UpDate - Vol. 15, No. 2, Page 2
September 7, 1995
FLEX BY PHONE receives national, campus awards

     The University's FLEX BY PHONE system, which enables employees to
access personal benefits by phone, is a winner both nationally and on
campus.
     Nancy Wallace, manager of benefits, and Maxine Colm, vice
president for employee relations, have been selected to receive the
Quality in Human Resource Practice Award from the College and
University Personnel Association (CUPA) for initiating and setting up
the FLEX BY PHONE system.
     This national award, which recognizes the "significant
contributions CUPA members have made to the practice of human resource
management in higher education," will be presented Sept. 28 during the
organization's national convention in Orlando, Fla.
     Wallace and others who worked on the project also have been
selected to receive the first University of Delaware President's
Innovative Award. In addition to Wallace, Innovation Award recipients
include Steven Fols and Pat Davis, Management Information Services;
Barbara Garrison, public relations; Bonnie Meldrom and Helen Morgan,
benefits services; Shirley Worden, employee relations; Gail Armstrong
and Meg Williamson, publications.
     FLEX BY PHONE is an interactive voice response system that
enables employees to access personal benefits information and to make
changes in their benefits during a two-week enrollment period. New
employees also can use the system to enroll in benefit programs. User-
friendly and cost-effective, FLEX BY PHONE was used by more than 1,200
employees this year.
     The system enables employees to have access to benefit
information and to check on their flexible spending account balances.
It is on operation on weekends and after working hours.
     Wallace noted that since information is directly transmitted into
the computer, a more accurate record is maintained for each employee.
     Colm emphasized that FLEX BY PHONE was a team effort, one that
involved a number of offices and had as its goal the enhancement of
services for University employees.
                                                   -Sue Swyers Moncure