VA Faculty

School of Medicine faculty with a VA appointment:

The table below outlines VA benefits available to UNM Faculty. Please consult this table to find out what benefits you are eligible for based on your employment status (e.g. Full Time VA, Part Time VA, Part Time UNM, and Full Time UNM).

Benefit	Full time VA	Part time VA	Part time UNM	Full time UNM
UNM Chidlren's Campus	none	none	All faculty even full time VA eligible	All faculty eligible
FSA	All faculty are eligible• Since there is no UNM salary, full VA are not eligible to participate.	All faculty are eligible• Partial VA are considered full-time and are eligible to participate.	Must be >0.5	All faculty eligible; pre-tax benefit
Insurance - Accidental Death and Dismemberment	Only for faculty <35 years of age Full VA are eligible. Benefit is in increments of $10,000 to a maximum of $600,000 and can cover individual or family	Only for faculty <35 Full VA are eligible. Benefit is in increments of $10,000 to a maximum of $600,000 and can cover individual or family	Must be >0.5. Benefits based on Salary Benefit is in increments of $10,000 to a maximum of $600,000 and can cover individual or family	Post tax benefit. Guaranteed coverage up to a certain level without medical discloarue if enrolled with in 60 days of start date. No medical disclosure required. Can enroll as new hire or at OE. Benefit is in increments of $10,000 to a maximum of $600,000 and can cover individual or family
Insurance - Short/Long Term Disability	none• Partial and full VA are considered full-time for life and LTD.	none• Partial and full VA are considered full-time for life and LTD.	Must be >0.5. Benefits based on Salary	Post tax benefit. Guaranteed coverage up to a certain level without medical discloarue if enrolled with in 60 days of start date.
Insurance - Health, Dental, Vision	All are eligible for VA- Both partial VA and full VA appointments are considered full-time for benefits purposes. We mostly see the VA faculty enroll in UNM’s dental and vision as they usually enroll in the federal medical plan.	Between 32 and 64 hours per pay period (2 weeks) are eligible. Pro-rated premium wherein the emplotyee share of the premium plus the difference between what the covernment pays and the comvernment premium cost for a full time employee. Both partial VA and full VA appointments are considered full-time for benefits purposes. We mostly see the VA faculty enroll in UNM’s dental and vision as they usually enroll in the federal medical plan.	All are eligible for UNM; if not enough salary to cover, then it is paid through the Bursar's office Must be .5 FTE	Pre-tax benefit Must be .5 FTE
Insurance - Life	For those employed for >1 year Basic Life: Employee pays 2/3 and VA pays 1/3. Optional Additional Life A: an additiona $10,000 of coverage. Optional Additional Life B: up to 5x annual basic pay rounded to the next $1000. Optional Additional Life C: family members up to 5 multiples of basic coverage for family members • Partial and full VA are considered full-time for life and LTD.	For those employed for >1 year are eligible. • Partial and full VA are considered full-time for life and LTD.	Must be >0.5. Benefits based on Salary	Guaranteed coverage up to a certain level without medical disclosure if enrolled with in 60 days of start date. May elect up to 5X salary.
Insurance - Long Term Care	Must be eligible for FEHB. Premium depends on age when applying. Premiums not guaranteed.		Must be >0.5. Employee can elect coverage during initial 60 days from hire. Various coverage levels exist. Can also enroll family member with underwriting approval.	Must be >0.5. Employee can elect coverage during initial 60 days from hire. Various coverage levels exist. Can also enroll family member with underwriting approval.
Leave - Annual	26 days with 86 carry over	Proportional to VA FTE-Proportional to UNM FTE	Must be >0.5 to accrue annual leave proportional to FTE	14 hours per month accrue up to a max of 252 hours
Leave - Holiday	10 federal holidays	none-Proportional to UNM FTE		10 federal holidays. Please speak to Division Chief about the Winter Break schedule.
Leave - Professional	5 days if authorized	None-Proportional to UNM FTE	12 days regardless of FTE	12 days regardless of FTE
Leave - Sick	13 with unlimited carryover	Proportional to VA FTE Proportional to UNM FTE	Must be >0.5 to accrue sick leave proportional to FTE (10 days/year is ceiling)	8 hours per month accrue to a maximum of 1040 hours
Retirement	Tier 1 = Social Security. Tier 2 = FERS-FRAE Basic benefits (pension) 4.4% employee contribution with VA contributing 8.3% for a total annual contribution of 12.7% of employee salary; vested after 5 years service. Tier 3 = TSP tax deferred savings plan. <50 may contribute up to $19K (total between all 401K plans) and >50 may contribute up to $24K with Government match of 1% automatically with additional matching up to 5%.o Full-VA-since full VA appointments do not have UNM earnings, they are not eligible to participate.	Proportional to VA FTE o Partial VA- if the UNM component is above .25 FTE, the partial VA is required to participate.	Must be >0.26 to participate. Part time contributes proportionally to ERB. Amount contribution and match depends on Salary and FTE • ERB-state statute requires employees who are above .25 FTE to participate in the pension plan. Since VA joint appointments are hired as faculty, they would be able to elect the ARP. o Partial VA- if the UNM component is above .25 FTE, the partial VA is required to participate.	ERB and Alternative Retirement Plan
Supplemental 403 (b) and 457 (b)	Full VA are not able to paticipate because they do not have UNM earnings	Partial VA can participate	Yes-can participate	Yes-can participate
Student Loan Repayment	$40K paid directly to lender for 5 years = $200K		none	none
Tuition - Dependant Education Program	none Same as UNM	none Same as UNM	Must be >0.5 employed for >1 year to have eligible dependants.	Employed >1 year to have eligible dependants. Up to 18 credit hours for 8 semesters for spouce/domestic partners/ children
Tuition Remission	none Same as UNM	none Same as UNM	All faculty even full time VA eligible	8 credit and non-credit hours each emester (4 during the summer). No limit for retirees.
UNM Ticket Office (Sports, Popejoy, Loboperks)	none Same as UNM	none Same as UNM	All who have a badge are eligible	All who have a badge are eligible