Benefits Coordinator
 Responsibilities include:

• Health Benefits
• Important Health Info for Graduate Students graduating in August
• Retirement
• Tuition Remission
• Faculty/Staff Leave Policies
• Electronic Timesheets
• Faculty Report Forms
• Forms
   
• FAQ's
• Forms   Benefits related forms

Benefits Information
Any regular employee, working at least 50 percent of the time is eligible to participate in the University's benefit programs.

The enrollment form is used to select the benefits programs you want to participate. You select the programs you want, the level of coverage you desire, and who is covered under the plan.

Remember that you will not be able to cancel, change, or add to your coverage once you have made these decisions until the next open enrollment period. Exceptions to this rule are allowed only under limited circumstances. Once you have elected a plan, you must stay in the selected plan, at the selected coverage level, for the full calendar year, unless there has been a qualifying event. A qualifying event is a change in family status, such as the birth of a child, loss of a dependent, marriage, or divorce. A qualifying event can also occur in cases where your spouse's employment is terminated. Therefore, it is very important that you make careful and informed decisions regarding your benefits coverage.

If you are planning on including your dependents, you must have documentation including proof of marriage and proof of spouse residency, and proof of birth or adoption for children.

New Enrollments have an effective date of either the first or the sixteenth of the month, depending upon the pay period for which a deduction is taken from your paycheck. The state payroll system usually takes three pay cycles to begin premium deductions from your paycheck.

New employees to the Department of Computer Science receive detailed Department and Benefit Information including all forms at the time of their Payroll Appointment. You should contact Sue Blandford to set up your appointment.

Health Benefit Forms for Department of Computer Science employees are available in the Business Office, Room 4172 A.V. Williams Building.

Health Benefit Applications are due to Sue Blandford one week from the date of eligibility including newly employed and all changes in Family Status.

Open Enrollment is now held in the spring. The Department of Computer Science Business Office sends email messages to our employees concerning the Open Enrollment process for each year. During Open Enrollment, you may enroll or make changes to your health insurance and optional insurance plans. Any changes made during Open Enrollment will be effective July 1 of the the current year. Please read all messages carefully since the procedures change from year to year. Each employee is responsible for verifying and changing their benefit coverage. Your Health Benefits are your responsibility.

If you want to make changes or corrections, Open Enrollment is conducted through the Interactive Voice Response System (ITV). Instructions for using this system are listed in your Open Enrollment Package. Each call made to the IVR system will generate a confirmation statement that will be sent directly to you. Please review your confirmation statement to verify accuracy of your coverage.

Retirement Planning and Programs
&
Supplemental Retirement Plans

*Selecting a Retirement or Pension Plan is mandatory;
your salary will not release until you have made your selection.

Retirement Planning

RETIREMENT SRAs
403b forms
ALL FORMS MUST BE COMPLETED IN BLACK INK ONLY!
**You MUST complete the Salary Reduction Agreement Form and submit with the form for the plan of your choice.
         
            403b Payroll Deduction Form Fidelity
            403b Payroll Deduction Form TIAA-CREF
457b forms
**You MUST complete the Voluntary Salary Deferral Agreement Form and submit with the form for the plan of your choice.
            
             457b Payroll Deduction Form Fidelity
             457b Payroll Deduction Form TIAA-CREF

STATE OF MARYLAND (MSRP):

Leave Policies

Faculty:
Faculty Report Forms are available at for Department of Computer Science Faculty Members and are due by the 8th of the next month.www.cs.umd.edu/facultyleaveform/.

annual and personal Leave

Leave With Pay;
annual and personal leave
collegial or non-creditable sick leave
sick leave
leave for jury service
terminal leave

Leave Without Pay;
leave of absence without pay
the Family and Medical Leave Policy


Staff:
Timesheets for Exempt and Non-Exempt Employees are now completed through the ELF System.

Leave With Pay;
annual leave
holidays
personal leave
sick leave
leave for childbirth related disabilities
leave for jury service or subpoena
military leave
Leave Reserve Fund
Administrative leave due to inclement weather and other emergency conditions

Leave Without Pay;
leave of absence without pay
Family and Medical Leave Policy

Tuition Remission

Introduction UMCP encourages and supports University faculty, staff and retirees, both on the College Park campus and within the University System of Maryland (USM), to make use of the opportunity to enroll in academic courses at UMCP. Tuition remission benefits are also available for the spouse and dependents of regular status and retired faculty and staff members. Tuition remission is available to those choosing to utilize the benefit in accordance with the Board of Regent's Policy VII-4.10 "University System of Maryland Policy on Tuition Remission for Faculty and Staff," and policy VII-4.20 "University System of Maryland Policy Concerning Tuition Remission for Spouses and Dependent Children of Faculty and Staff."

Regular-status faculty and staff have the option of utilizing tuition remission to attend other USM institutions, as well as Baltimore City Community College, St. Mary's College of Maryland, and Morgan State University. In addition to the University of Maryland, College Park, the USM institutions are: University of Maryland, University College; University of Maryland, Baltimore; University of Baltimore; University of Maryland, Baltimore County; University of Maryland, Eastern Shore; Towson University; Frostburg State University; Bowie State University; Coppin State University; and Salisbury University.

Other USM Institutions The tuition remission request form must be completed for tuition remission requests for other campuses. The Department of Computer Science keeps a supply of the scantron tuition remission forms; Or select "USM Tuition Remission Request Form". Once the request is completed, Department of Computer Science Employees should turn the form into Sue Blandford, 4172 A.V. Williams Building.

Please remember: Graduate Students, Spouse and/or dependent children must pay all Mandatory fees.

How Do I Apply for Tuition Remission?

UMCP Campus Requests
Application for tuition remission is now done on-line. The new electronic form called "TR-ELF" is available on the ARES website, selecting ELF form. The forms should be completed on-line, then routed to your designated departmental approver, who will send the form on to the Personnel Services Benefits Office for final approval and processing. Please see your departmental payroll and benefits clerk for more information on processing the TR-ELF request. Tip sheets for completing a TR-Elf Request are available below.


The Department of Computer Science Electronic Tuition Remission forms are to be routed to Karen Blandford. Tuition Remission information and the current process due dates are sent on a semester basis via email.

Timesheets

Faculty Leave is done using our online system. Log in with your University Directory ID. If you do not know your University Directory ID, you can look it up at http://www.directory.umd.edu

Hopefully, this will be self explanatory, but if you run into any trouble please feel free to email staff with questions.

Faculty: Click here to enter your data

Supervisors: Click here to review and approve records

All other staff: Exempt, Non-exempt and hourly employee’s timesheets are currently completed on line using the ELF system. An email reminder of the deadline is sent on a biweekly basis that includes the instruction for using the ELF Time Entry System.

Direct Deposits

Maryland State Treasurer regulations, require all new state employees paid through the Central Payroll Bureau are required to participate in Direct Deposit. On paydays, you will receive an employee’s earnings statement (pay stub), which shows your hours, earning, taxes, and deductions. Direct Deposit is safe, fast and convenient. It is a valuable employee benefit.

You will receive a paycheck until your Direct Deposit becomes effective. It will take 6 – 8 weeks for your Direct Deposit to become effective. Department of Computer Science employees may collect paychecks in Room 4172, A.V. Williams. Your Direct Deposit Statement will be placed in your mailbox on payday mornings. If you do not have a mailbox, you need to collect your Direct Deposit Statement from the Department of Computer Science Business Office, Room 4172 A. V. Williams.

For Department of Computer Science Employees Direct Deposit Forms are available in Room 4172 A.V. Williams Building or may be printed and completed at direct deposit form. The completed form for Department of Computer Science employees should be sent to Sue Blandford, 4172 A.V. Williams Building.

Fellowships for Non-Resident Aliens are not eligible for Direct Deposit. Department of Computer Science Non-Resident Alien Fellowship paychecks are available on payday Fridays, after 11am, in Room 4172 A. V. Williams.

PLEASE NOTE WHEN COMPLETING YOUR FORM
The State of Maryland requires the USE of BLACK INK ONLY due to electronic imaging.

YOU MUST DESIGNATE THE NAME OF YOUR BANK,
(THE BOX IS JUST PAST THE MID-POINT OF THE FORM.)

Enter your account number as it appears on your personal check carefully to insure your funds are deposited into the correct account.