Intranet
Faculty Handbook
Benefits and Services
Insurance
Members of the faculty may participate in health, life, vision, AD&D, long-term care, long-term disability and dental insurance plans. A monthly contribution established by the Texas Legislature is provided members for premium payments as a fringe benefit. Faculty need to pay their summer insurance premiums by having the three-month premium deducted from their May payroll. Further information may be obtained in the Office of Personnel Services. 31.02, 31.02.04
Retirement Benefits
All full-time faculty members are required to enroll in the Teacher Retirement System of Texas or the Optional Retirement Program. Members of both the Teacher Retirement System and the Optional Retirement Program contribute a percentage of their salaries and the University contributes an additional percentage to the retirement program in accordance with appropriate statutes and teacher retirement regulations. Further details, including current contribution levels, are available in the Office of Personnel Services.
Faculty members must also be covered by Social Security and are entitled to all benefits of the program. Salary deductions are made monthly in accordance with federal law. 31.02.08, 31.02.09
Salary Checks
Salary payments may be made by Automated Check Handling (ACH) direct deposit to bank accounts of faculty members. Information is available in the Office of Personnel Services. As an alternate method of salary payments, salary checks are issued by the Office of Budgets, Payroll and Reporting. The first salary check of each contract year is available on the first working day for state employees in the month of October; subsequent monthly checks are available on the first working day for state employees of each month in accordance with the conditions for employment.
Savings Plan/Investments
A plan for purchase of U.S. Savings Bonds is available to faculty members. Information about tax-sheltered annuities and state-deferred compensation is also available from the Office of Personnel Services.
Sick Leave
Sick leave with full pay is accrued at the rate of eight hours per full calendar month or fraction of a month of continuous employment, and accumulated amounts of sick leave may be carried forward. According to state law, sick leave with pay may be taken when sickness, injury or pregnancy and confinement prevent the employee’s performance of duty or when the employee is needed to care for and assist a member of the employee’s immediate family who is actually ill. Immediate family is identified as those individuals living in the same household and related by kinship, adoption or marriage, or foster children certified by the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services. An employee’s minor child is considered immediate family even if the child does not live in the employee’s household. An employee’s use of sick leave with or without pay for family members not residing in that employee’s household is strictly limited to the time necessary to provide care and assistance to a child, spouse or parent (but not parent-in-law) of the employee who needs such care and assistance as a direct result of a documented medical condition. An employee who must be absent from duty because of illness shall notify the supervisor or cause the supervisor to be notified of that fact at the earliest practical time.
To be eligible for accumulated sick leave with pay during a continuous period of more than three working days, an employee absent due to illness shall send to the department head, along with the attendance report, a sick leave form available from the department or from the Office of Personnel Services.
Upon return to duty after sick leave the employee concerned shall, without delay, complete the prescribed application for sick leave and submit it through proper channels to the appropriate approving authority for consideration. 31.03.02
Tuition Assistance Scholarship Program
WTAMU faculty and staff members and their spouses and dependents are eligible to apply for up to three hours of tuition assistance per semester at West Texas A&M University. Applications are accepted from qualified individuals on a first-come, first-served basis. Deadline information and application forms are available in the Office of Personnel Services. The program, a joint effort of the WTAMU Foundation, Staff Council and Faculty Senate, assists many students each semester.
Workers’ Compensation
Employees of West Texas A&M University are eligible for workers’ compensation. If a member of the faculty is hurt at work and the injuries come within the limits set by law, faculty members may be entitled to benefits. Any injury on the job should be reported immediately to the department head for proper reporting to the Office of Personnel Services. 24.01.02