Inside Iowa State
October 20, 2000
Senate supports insurance benefits for same-sex partners
by Linda Charles
The Faculty Senate endorsed a
proposal Oct. 10 to provide same-sex domestic partners the
same health care insurance benefits and premiums offered to
employees' spouses. But the senate took exception to a
statement in an accompanying affidavit that some senators
said would allow the university to "out" gay couples.
Kevin Schilling, music, objected to a sentence in the Domestic Partner Relationship Contract affidavit. Same-sex couples must sign the affadavit to qualify for the health insurance. The sentence in question says the university may contact anyone who knows the couple to see if they have represented themselves as domestic partners.
"I have serious concern about the wording in the domestic partner contract," Schilling said, noting that the university could contact people who knew the couple but had not been informed of the nature of the couple's relationship.
Jim Hutter, political science, said, "People have the right to seek health insurance without the university outting them."
The senate recommended that the sentence be dropped from the domestic partner contract.
Iowa State has offered health insurance coverage to same-sex partners for several years. However, employees had to pay the full premiums for same-sex partners, rather than receiving the university-subsidized premiums for spouses. Under the new proposal, premiums would be the same for spouses and same-sex partners.
In other business, the senate:
- Discussed a paper on non-tenure track faculty, submitted by president-elect Christine Pope, history. Pope noted that the administration is considering a "two track system" for faculty: one, the traditional tenure route that includes research and the other, a continuously employed non- tenure track group, hired through some form of contract. Pope raised several questions in the paper, including whether such a system would create a tier of "high-paid tenure track elite engaged in research" and a "second-class non-tenure track faculty doing the teaching." She said instituting such a system would undermine the tenure system and affect academic freedom because those under contract would not be as free to speak as those on the tenure track.
- Approved a B.S. in technical communication and a B.A. in classical studies.
- Endorsed the American Association of Universities' Principles for Emerging Systems of Scholarly Publishing.
- Postponed discussion on a proposed conduct policy until the next meeting.
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