A Conversation With ... David Pierce

Tell us about SBU’s benefits package. What is the most utilized benefit the school offers?
We offer a pretty wide variety of benefits to our 320 eligible full-time employees. We realize everyone is at a different stage in his or her life and have different needs, so the benefits package is pretty comprehensive.

We have several really good benefits, but the top three in terms of employee participation are health insurance, the retirement plan and tuition concessions.

We pay 100 percent of the employee health insurance premium. It’s a great benefit for our employees and by far the most popular benefit we have. We felt it was important to provide a choice when it came to health care, so employees can choose between two different plans to suit their needs. The second most popular benefit is probably our retirement package, which has a two-for-one match. Basically, if employees put in 5 percent of their annual salary, the university will then match 10 percent of their annual salary. Of course our tuition concession for our employees and eligible dependents of employees is a big hit. The plan pays for one undergraduate degree for children dependents and one undergrad degree and one master’s degree for employees and their spousal dependents.

SBU is the fourth-largest higher learning institution in the southwest Missouri area, employing 480 workers. What effect does the expiration of the 2 percent Social Security payroll tax cut mean for the school and employees?
We are not going to have to adjust any of our workforce, but it is going to hit our current employees’ pocketbooks a bit harder now. We are paid monthly, so the average SBU employee will pay about $50 to $75 more each check, probably leaning more toward the $75 side. Because we had a very favorable renewal with our health insurance this year  – we had a zero percent increase – the impact of the elimination of the payroll tax cut will be minimal, but some employees will struggle more than others.

Did the current economy force any changes to the benefits packages this year?
Not significantly, outside of our flexible spending account. That limit was capped at $2,500. We have been with the same health insurance provider since 2008, so that provides a level of stability for our employees. We have Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, but contract that through GuideStone Financial Resources. They are the financial arm of the Southern Baptist Convention.

How will the implementation of Missouri’s public health exchange plan affect health insurance for the school and its employees?
I don’t think it will have a big effect. We are not planning anything different that we are already doing. We already provide 100 percent coverage for all employees.

Does SBU have a wellness program or incentives package in place?
We have a comprehensive wellness program called Beartracks, which was initiated in 2008. It consists of several different employee options such as annual health screenings, our annual health expo and seminars throughout the year on nutrition and fitness. We also have a monthly health and wellness newsletter and personal fitness coaching.

Often times we partner with the college of nursing or college of physical therapy to add different elements to the Beartracks program. Most recently, we are working with our physical education majors to provide personal training for employees. It gives the students credit and our employees get free coaching.

Employees also are able to earn Beartrack bucks and purchase things from our Beartracks wellness store, such as T-shirts, water bottles, workout towels and pedometers. We try to provide our employees with more than $5,000 in gifts – including raffles for area tickets such as Silver Dollar City – throughout the year for taking part in the wellness program.

The benefit to the university is that we have a group of employees who are healthy and more aware of thier physical condition. The Beartracks program also has had an impact on our health insurance renewal rates. We haven’t had a health insurance premium increase of more than 4 percent in the last five years since the program began. Our employees take this program very seriously and it has paid off for everyone involved.