Benefits and Well-being

Creighton recognizes the importance of work-life balance and supports the development of each employee in all aspects of their lives—at work, at home, and in the community. The University provides paid vacation for rest and relaxation. Vacation may be taken by benefit-eligible employees in full-day or half-day increments, or in quarter-hour increments (non-exempt only) if scheduled and approved in advance.   

Staff hired to work 1,040 hours or more per year will accrue vacation hours beginning on their first day of benefit-eligible employment or re-employment. Available vacation hours will display on the employee’s payslip.    

Benefit-eligible staff accrue vacation hours each pay period based on annual scheduled hours, job level and years of benefit-eligible service. Staff working less than 2,080 hours per year earn vacation hours on a pro-rated basis (based on the full-time accrual rate).   

Employment classifications excluded from this policy include: faculty, medical residents (housestaff), and residents in pharmacy, physical therapy and occupational therapy programs.   

See a breakdown of vacation accrual. 

Retirement benefits are an important part of your total benefits package offered by Creighton University. As a University employee, you are eligible to participate in the 403(b) retirement savings plan.    

Creighton University’s Retirement Plan allows you to electively defer money from your pay check on a pre-tax or post-tax basis. You are eligible to contribute to the IRS limit each calendar year.    

Any employee of the University who completes at least one hour of service is eligible to participate in the Plan for purposes of making salary deferrals except the following individuals: 

• Employee who is a student performing services that meet specific requirements of the Internal Revenue Code
• Employee considered an independent contractor or an employee of an independent contractor

Creighton offers both a 2% Employer Minimum Contribution as well as Employer Matching Contribution. You are entitled to the 2% Employer Minimum Contribution regardless of how much you contribute to the plan. All contributions made by Creighton are made with pre-tax dollars. Creighton will match 100% of the first 5% of eligible pay that you contribute (pre-tax or Roth) to the plan. To maximize the matching contributions provided by Creighton, you need to contribute at least 5% of your eligible pay each pay period. Please refer to the Matching Table for more details. 

You’re always fully vested in your contributions and the 2% Employer Minimum Contributions. You will be fully vested in the Employer Matching contributions after two years of service and 1,000 hours worked in each of those years. 

Please note: Employer Contributions are only available for Faculty and Staff. House Staff Physicians are ineligible for any employer contributions. 

Here’s a breakdown of how contributions work:

If you defer 5.00% or more

• Employer minimum contribution: 2.00%
• Employer matching contribution: 5.00%
• Total employer contribution: 7.00%

If you defer 4.00%

• Employer minimum contribution: 2.00%
• Employer matching contribution: 4.00%
• Total employer contribution: 6.00%

If you defer 3.00%

• Employer minimum contribution: 2.00%
• Employer matching contribution: 3.00%
• Total employer contribution: 5.00%

If you defer 2.00%

• Employer minimum contribution: 2.00%
• Employer matching contribution: 2.00%
• Total employer contribution: 4.00%

If you defer 1.00%

• Employer minimum contribution: 2.00%
• Employer matching contribution: 1.00%
• Total employer contribution: 3.00%

If you defer 0.00%

• Employer minimum contribution: 2.00%
• Employer matching contribution: 0.00%
• Total employer contribution: 2.00%

Taking care of our mental health is an important part of our overall well-being. Recognizing that everyone faces various personal, family and/or work-related problems that can affect our health, Creighton offers various resources available to support you and your family’s needs, including:   

For all faculty, staff and house staff physicians: 

• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) from Magellan Health (also open to all household members): Every individual faces a unique situation that can affect their work or personal life, which is why we offer an excellent EAP to support our employees and their dependents and household members. The EAP offers confidential, solution-focused help and resources for many types of life issues and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week online or by phone.  
• BetterHelp Virtual Therapy from Magellan Health (also open to all household members): BetterHelp offers confidential virtual therapy, provided by BetterHelp, at no cost to you. You have access to eight free counseling sessions per issue, per year. Counseling is available for the entire family including BetterHelp Teens. 
• TAO (Therapy Assistance Online): TAO offers access to over 150 brief, effective, evidence-based educational sessions covering over 50 common topics and skills related to mental health, well-being and substance use issues. TAO includes interactive sessions, mindfulness exercises and practice tools all aimed at helping students and employees achieve their goals. 
• Mental Health Training and Learning Resources are available in our myLearning training and learning platform.

For those employees who enroll in the United Healthcare medical plans:  

• UnitedHealthcare Network Providers: Behavioral health providers are accessible. Visits are paid through the medical plan (member deductible and coinsurance apply). Virtual visits are also available. 
• Calm Health App for enrolled UnitedHealthcare medical plan members: The Calm Health app offers programs and tools to support your mental health and well-being, all at your own pace. Access to Calm Health is available at no extra cost to medical plan members only.

Creighton’s Training, Learning and Professional Development program is designed to unlock the potential of every Creighton employee, including house staff physicians, by offering innovative and meaningful learning experiences, creating space to foster conversations and connections and encouraging a culture of learning and growth to enhance personal job satisfaction and achieve team, department and university strategic goals. Our vision is for every employee to feel connected and integral to Creighton’s mission and rich history, empowered to succeed in their role, engaged in the campus community and inspired to design their best future.   

Each month, Human Resources sponsors learning events for faculty and staff, including our Monthly Manager Briefing series and employee development programs.    

The University’s myLearning platform, powered by Bridge, houses our compliance trainings, as well as on-demand employee learning and professional development opportunities.    

Creighton’s Employee Assistance Program partner (Magellan Healthcare), retirement plan sponsor (Principal Financial) and well-being platform (Navigate) provide additional learning opportunities for Creighton employees. Both live and on-demand opportunities are available on a variety of topics, including financial wellness, well-being, mental health and professional development.   

Additional professional development opportunities are also offered by the following campus partners:  

• Creighton’s Center for Faculty Excellence supports excellence and innovation in teaching and learning through the professional growth of Creighton faculty and staff in the Jesuit tradition. 
• Creighton’s Community and Belonging offers workshops/trainings which are open to all Creighton students, staff and faculty, to provide a foundation and common language, concepts, and strategies across our campus community. 
• The Division of Mission and Ministry offers a variety of mission-based programs and activities to learn more about the Creighton mission and your own spirituality, including the NOVICE program for new employees and the Creighton Colleagues Program (CCP) for managers and administrators.  
• Creighton’s Department of Public Safety provides training related to campus safety and emergency management, including Active Assailant and Stop the Bleed.  
• The Creighton Retreat Center offers a place where Creighton faculty and staff (as individuals or groups) can come to retreat, write papers, do research and have spiritual direction.  
• Creighton's Division of Information Technology sponsors a monthly LOG ON @ LUNCH program. These short technology presentations (45 minutes) will cover technology you have in your office, on your computer and phone, or in the classroom. This is an easy, no cost way to learn about new and current of technology. 
• Creighton's Violence Intervention and Prevention Center offers Green Dot Bystander Intervention Training. Bystander training focuses on creating a college culter that is intolerant of violence. Through the one-time training session, students, faculty and staff learn how to be part of the change.
• The Life Support Program at Creighton University provides essential training in life-saving techniques such as CPR, BLS, ACLS and PALS to support the safety and preparedness of our campus community.

Current benefit-eligible employees working 20 or more hours per week may be eligible for a high school tuition discount with partner schools in the Omaha and Phoenix areas under the program. The High School Tuition Discount registration process occurs one time each year. Annual registration forms are made available every year in mid-January for the next upcoming academic year. The deadline to submit the registration form each year is typically in mid-February. Employees who join the University after the annual registration cycle has passed will need to wait for the following academic year to apply for the High School Tuition Discount.  

With the Creighton Tuition Remission and Discount program, the cost of qualified programs at Creighton University may be waived or discounted for employees, their spouse and their eligible dependents (depending upon the program).    

Eligibility for participation in the tuition remission program begins at the start of the first semester following the employee’s date of hire. To be eligible for tuition remission or discount benefits, an employee must be benefit eligible and have an active status until the University’s official drop/add deadline for each semester in which the benefit will be used by that employee or their spouse/dependent child. If an employee resigns or is terminated from the University prior to the drop/add deadline, the tuition remission benefit will be rescinded, and all tuition will be charged back to the student’s account, and any paid associated tuition remission administrative fees will be refunded to the student’s account. Tuition remission and discounts will not be awarded retroactively.   

View the Tuition Remission Policy for details on discount benefits and credit hour limits.    

The following programs are excluded from the Tuition Remission and Discount benefit:  

• Accelerated Nursing Program 
• Accelerated Bachelors to Masters programs 
• Advanced placement and dual-enrollment courses (taken by current high school students) 
• Study abroad programs that are non-exchange programs (for more information regarding study abroad programs, please visit Global Engagement at creighton. edu/geo. 
• MD and PA programs in the School of Medicine 
• DDS program in the School of Dentistry 
• DPT program in the School of Pharmacy and Health Professions 
• PhD programs 
• Non-Creighton sponsored programs

Other program exclusions are evaluated on an annual basis. Please consult with Human Resources for program availability. All programs are subject to eligibility criteria, admission and participation requirements. Some programs, such as Study Abroad, may be subject to additional fees. Please note the PharmD and OTD programs are full-time programs.  For planning and budgeting purposes, the tuition remission and discount administrative fee for dependents and spouse is $1,250 per semester for full-time students and $88 per credit hour for part-time students. 

Through the FACHEX program, employees who have a tuition remission benefit for their children at Creighton can apply to receive the same benefit for their children at participating Jesuit colleges and universities, should there be space available, and the student meets that school's requirements for FACHEX applicants. FACHEX awards are extremely limited in number and are highly competitive. As a result, there are no guarantees to employees that they will be able to utilize the benefit at the institution of their choice. FACHEX covers tuition only for eight full-time semesters (fall and spring) or until the bachelor's degree is completed, whichever comes first.  

Tuition Exchange has over 600 member schools (including Creighton) and is a tuition remission program for children of current full-time faculty, administrators, and staff. Through the program, a dependent child of an eligible employee at one participating institution may be awarded Tuition Exchange at another. Tuition Exchange awards are extremely limited in number and are highly competitive. As a result, there are no guarantees to employees that they will be able to utilize the benefit at the institution of their choice. Tuition Exchange may be awarded for eight full-time semesters (fall and spring), or until the bachelor's degree is completed, whichever comes first. When awarded, most Tuition Exchange covers tuition only. However, at some schools, it does not cover full tuition and at other institutions it may cover additional expenses, such as room or board. 

Any additional expenses incurred by the student (fees, room, board, travel related expenses, or books), are the sole responsibility of the student and/or the student’s family.  An employee must meet the 100% tuition remission level in order for their child to be eligible to apply for FACHEX and Tuition Exchange. The FACHEX and Tuition Exchange application process occurs one time each year. Annual application forms are made available every year in the late summer or early fall for the next upcoming academic year. The deadline to submit the registration form each year is December 1. Employees who join the university after the annual application cycle has passed will need to wait for the following academic year to apply for the FACHEX or Tuition Exchange programs.  

Creighton University faculty, staff, and retirees, along with their spouses and eligible dependents, are eligible for a 15% discount on noncredit individual offerings through Creighton’s Lifelong Learning platform.    

Visit Creighton Lifelong Learning to explore current offerings and non-credit courses.   

  The Division of Mission and Ministry provides opportunities to integrate faith, education, service and justice through Creighton’s Jesuit, Catholic tradition. We are dedicated to serving each student, faculty member and staff person, respecting their individual cultures and faith traditions, as they seek to walk their life path. 

• Deglman Center for Ignatian Spirituality: By sharing the gifts of the Spiritual Exercises and Ignatian Spirituality through spiritual direction, retreats and workshops, the Deglman Center for Ignatian Spirituality educates and services students, faculty, and staff for personal and corporate growth. 
• Mission Engagement: In partnership with the Vice President for Mission & Ministry’s Office, the department offers mission formation, retreats, pastoral/spiritual outreach, and a place where faculty and staff can find a listening ear and an understanding heart when faced with crisis or challenge. 
• Prayer Listserv: One of the hallmark ways in which many faculty and staff at Creighton express community and demonstrate care is through accompanying colleagues navigating illness or grief in prayer. The Division of Mission and Ministry maintains a prayer request LISTSERV for faculty and staff, a ministry that invites employee members of the Creighton community to pray for colleagues journeying through uniquely challenging moments.

Creighton supports employees and their families in a variety of ways, including:   

Lactation Support: Creighton University supports mothers and is committed to providing flexibility regarding an employee’s work hours to allow for adequate time to express breast milk. The University is working diligently to provide additional and enhanced facilities on campus.   

James R. Russell Child Development Center: The YMCA manages the operations of the James R. Russell Child Development Center (RCDC) located on Omaha Creighton Campus. The YMCA Early Learning Centers are an important part of the impact the Y makes in our community every day. We know parents are looking for the best childcare for their kids, and our early learning centers are a place where children learn the building blocks they need to have the best possible start in their education.   

CURA Employee Fund: Cura personalis translated means “caring for the whole person.” It means respecting each person as a child of God along with all of God’s creations—regardless of creed or background. The world has a population of 7 billion people, each with his or her own stories and struggles. All have their unique circumstances and concerns—everyone. Cura personalis challenges us to dig deeper to understand each person’s gifts, challenges and needs. Creighton faculty and staff take this approach toward students, and Creighton students go on to share this approach worldwide. In alignment with cura personalis, the Creighton United in Relief and Assistance (CURA) Employee Fund has been created to support faculty and staff experiencing immediate or severe financial crisis.