Approval of Previous Minutes —

Minutes from October 15, 2024 : No objections or corrections. Approved by acclamation. 

Guest Speaker Presentation —

Melissa Cole is Director of Benefits in the Benefits office at University of Kansas and has been with KU over 15 years. 

The Benefits Team at KU has five employees -- three of them (Melissa and 2 Senior Benefits Specialists) work with retirees.

Retirement Process:
•    The retirement process begins when an employee begins to look at retirement. 
•    The employee doesn’t need to physically be at work on the last day of employment before retirement. Many employees use leave time prior to the official last day of work. 
•    Once the last day on payroll is decided, the benefits team put together a “Retirement Memo” which is personalized for each employee: 
•    This includes whether the employee is KPERS (Kansas Public Employees Retirement System) or Kansas Board of Regents retiree -- and if Medicare-eligible or non-Medicare. 
•    The memo talks about healthcare and options along with getting retiree parking pass and discounts, Endacott Society information, and several other retiree resources.

• Senior Resource Center on Vermont St. (in Lawrence, KS) also offers retiree resources and has meetings on understanding Medicare benefits.
• Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas has provider networks across the United States so don’t need to be limited to Kansas after retirement.
• All retirees are connected into KU Endacott Society, OSHER, and Provost Office which has programming during KU events on campus - so retirees can stay connected. Also get a “Retiree Card” which allows retirees access to KU buses, meeting rooms, libraries, and various resources on campus.
• The Human Resources Benefits office collaborates directly with retirees at any stage the retiree needs, regardless of how long ago the retirement was.
• Retirees keep their e-mail and stay in KU Directories for the KU Lawrence campus.
• It’s especially helpful if KPERS retirees give at least 60 days’ notice of retirement due to documentation that needs to be provided.
• There are pre-retirement seminars in March at the Burge Union and combined retirement luncheon with faculty and staff.

Questions from the RRB Committee:

Outside of University Senate RRB Committee, are there other University committees that retirees can be a part of? 

Melissa is not aware currently but open to suggestions.

How does KU build a retirement community that knows knowledge about KU? 

This is beyond the scope / support of just the HR Benefits Office and Human Resources – it needs to involve KU leadership and Provost Office as well. Human Resources doesn’t have as much funding for programs -  so the programming needs to involve a larger scope.

There may be concern about the word of retirement getting out and how potential retirees may then be treated differently by department while the retiree is still working (potential concern about labs or resources being limited). Does HR share to departments that employees are considering retirement in the future, regardless of when it may be? 

Melissa confirms that the Benefits office will not share any retirement information to supervisors or departments, including other HR areas. All conversations are private and confidential.Communication about retirees telling their supervisors or department is up to the retiree. 

There is question about winding down research and the data involved with this: 
•    Human Resources doesn’t have a direct policy on this. 
•    The request is that 2 weeks is given but it’s up to the employee as to when to share their retirement information. 
•    The only notification that comes from the Benefits office is after the employee has left and payroll information needs to be relayed so the retirement and payroll information can be keyed. Space management is also then notified after the employee has retired.

If a KU group would like to get a message out to KU retirees, is it possible to do that? 
That request should be sent to Melissa and the request will then be submitted to the Vice Chancellor (VC) of Human Resources for review. If it’s approved by the VC of Human Resources, Melissa will provide the list of e-mail addresses securely or they can send it through the approval process to send out the e-mail.

The discontinuation of some IT services, such as Microsoft Teams, can be surprising to some retirees, and some may not be aware that the Microsoft Office license will be lost. Retirees find this to be quite a challenge.

Melissa is working with TIAA and Voya on a program for 2025 – hopefully quarterly – for both newer retirees and those that have been retired for a while. The goal is to help navigate changes and options. 

New Business —

For January meeting, please think of items to discuss. Beth will reach out to IT to see if there may be a time for them to come talk to give more background on retiree IT access.

Meeting adjourned.