Benefits staff available; expanded hours set

During Open Enrollment 2003, Nov. 1 through 22, benefits staff will be available to answer questions from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. Phone center staff also will answer calls from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 2-3 and Nov. 16-17.

The phone center also will stay open until midnight on Friday, Nov. 22 -- but "please don't wait until the last day to enroll," asks Charles DeSantis, benefits services manager. Last year, a last-minute crush of employees trying to enroll online caused massive delays, he said. (The system has been enhanced this year, he said.) To encourage early enrollment, the department will enter the names of everyone who enrolls by Friday, Nov. 15, in a drawing for prizes that will include an iPod, a $50 gift certificate to the Bookstore and a one-year "A" parking sticker.

For the first time this year, enrollment must be made online at the BenefitSU website (http://benefitsu.stanford.edu). Only 3 percent of employees enrolled by telephone last year, DeSantis said. Computers will be available for employees to use between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the Benefits Office on the first floor of 655 Serra St. For information, employees can call 736-2985; SLAC employees can call 926-2356. Employees also can call toll-free at (877) 905-2985.