On Your Radar Screen
Information of special interest to the UMUC community

USM Considers Benefits for All Domestic Partners

University System of Maryland (USM) Board of Regents Chair Nathan A. Chapman Jr. has appointed a task force to study the issue of benefits for the domestic partners of USM employees. The task force will review a 1996 report on the same subject and gather a variety of data, including the viewpoints of various USM constituencies, policies at other institutions across the country, and the costs of such a program. The group will then make specific recommendations to the full board.

The Maryland General Assembly approved the Antidiscrimination Act of 2001 during its 2001 legislative session. The act prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation with regard to public accommodations, housing, and employment. While it does not require that employee benefits be extended to domestic partners, it does call for a more tolerant environment for unmarried domestic partners in the state of Maryland.

The 1996 report, prepared by an ad hoc committee on domestic partner benefits, recommended (among other things) extending to domestic partners the same institution-controlled benefits enjoyed by the legal spouses of employees. Significant portions of that report were rejected, however, upon review of the full board.

For more information, point your browser to www.usmd.edu and click on "Domestic Partner Taskforce."