The U of A has recently approved several important policy updates aimed at enhancing employee benefits and operational efficiency. These changes reflect the university's commitment to transparency, fairness and its strategic goal of enhancing our reputation as an employer of choice.

Education Development Incentive Policy: The Education Development Incentive Policy has been revised to offer a flat award amount based on the degree level, rather than a percentage of the employee's salary. The new incentive amounts are $1,000 for a bachelor's degree, $3,000 for a master's degree or educational specialist and $5,000 for a doctoral degree. Additionally, eligibility criteria have been clarified, including a requirement for employees to have worked at the university for at least six months and received a satisfactory performance evaluation.

Parental Leave and Modified Work Assignments: The university has aligned its staff and faculty parental leave policies with the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act regulations and the U of A System benefit of six weeks paid leave after two years of employment. The updated policies now include the placement of a foster child as an eligible reason for leave. The combined total duration of paid and unpaid leave and modified work assignments for full-time, 100% appointed employees under the modified work assignments policy has also been revised to a maximum of 12 weeks.

Inclement Weather and Emergency Operations: The Inclement Weather and Emergency Operations Policy has been consolidated and streamlined to improve clarity and efficiency. Key changes include renaming "Inclement Weather Pay" to "Essential Operations Pay" and revising the pay rate to 1.5 times the regular rate of pay to align with the remainder of the U of A System.

For more detailed information on each policy update, please visit Fayetteville Policies and Procedures.