Dear colleagues,

Supporting American University’s employees is a top priority. One important way of making AU a great place to work is providing comprehensive benefits to faculty and staff. The ongoing significant investments in our benefits (referred to as a total rewards program) reflect our commitment to you. To ensure our total rewards program is meeting the needs of our team, we are conducting a comprehensive review to collect information and feedback. The insights and data developed in this initiative will help us advance our efforts around How AU Works, explore ways of enhancing AU’s benefit offerings to align with our strategic goals and best practices in the higher education sector, and position American University as an employer of choice.

AU’s total rewards program currently includes the following:

• Individual/Family Health Benefits—AU provides comprehensive and competitive medical, dental, life insurance, and disability benefits.  
• Retirement Benefits─AU provides individual retirement investment options with a two to one university matching contribution on the first five percent contributed by the employee.
• Education Benefits─AU provides substantial educational opportunities, including extensive tuition remission for employees and family members.
• Other Investments in Employee Thriving─AU provides annual, sick, and holiday leave options; parental leave; wellness and work-life balance programs (including emergency backup dependent care), hybrid work opportunities; and career development programs. 

To accomplish the goals of this review, the university is working with NFP/Helios, a leading benefit and human resources consulting firm. NFP/Helios will assist us in assessing our programs in comparison to market benchmarks and data and collecting community input. The study will explore challenges and employee feedback about the current programs, including what works well and where there may be opportunities for improvement. Additionally, the review will evaluate potential programs that AU could consider adding to enhance the total rewards available to employees. Finally, NFP/Helios will also help us review the processes and vendors that administer the rewards programs with the goal of identifying opportunities to elevate the level of service employees and the university receive from vendor partners, create efficiencies in processes, and reduce costs associated with those services. It is important to note this study focuses on benefits and does not include compensation analysis.

Working with a team from AU’s Finance and Human Resources departments, NFP/Helios will collect qualitative and quantitative inputs and assemble information. They will interview members of the community—including members of the University Benefits Committee, which includes both faculty and staff representatives—and conduct a representative survey of faculty and staff to gain additional insights. The study findings will be reviewed with the University Benefits Committee and other key stakeholders and help AU shape its overall philosophy for total rewards programs as the university continues to provide competitive total rewards programs that support our people. The consultant will be providing analysis and recommendations, but all decisions about any changes will be made by AU leadership in consultation with the AU Benefits Committee and other key stakeholders. Questions or feedback about the total rewards study can be submitted to hrpayrollhelp@american.edu.

We are excited about this next step in our efforts to enhance how we support our people, and we look forward to sharing with you the results of the study once it is completed.

Sincerely,

Seth Grossman
Vice President of Administration and Chief Administrative Officer

Bronté Burleigh-Jones
CFO, Vice President, and Treasurer