University Business - July/August 2011 - (Page 28)

HUMAN RESOURCES Rebecca Ferguson, chief HR officer at Bowling Green State University (Ohio). “We’re constantly at the big picture level, looking at forewarning signs.” For example, while the school and its employee assistance program vendor don’t track which employees enroll in financial courses, the vendor monitors utilization rates and offers suggestions as to which seminar topics need to be repeated or introduced. Recently, HR surveyed supervisors and employees on areas they’d like to see covered in a new leadership training promandating personal financial classes isn’t exactly popular, some employers have found creative ways to introduce basic financial concepts. The Virginia State Employee Loan Program sponsored by the Virginia Department of Human Resource Management—which manages HR for nearly 47,000 employees working in government jobs or at state-funded schools— requires workers to pass a multiple-choice finance quiz before receiving a loan, says Sara Wilson, the department’s director. “It’s all online and employees must be able to answer 10 questions and get 80 percent of the questions right,” she says. Almost $4.5 million in funds were handed out between July 13, 2009 and February 20, 2010. Past questions have asked what a financial goal should be and what a budget should include. Wilson says employees also have access to a wealth of financial and legal benefits, including free seminars covering topics like bankruptcy prevention, financial fitness, and tax issues. There’s even an emergency grant program, enabling employees to receive up to $750 per incident. Moving forward, she plans on using data from the grant and loan programs to identify what types of employees may be more vulnerable to financial problems. Her wish is that employees will soon start deferring more money into a savings or investment account and have less credit card debt or a mortgage that isn’t under water. “I’d like to see a more positive picture so [we] can coach them on investments instead of loans,” she says. education vendors down to one. Its financial services company, Fidelity, recently opened an on-campus office with four representatives who offer financial counseling and seminars for the institution’s 12,000 employees across four campuses. “[Fidelity] has no investments in the core lineup,” notes Luis Lewin, VP of HR at Purdue. “We wanted no conflict of interest as [reps] give advice and education.” At the same time, Purdue cut back its retirement contribution from 15 percent to 10 percent after results from an inhouse benefits and compensation survey revealed the school was overly generous compared to peer schools. The five percent was rebalanced into employee pay. Fidelity is rolling out a series of educational sessions aimed at specific employee groups focused on age, gender, or asset levels. Nearly 100 employees recently attended a two-hour seminar that targeted workers over the age of 55. “We’re on to something,” Lewin says. Such seminars engage employees and make them feel more connected to the financial experts. Within five years, he hopes to see at least 50 percent more employees actively engaged in their retirement planning. “People are not overly concerned with their [retirement funds],” he says, adding that HR is also targeting younger employees. “They need to save wisely because things have really changed economically.” More Work to Do Officials at some schools still feel more can be done. “Our antenna is up,” says Mandating personal financial classes isn’t exactly popular. gram. Finance appeared to be a hot topic; more than half of the supervisors believed employees needed the ability to develop institutional budgets; employees expressed their need to understand them. The key advantage of helping employees develop budgeting skills, in Ferguson’s opinion, is that they can also use them at home. “The skills are transferrable,” she says. “If I’ve got a custodian who’s really good at running a household budget, he or she might be really good at helping to figure out how to save money for the department.” Bowling Green employees can now access web-based budget tools initially designed for students. If Ferguson had her way, employees would have two required classes: tips for developing and managing a budget, and a refresher course. While Financial Assistance Shifts and Trends • Auto enrollment is gaining popularity, making it more convenient for newly eligible employees to enroll in their employer’s retirement savings plan. At Fidelity, the number of not-for-profit plans utilizing this benefit jumped from three percent in 2006 to 11 percent in March 2011. • More retirement saving plans now include target date funds, which help employees take appropriate financial risks related to their age while still earning competitive returns. During the first quarter of this year, 72 percent of Fidelity’s not-for-profit workplace savings plans use a target date or age-based option as the investment default compared to 45 percent during the same quarter in 2007. • Financial advisors now work full time on some college campuses. Employees no longer need to travel across town for financial advice or education. Source: Fidelity data from 2010-2011 Resources Fidelity Employer Solutions, http://workplace.fidelity.com MetLife Business division, www.metlife.com/business MetLife PlanSmart Financial Education Series, www.metlifeplansmart.com TIAA-CREF Plan Sponsor solutions, www.tiaa-cref.org/plansponsors Vanguard Retirement Plans, https://retirementplans.vanguard.com 28 | July/August 2011 universitybusiness.com http://workplace.fidelity.com http://www.metlife.com/business http://www.metlifeplansmart.com http://www.tiaa-cref.org/plansponsors https://retirementplans.vanguard.com http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - July/August 2011

University Business - July/August 2011
Contents
Editor's Note
Ad Index
College Index
Behind the News
Sense of Place
Viewpoint
Financial Success
Money Matters
Community Colleges
Funding Capture
Models of Efficiency
Thwarting ID Thieves
Embezzlement Epidemic
What's New
End Note

University Business - July/August 2011