The UM System reached a unanimous decision to change its employee benefits package earlier this summer.
The package will now be expanded to sponsored adult dependents and same sex couples, giving them the same access to health and welfare benefits as other staff members.
This policy change has been in progress since 2012 and will go into place in 2014.
One of the driving forces behind this decision was to make the system more appealing to potential staff, UM System Spokesman John Fougere said.
“It is important for the University of Missouri System to be in a position to attract and retain the very best people,” he said.
One of the biggest groups affected by this decision are same sex couples.
LGBTQ Resource Center Coordinator Struby Struble said that if these staff members know they will be treated fairly and have the same medical, dental and life insurance as others, more top-level faculty will be drawn to the university.
“This is huge in recruitment and retention of faculty and staff,” she said. “We lose candidates and staff because other universities offer benefits we don’t. Since we now offer those benefits this will lead to us being able to offer higher quality staff.”
While benefits were given to same sex couples there are still a lot more areas that equality can be gained in, mainly in the residential life field, Struble said.
“There could be multiple policy changes such as adding gender identity to nondiscrimination policies for job protection and more,” she said. “Preferred names in MyZou would make it so all people can be called by their true names. Reslife is hard at work in their effort towards gender neutral housing.”
These changes would have more than just an on-campus affect if they were to be implemented, Struble added.
“There are benchmarks out there that rank the equality of campuses over multiple areas, including these three, and Mizzou could rank a lot higher if we made changes in these areas,” she said.
The UM System has jumped on board with a common trend of offering equal benefits.
“This benefit is now provided by most large employers nationally as well as in Missouri, and it is becoming a standard practice in higher education,” Fougere said.
This decision was made around the same time as the repeal of Defense Of Marriage Act and now the idea of equality is something that truly plays a part in people’s way of life. Struble said the unanimous vote among curators shows a change in society.
“It is clear that culturally and through numbers that our culture is changing and generationally there is a larger push for equality,” she said. “In this generation, equality is expected.”