Attention all employees: Decisions regarding many benefits must be made promptly.

Oct. 30 is the last chance for faculty and staff to enroll in or increase levels of group universal life insurance without proof of medical insurability.

Nov. 1-30 is the open enrollment period for endowed faculty and staff to enroll in or change their health and dental coverage and to enroll in Select Benefits.

Endowed and contract college employees receiving child care grants for 2010 must enroll in a Select Benefits Dependent Care account. Grant award letters are in the process of being mailed to home addresses.

Contract college employees must make their health elections during the option transfer period, not yet announced by New York state. Their Select Benefits elections must also be made during the option transfer period, but no later than Dec. 31.

"We have run numerous reminders about the various benefits enrollment periods and deadlines that are happening this fall because we want to make sure that everyone knows what they need to do when," said Paul Bursic, director of Benefit Services. "In addition to articles in the Cornell Chronicle and PawPrint, we are sending an e-mail blast to all faculty and staff, as well as a postcard to all home addresses [to reduce costs, the postcard replaces the large packet of benefit information that we used to send]. We especially want endowed employees to understand that their enrollment in Select Benefits has the same deadline, Nov. 30, as their enrollments in or changes to health and dental insurance."

Bursic stressed that any forms received beyond the deadlines must be returned, as required by federal law.

To make informed choices: visit http://www.ohr.cornell.edu/benefits/openEnrollment.html; attend the Benefair, Nov. 11, 9 a.m.-3p.m., G10 Biotech; contact Benefit Services at 607-255-3936 or e-mail benefits@cornell.edu with questions.

Both endowed and contract college employees can enroll in Select Benefits accounts online through Employee Essentials, https://ee.ohr.cornell.edu, during their respective enrollment periods; endowed employees can also enroll in or change their health and dental elections online during their open enrollment period. Hard copy enrollment forms are available through the benefits open enrollment website noted above.