars. Our plan seems to work pretty smoothly and the form is very simple. There are about five key pieces of information that are asked for on those claims forms, and you attach the receipt, send or fax it in and it’s processed on a weekly basis. The turn-around is pretty good.

IW: One thing that was not mentioned was copays for office visits.

BS: The office visit copay for both the Alliance PPO and the Blue Choice HMO plan are staying the same.

IW: What is the cost of the University’s annual benefit plan this year?

BS: The total cost of the benefit plan is $4.51 million. That includes the portion the University pays, as well as the portion that the employees pay. Out of the $4.51 million, the University cost is about $3.86 million. That’s for all of the insurance benefit plans, not just the medical plans. It’s the life and accidental death benefit as well as long-term disability insurance, dental, vision and medical.

IW: Did the total cost of the plan rise from last year?

BS: Yes. The University is clearly paying more than it did last year — about 11 percent more.

IW: Did you have to negotiate hard to keep the rise in check?

BS: We first received projected cost increases of $600,000, which assumed that we didn’t make any changes to our plans. So that was out starting point.

We were able to reduce that increase by making changes in the plans. Over a period of several months, the committee looked at a list of about 40 different things that might be changed. Rather than saying we want to make changes in all 40 of these things we really honed in on those issues that could save us a substantial amount of money both in current premium costs and in managing our future increases. So we are looking at a two-pronged approach. We are looking at today’s dollars as well as next year’s dollars.

Our original proposal called for about a 14 percent budget increase, and after the work we did we brought that down to an 11 percent increase over last year’s costs.

IW: As I understand it, some employees are paying a little bit more and the employees with dependents are paying a little bit less, but the University is also paying more. Even though some of us are feeling a sting, the University is still contributing more than ever to our plans.

BS: Yes, that’s correct and we hope it’s just a small sting. It isn’t a zero sum game. The University is contributing more than ever to the benefit plans. It’s not a matter of some employees assuming responsibility for others. Now we all have a stake in the plan.

IW: What percentage of University employees is covered by an employee-only plan and what percentage has dependent coverage?

BS: Among the 736 employees involved, 136 carry dependent coverage. So it’s a relatively small number.

IW: That means a lot of people are getting coverage through spouses.

BS: Right. If some of them choose to leave the plan, now that they have the option, that will also help lower costs.

IW: Do you have a closing comment?

BS: We have looked at the reality of costs today, and the reality is that medical costs continue to skyrocket out of control. Insurance premiums are going right along with them. We had to do something in order to be in a position to have high-quality benefit plans for our employees at affordable cost, both to the employee and the University. Even by asking employees to contribute 5 percent toward the cost of coverage, that is still significantly below what our industry requests of employee contributions,

News from China

The Chinese government has given the go ahead for Webster to open a campus in Chengdu. The campus will operate in partnership with the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC). According to Rick Foristel, Shanghai campus director, the Webster-UESTC program is the first Chinese Education Ministry–approved "joint" M.B.A. program in southwest China.

Brian Campbell, a former Peace Corps worker who has been working at the Shanghai campus for the past 10 months, will manage daily operations in Chengdu, while Rick will continue in the overall leadership position. Rick says student recruitment is now under way, and he expects the campus to open on March 15, 2003, with 50 students.

Located 1200 miles west of Shanghai, Chengdu will offer an M.B.A. degree with a focus in product development. Students will take four Webster-approved prerequisite courses before starting the 12-course M.B.A. program. UESTC professors will teach all of the prerequisite courses, while members of the Webster faculty, from throughout the international network, will teach all of the M.B.A. courses, with some assistance from UESTC. The Webster faculty will arrive for the Fall 1 2003 semester and will live for 9–10 weeks in Chengdu. Rick says, "Thanks to a notification method developed by Dean Benjamin Akande scores of Webster faculty members from around the world have asked to be assigned to China for a semester." Nearly all the teaching positions have been filled.

In Shanghai, the campus has begun to develop plans for an undergraduate program with Shanghai International Studies University (SISU). Rick says, "SISU will allow us to act independently, teach a wide range of undergraduate programs in arts, business, history and economics, and allow us to provide comfortable, interesting housing for students from Webster and our associate schools. In addition, participating students will have opportunities to travel to historically and economically important locations in China. SISU will also cooperate to assure everyday social contact with Chinese and other international students." Webster and SISU hope to open a pilot program in summer 2003 and begin full semesters in the fall 2003.

Loretto Hall Reinvented

DEVELOPMENT AND ALUMNI, FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION, AND UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS ALL RELOCATED

Loretto Hall, once a University dormitory, has been renovated and transformed over the past few years into office space. Development and Alumni, which had been located off campus for several years due to lack of space, returned to campus about a year ago and became the first department to occupy Loretto. Until recently they were relatively isolated on the building’s fourth floor, but last month they were joined by much of Finance and Administration. Dave Garafola, vice president, Finance; Reba Snavely, associate vice president, Administrative Services; Vickie Fredrick associate vice president, Finance; and others are now located on the second floor of Loretto. Most recently, University Communications took up occupancy on the third floor, where they will soon be joined by the Executive Office. Work continues on the ground floor as well as the first floor of Loretto, which will be enhanced in keeping with the building’s historic landmark designation. The Loretto Hall foyer will become a major new entry to the University.

David Stone, director, Facility Planning, says the primary goal of the renovation is to add classroom space in Webster Hall. He expects classrooms to be operational as early as Spring 2003. In addition, Dave says the renovation will centralize units that had been dispersed, create efficiency and help resolve office space shortages in the Sverdrup complex.

Where Do You Eat Lunch?

Since moving to Loretto Hall, the University Communications staff has lost its conference table, which doubled as a lunchtime gathering place. Lately the staff has been eating regularly in the cafeteria and can’t help but notice that relatively few of our colleagues dine there. Where is your favorite place for lunch? Do you go off campus or stay on campus? Let us know and the results of our informal survey will be published in Inside Webster.

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Webster Voices

Thanksgiving Gravy

THE FOLLOWING ESSAY, BY JOSEPH M. SCHUSTER, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AND CHAIR, COMMUNICATIONS AND JOURNALISM, APPEARED IN THE OCTOBER/NOVEMBER ISSUE OF MARY ENGELBREIT HOME COMPANION MAGAZINE.

I used to be afraid of gravy. I never volunteered to make it, because so much could go wrong — it could turn out watery, or even worse, lumpy.

The first Thanksgiving after my 22-year marriage ended, I decided to make my children a dinner with all the works — turkey, potatoes, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pies, and yes, gravy. Anxious to avoid failure, I bought a packet of instant gravy mix. But somehow, giving my kids anything less than a completely homemade meal seemed worse than failure.

I started looking through my cookbooks, only to discover that none of them contained a gravy recipe. (One book did have an entry in the index for it, but when I consulted the reference, I found, "If you need a recipe for gravy, we have three words for you: Hire a caterer.") I remembered, from watching my mother and my former wife at the stove, that gravy required drippings, water, and flour. But how much of each?

So, as my unusually quiet kids gathered around a board game, trying to pretend everything was normal, I set out to make gravy from scratch. Improvising, I collected the drippings, spooning them into a saucepan, then added some flour. After pouring in what I hoped was an appropriate amount of water, I sprinkled in salt and pepper and began stirring the mixture with a fork, chasing the islands of congealing fat and flour that bubbled in the pan. What, I wondered, were those funny black: specks that floated to the surface?

When it seemed as close to gravy as it was likely to get, I called my kids to the table. They filled their plates, ladling out the gravy, and I grimaced at the lumps engulfing their turkey and potatoes. Once again, I’d let them down.

But midway through the meal, my younger daughter Liz, who was then 13, looked up as she was about to take a bite, and said, "You know, this just might be the very best turkey I ever ate."

Her remark surprised me. Yes, the turkey was delicious, but I’d been so depressed over the gravy, I hadn’t noticed.

Later, as I dished out slices of pumpkin pie, it struck me that making gravy was sort of a metaphor for life. First, you’ll never learn to make gravy without making gravy. In the kitchen or in life, if you only do things that you already know how to do, you’ll never grow.

Second, you can only make the gravy you’re capable of making. If you wait until Julia Child teaches you her secrets, you’ll end up without any gravy at all

Third, worrying about the lumps in your gravy means you don’t taste the turkey. If you focus on the flaws, you'll miss the feast.

I still keep that packet of instant gravy in my pantry. Every time I see it, I realize that even lumpy, speckled gravy is better than disodium inosinate and thiamine hydrochloride. It reminds me to embrace challenges and attempt new things. Most of all, it reminds me to be grateful for what I have: compassionate kids who are willing to overlook a few flaws in their gravy—and in their dad.

Library Holiday Hours

THANKSGIVING 2002

NOVEMBER 27 8:00 A.M.-6:00 P.M.
REFERENCE 9:00 A.M.– 4:00 P.M.

NOVEMBER 28 (THANKSGIVING DAY) CLOSED

NOVEMBER 29 12:30 P.M.–4:30 P.M.
REFERENCE 1:00 P.M.–4:30 P.M.

NOVEMBER 3 11:00 A.M.–5:00 P.M.
REFERENCE 11:00 A.M.–4:00 P.M.

DECEMBER 1 2:00 P.M.–8:00 P.M.
REFERENCE 2:00 P.M.–8:00 P.M.

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Featured Faculty

Art Museum Features Webster Sculptor

Christina Shmigel’s exhibition at the Saint Louis Art Museum opens on December 6. The museum will celebrate the opening of "Currents 57: Christina Shmigel," with wine and music in the big hall, and the sculptor, who is assistant professor of Art, will be on hand to welcome friends and visitors. The museum has written that Christina’s work "is heavily engaged with the urban landscape of St. Louis. Her sculpture reflects her interest in the industrial nature of the cityscape, particularly water towers and large-scale pipes. She also incorporates details from interiors, including plumbing lines and fixtures, into her work." The show runs through February 16, 2003. You can visit Christina’s new Web site at http://www.shmigel.com

Dottie Marshall Englis, professor and head, Conservatory Design and Technical programs, designed costumes for the Illinois Shakespeare Festival’s production of The Merchant of Venice and for the Stages St. Louis production of Carousel.

Monte Hancock, adjunct professor of Computer Science and Business, Space Coast, Fla., Metro Campus, and chief scientist at CSI Corporation, spoke at the ACM International Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He also presented a tutorial on "Avoiding Common Causes of Data Mining Project Failure" at the IEEE International Conference on Data Mining in Maebashi City, Japan. The Tutorial Committee received 39 proposals and Hancock’s was one of six selected for presentation

Steve Schenkel, professor, Music, completed the score for Jungle Gym, a film by Rebecca Ormond, assistant professor, Electronic and Photographic Media; he wrote the score for the PBS documentary, "American Tower," which premiered in November and was also shown at the St. Louis Film Festival; along with Dan Rubright, adjunct professor, Music, he released Whole New Light, the duo’s third CD; he played guitar for several St. Louis Municipal Opera productions and on Glennon Songs, a CD that will be released in February; he composed theme music for the new KETC-TV program "StL Biz"; he led the Webster Jazz faculty when it performed for more than 3000 people at the Old Webster Jazz and Blues Festival; his orchestral arrangements were used by an American singer touring Russia.

Bob Chamberlin, associate professor, Music, presented his choral composition, "Spirit of the Child," at a Composer’s Forum at the Unitarian Universalists Musicians National Conference held in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Rebecca Ormond, assistant professor, Electronic and Photographic Media, has completed a new 16 mm film, Jungle Gym, with assistance from a Webster student crew; her film, Fix It Ticket, has been shown at the Portland International Short Film Festival, the Ladyfest Bay Area Film Festival, the F4 Festival Fittschburg, the Downstream International Film Festival and the Gulf Coast Film and Video Festival. It received honorable mentions at the Marin Film Festival and the Rochester International. Film Festival; it was showcased at the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase.

Keep us posted on your professional activities and send us your story ideas by completing the UFO form.

St. Louis Calendar Highlight

Tis the Season

The Webster University Choral Society and Concert Choir, directed by Robert Howard, adjunct professor, Music, and Allen Carl Larson, professor, Music, present "Gloria in Excelsis," a holiday concert at Lafayette Park United Methodist Church, on Saturday, December 7, at 7:30. The concert will feature Christmas carols and more. The church is located at 2300 Lafayette Avenue. Admission is free.

For more information on St. Louis events, check the online calendar.

Employee of the Month

November 2002

Laura Stuhlman, service clerk, Undergraduate Admissions, and assistant women’s basketball coach, Athletics, is the winner of the Employee Spotlight Award for November. According to her nominator, Laura is "long overdue" to receive this award. "Laura is a good representative of the University in that she is a full-time staff member, a graduate student and is rigorously involved in University athletics." Her nominator praises Laura’s positive attitude, consistent courtesy to all visitors and fellow staff members and her allegiance to the University. "Whether it’s wearing the Webster logo on her shirt or selling Webster’s Study Abroad program to one of our visitors, she truly endorses the value of a Webster education. . . . She is a perfect placement as the first person most prospective students see when they come to Webster, for she represents the overall purpose of the University and is working hard to promote all it has to offer."

Laura graduated from Webster in December 2001 with a degree in Media Communications. She was on the dean’s list her junior and senior years and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Communications. Laura was hired to work in the undergraduate admissions office last July, after returning from her own study abroad experience in Leiden. Laura says studying in Leiden that summer was "one of the best experiences of my life." In addition to working and attending classes at Webster, this past year Laura went from being a member of the women’s basketball team to being an assistant coach.

Laura said she was surprised when she learned that she had won the Spotlight Award. "When you work with a great staff like this, where everybody does their job well, work is a pleasure," she said. In some ways Webster reminds Laura of the small town where she grew up, "It’s a place where everybody knows everybody and people take the time to be nice." Laura believes Webster’s diversity is one of its greatest strengths. "It says a lot about a school when it has the character that we do."

Even though she "really enjoys" her job, Laura is looking forward to a day off with pay as her prize.

Employees everywhere are eligible for the monthly Employee Spotlight Award. Using the nomination form is easy!

Service Anniversaries

November 2002

The University extends its appreciation to the following individuals who have ably served the institution for many years:

Linda Holtzman, associate professor, Communications and Journalism, School of Communications, 15 years.

Kim Fazio, representative, Camp LeJeune, five years.
Randy Melkus, skilled facilities operations, Facilities Operations, five years
Christine Wells, media relations coordinator, University Communications, five years.

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New Employees

A warm welcome to the newest members of the Webster family:

Michelle G. Alex, service clerk, Ft Sam Houston, Texas, speed dial #6 027, has been rehired and replaces Tiffany Schryver.

Lori J. Berman, representative, Albuquerque, N.M., speed dial #6 061, replaces Cheryle Gatewood.

Shannon Christen, computer technician, Eden-Webster Library, 963-6242.

Veronica Denise Grovener, general clerk, Ft Stewart, Ga., speed dial #6 092.

Jennifer Mullersman, nurse, Health Services, ext. 6922, replaces Grace Howell.

To learn more about job opportunities at Webster, go to the Human Resources Jobs site.

Dear Editor:

Thank you so much for the wonderful coverage you provided the Ocala Metropolitan Campus in the recent issue of Inside Webster. These are exciting times for our campus. I appreciate the opportunity to have our success stories published so that all of our campuses around the world can share in our celebration.

Warm Regards,

Donna Delahunty
Community Relations
Ocala Metropolitan Campus

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Correction

The account of Karen Luebbert’s award from the Webster Rock Hill Family Community Center, which appeared in the November 12 issue of Inside Webster, listed Karen’s title incorrectly. She is vice president and executive assistant to the president.