Tucson Region

Some at UA urge benefits for partners

Cecile McKee, an associate linguistics professor, would be able to get medical insurance for her partner if she worked for Harvard University, the University of Colorado or Pima Community College. But she can't because she works for the University of Arizona, and her partner is also a woman. "It can't go on forever," said McKee, who arrived at the UA as a postdoctoral fellow 16 years ago. She said her colleagues, her students and her lab are great. But she has started looking at other universities for job opportunities. UA and Arizona State University officials say Arizona's university system is at a growing disadvantage in trying to recruit and retain faculty members who can now find domestic partner benefits at several hundred campuses across the United States - including in California, Washington and Oregon. UA and ASU also are the only schools in the Pac-10 Conference to not offer the benefits . UA President Peter Likins said Arizona's universities need to extend those benefits, but the decision rests with state leaders. He said he believes it will happen "as a natural evolution of American society." Republicans and Democrats understand economic forces, he said. "In some sense, we're at a time when the marketplace is driving the diversity agenda, not government," he said. "It has become economically advantageous to diversify your work force." About 31 percent of the state employees eligible for health benefits work for the universities. Supporters call domestic partner benefits a basic equity issue; that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees should receive the same tuition discounts and insurance coverage available to married employees. Opponents call it an inappropriate expenditure of taxpayer dollars and raise moral objections. State Sen. Ken Cheuvront, D-Phoenix, said he feels the Arizona Department of Administration could expand the definition of a dependent to include domestic partners without legislative approval. He and department officials have asked the Attorney General's Office for an informal opinion. No legislative measures to extend domestic partner benefits to state employees were introduced this session. "I'm not a supporter of this and I would do what I could to keep bills like this from getting through the house," said House Speaker Jake Flake, R-Snow-flake. State Sen. Toni Hellon, a Tucson Republican who heads the Senate Education Committee, said she was aware employees who want the benefits have met with the university presidents but said she saw no hope for it in this session. "That is not a popular issue to a majority of people in Maricopa County," she said. That county has more than 60 percent of the state's population and a majority of the lawmakers. Fears about losing top faculty rang hollow to Len Munsil, pres-ident and general counsel for the Center for Arizona Policy in Scottsdale, a group promoting traditional family values. "I don't think there's any evidence someone is going to turn down a job at UA because of it. I'd like to see the evidence that they have," said Munsil, who opposes legalizing gay marriage and providing benefits outside of marriage. But, "Recruiting faculty to Arizona is often a challenge in itself, and the fact that we don't offer domestic partner benefits puts us at a competitive disadvantage," said Allison Vaillancourt, UA's assistant vice president of human resources. The UA is Tucson's largest employer. It has about 13,000 employees, including about 10,000 who receive benefits. Benefits comprise about 30 percent of overall compensation at UA. "We don't know how many people don't even consider us. A lot of people know who offers domestic partner benefits and who doesn't," she said. Ken Foster who led UApresents to a national reputation in nine years, said the issue of domestic partner benefits had no role in his departure last fall to direct a private nonprofit arts center in San Francisco. But he said university leaders have an overdue responsibility to bring the issue before lawmakers. "You're arguing about domestic partner benefits when the rest of the country is arguing for gay marriage," Foster said. The question of extending the tuition discount now offered to spouses of employees to domestic partners seems close to reaching an Arizona Board of Regents agenda. "That's an issue we have not taken up. Obviously we will need to do so in the near future," said President Chris Herstam, whose year as board leader ends this summer. Domestic partner benefits for faculty and staff are a "longer-term" goal in the UA's blueprint for improving diversity. "If we had done it nine or 10 years ago, we would have been a leader. Now we're way behind; now it's about playing catch-up," said Miranda Joseph, asso-ciate professor of women's studies, who represents the Committee on LGBT Studies on the UA's Diversity Coalition. But Joseph was hopeful the delay could now increase the chance of approval. "Now it's not a big political statement. Now this is normal." Nearly 200 people across campus, including program directors and distinguished professors, signed a petition in support of domestic partner benefits circulated by OUTreach, an organization for LGBT faculty, staff and graduate students at the UA. The petition was sent to Likins in October, along with a letter from the Diversity Coalition noting that benefits are key "if we wish to recruit and retain an excellent and diverse faculty and staff." "Domestic partner benefits, to me, would have two functions," Joseph said. "One is the specific group of people who would actually make use of the benefit. But it would also be a larger statement by the university that it equally values the gay people that it employs."