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Tuesday, 06 March 2007 |
Equal, fair benefits for all faculty, administration
The Appalachian urges Appalachian State University to begin looking toward ways to provide all its faculty and administrators with equal and fair benefits despite their creed, ethnicity, ability, sexual orientation or age.
According to the article “Families of homosexual faculty not eligible for North Carolina health insurance” published in The Appalachian Thursday, “only the legal spouse and children of an employee may be offered health insurance and coverage, but each individual university is allowed to negotiate their own plans at a local level.”
The Appalachian believes there is no excuse for the university not to
take steps toward negotiating equal benefits for our gay faculty and
administration.
According to “The State of the Work Place Report” released by the Human
Rights Campaign for 2005-06, among national four-year colleges and
universities, 92 percent of the nation’s top-25 schools provided
domestic partner health coverage. In addition, 64 percent of the
top-100 schools offered coverage.
Another study done by the HRC shows the number of universities
providing benefits for domestic partners had a 57-university increase
from 1999-00, and a 27-and 25-university increase over the next two
years. However, from 2004-05, four schools adopted benefit policies
and, from 2005-06, only one school adopted benefit policies.
The Appalachian encourages Appalachian to challenge North Carolina’s
policies on providing benefits to state employees’ domestic partners.
According to the HRC’s report, Montana became the 13th state to extend partner benefits to state employees in 2005.
Though Montana is a far stretch from Appalachian, the university should
be aware of equal benefits for homosexuals in appreciation of its
proximity to Asheville, which is considered one of the most
gay-friendly cities in the Southeast.
The city hosts an annual gay-pride festival and is home to the oldest
gay bar in North Carolina. The university should be striving to follow
our area’s strengths: acceptance and tolerance.
Appalachian State could also look for examples from Fortune 500
companies. According to HRC’s report, 51 percent of Fortune 500
companies provided domestic partner benefits, while 80 percent of the
Fortune 50 companies provide similar benefits.
The Appalachian requests UNC-system lawmakers appreciate fundamental
human rights. While the university continues to strive for diversity,
it must start with movements of basic necessities for its entire
faculty.
Appalachian must collaborate in protest, or we will lose qualified
professors. Whether homosexual or heterosexual, faculty are the
university’s backbone.
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