Benefits Specialist

Benefits Specialist Benefits Specialist

Company:

Southeastern Oklahoma State University

Job Location:

Durant, Oklahoma

Category:

Human Resources

Type:

Full-Time Benefits Specialists Salary $38,000 SUMMARY Reports to the Benefit Manager. Responsible for assisting with administration of group benefit programs for all eligible faculty, staff, and retirees, including health (medical), dental, vision, long term disability, life, OTRS, workers' compensation, unemployment and FMLA. Responds to benefit inquiries in a timely and professional manner.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Benefits Administration:

Completes onboarding/orientation with all full-time employees, including processing all insurance forms and entries in prospective benefit portals for new hires, terms, and retirees. Processes exit forms for terminating employees. Ensures proper completion of New Hire Paperwork. Administers health (medical/prescription drug), dental, vision, long term disability, and life insurance programs and OTRS retirement plan for eligible faculty, staff, pre-65 retirees and Medicare retirees, as well as eligible dependents and designated beneficiaries. Interprets plan policies and coordinates daily and monthly activities in eligibility and billing files. Conducts billing processes for self-insured billing for the OKHEEI Trust, through the OKHEEI Coordinator and vendors. Reconciles, balances and processes monthly payment for all health, dental, vision, Section 125 flexible benefits, life/ltd insurance, and retiree benefits. Administers statutory benefits programs; worker's compensation and unemployment benefits for all eligible faculty/staff. Maintains OK300 log of injuries/completes DOL survey. Attends WC training workshops/arranges WC/CALM Group onsite presentations as needed. Monitors DOL (state and federal) /CALM changes and interprets operational impact; recommends procedural changes. Offers and processes FMLA and shared leave per university policies and federal DOL guidelines. Conducts/assists in conducting benefits meetings. Coordinates and conducts enrollments and qualifying event changes of employees, retirees, dependents, and surviving dependents, for all appropriate plans. Develops/updates/distributes benefits communications for all benefits and in a variety of media forms, such as HR webpage, emails, letters, PowerPoint presentation (benefit sign-up/payroll sign-up), phone and face to face. Coordinates/liaison with members, insurance carriers, OTRS staff, billing administrators, Section 125 administrator and the OKHEEI Group consultant as needed. Actively participates in OKHEEI Group and retirement meetings/conference calls, and networks with RUSO sister institutions. Processes prospective retiree paperwork with OTRS and insurance carriers, retiree billing administrator, and OKHEEI Group consultant as needed. Arranges OTRS onsite presentations if available. Maintains up-to-date knowledge of federal and state rules and laws governing regulations by attending training workshops, conferences, reviewing announcements of changes from the RUSO general counsel, RUSO and OKHEEI Group consultants, and the government agency websites. Maintains electronic files within benefit software and processes Qualifying Life Event's in a timely manner as well as maintaining payroll deductions associated with benefits. Assist in completing surveys with salary and benefit data. Completes TIAA-Actuarial report, annual DOL survey and Health Cost Study. Other Duties as assigned.

ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCE RESPONSIBILITIES

(FUNCTIONS, DUTIES) 1.

Attendance and Dependability:

The employee can be depended upon to report to the assigned duty station at the scheduled time. Employee can be depended upon to complete work in a timely, accurate, and thorough manner and is conscientious, about assignments. 2.

Communication and Contact:

The employee communicates effectively and professionally both verbally and in writing with superiors, colleagues, and individuals inside and outside of the University. 3. Relationships with

Others:

The employee works effectively and relates well with others including superiors, colleagues, and individuals inside and outside the University. The employee exhibits a professional manner in dealing with others and works to maintain constructive working environment. 4.

Safety:

Employee works safely, attends safety training offered/required, and follows appropriate safety rules and regulations. In relation to level of NIMs training completed, participates in incident management preparation and performs incident duties as assigned. 5.

Wellness:

Work with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma Wellness coordinator and university wellness committee to promote wellness on Campus.

MINIMUM EDUCATION, TRAINING, AND EXPERIENCE

Required:

High school diploma and 3 years of professional office experience. Persistent attention to details. Ability to maintain the highly confidential nature of human resources work, working knowledge of university benefits and related university procedures in a university or other public or private agency. Must be tactful and have above average communication skills, both verbal and written; ability to perform duties and meet deadlines with minimal direction in an environment of constant interruption; sound working knowledge of statistical concepts, methods, and data collection procedures.

Preferred:

Bachelor's degree with major course work in business administration or related field. Knowledge of Colleague or other equivalent benefit/payroll systems, MSWord, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook. Experience with ProCard. Founded in 1909 as a teachers' college, Southeastern Oklahoma State University continues the strong tradition of producing outstanding educators for southeast Oklahoma and north Texas. Student enrollment is approximately 6,000 students and the campus is situated in rural Oklahoma. The main campus located in Durant, Oklahoma, which is 90 miles north of Dallas, Texas, and 150 miles southeast of Oklahoma City. The community is close to Lake Texoma and the Choctaw Casino Resort. Southeastern Oklahoma State University continues to be among the nation's most affordable universities according to the U. S. News & World Report's America's Best colleges. Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience. The preferred start date is July 1, 2026. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until filled. Southeastern offers a comprehensive benefits package including university paid health, vision, life insurance, long term disability, retirement contributions to Oklahoma Teachers Retirement System, as well as a tuition waiver for employees and spouse/dependents who wish to enroll at Southeastern. Southeastern offers 25 paid holidays per fiscal year and has a generous leave package including annual/vacation leave, sick leave, personal leave, and birthday leave. In addition to the SE paid benefits, there are many voluntary products available to employees such as 403(b), Health Savings Account, Flexible Spending Account, dental, short term disability, dependent life insurance and a variety of ancillary benefits. Employment is contingent upon the results of a national criminal and sex offender background check. Candidates must be eligible to work in the United States. SE participates in E-Verify. SE is an AA/EEO employer committed to multicultural diversity.

Notice to applicants:

If selected, official transcripts from each degree-granting institution will be required upon date of hire. It is Southeastern Oklahoma State University's policy that all newly hired employees must provide an original social security card during the hiring process. Failure to provide an original social security card will delay the hiring process and ability to begin employment. HigherEd360 is part of the HigherEdJobs network.