Southeast regents approve extending same-sex benefits

Following in the footsteps of other state benefit plans, the Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents on Tuesday approved extending benefits to same-sex spouses and retirees. Enrollment begins immediately.

The Missouri State Employee Retirement System and Missouri Consolidated Health Care Plan recently did the same in response to an Oct. 3 order issued by a Jackson County Circuit Court judge requiring same-sex couples legally married in other states to be recognized by Missouri.

The Missouri attorney general's office said Oct. 6 it would not appeal the judgment.

Human Resources director Jim Cook said the cost of extending the benefits is expected to be minimal. He doesn't know how many people will enroll. "We'll notify all of our employees of the change. ... Once notified, the employee will have 31 days to enroll a newly qualified spouse," Cook said.

Southeast its own health plan through United Health Care and has 1,167 benefit-eligible employees.

On a separate matter, the board approved submitting a list of renovation projects to be included in an appropriations bill in the 2015 legislative session and gave the green light to a study of having a Greek village for fraternities and sororities.

During the 2014 legislative session, Senate Bill 723 was passed, which increased state bonding capacity to $600 million. Of that figure, $200 million was designated for higher education maintenance and repair projects and $400 million for other state facilities.

Gov. Jay Nixon will introduce a supplemental appropriation bill during the 2015 legislative session to authorize issuing bonds to fund the $200 million in higher education projects. Funds would be allocated proportionately between two- and four-year institutions based on their percentage of total higher education appropriations received in fiscal year 2015, university information said.

For Southeast, this would mean $10.08 million in upkeep and repair funds.

The governor's office has asked each institution to send in a prioritized list of projects to be funded. Southeast's list includes the Grauel Building, Brandt and Crisp halls. "It's great news," board President Doyle Privett said, although the amount is a drop in the bucket.

Bruce Skinner, assistant vice president for student success and auxiliary services, and Debbie Below, vice president for Enrollment Management and Student Success and dean of students, will be studying the idea of the Greek village.

This fall, there are a little more than 1,200 students in fraternities and sororities, but on average, the university has 1,000 students in Greek life, Skinner said.

"We've been at that rate plus or minus 50 for a decade or more in terms of our systems, so even as we've added chapters we may have grown slightly, but we haven't seen significant growth in that. One issue is our Greek chapters are saying, 'We need a better on-campus housing presence to grow our chapter and we don't have the space to do that in our current system,'" Skinner said.

Skinner said it's hoped an architect will be chosen in the next several weeks to look at possible designs, square-footage costs and other matters. Information will be brought back to the regents in December. The next steps depend on what Skinner and Below find out.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

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