How to Complete Open Enrollment

Owned by Dorsey, Alie
Last updated: Oct 18, 2024 by Cherylin Shdo
9 min read

The Open Enrollment period for the coming 1/1/2025 - 12/31/2025 plan year will be from October 21st to November 1st. Please follow the instructions below to ensure that all desired changes are submitted before 5pm on November 1, 2024.

If you are adding any dependents to coverage at Open Enrollment, please follow all instructions below carefully, extra steps are needed to ensure dependents are added to the system.

If you experience any difficulties with the system or have any questions, please contact the Office of Human Resources at (206) 281-2809 or hr@spu.edu. 

Beginning January 1, 2025, Unum will offer SPU’s voluntary life insurance product, and Aetna will add three supplemental policies to our menu of voluntary options. These options will replace the Colonial Life policies offered on the 2024 platform.

We encourage everyone to actively participate in open enrollment and to review all current elections along with the new features for 2025. However, if you are not enrolled in any of the voluntary supplemental policies and you do not need to change any elections, your enrollment will default to your current elections and convert you’re your voluntary life coverage from Colonial Life to Unum in the same amount and at the same premium. With the transition to Unum as our sole life insurance carrier everyone has the option to enroll in additional life insurance for yourself, your spouse, and your children with a guaranteed issue of up to $200,000 for the employee. If you are enrolled in any other of the voluntary supplemental policies offered through Colonial Life in 2024, then you must participate in open enrollment to make new elections from the 2025 options with Aetna. The switch to Aetna’s supplemental policies streamlines the open enrollment process, allowing employees to make their elections within the SPU/Banner tool. Employees who prefer to continue supplemental policies with Colonial Life may do so by contacting a Colonial representative and making independent arrangements for premium payments. Employees maintaining Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) must also actively re-elect this option each year. And remember, as always, plan deductibles and other accumulators will all reset with the start of the new plan year on January 1.

For 403(b) retirement plan deduction changes, please make these changes through your account at the Transamerica website, (Click Here).  

Table of Contents



Accessing the Open Enrollment System

Once you have logged into Banner, select "Employee Menu" > "Benefits and Deductions Menu" > "Benefit Enrollment."

Select "Open Enrollment" from the list of options.

You will be directed to the "Open Enrollment Summary" page.


Changing Benefits Coverage

  1. Select the  button on the "Open Enrollment Summary" page. Your current benefit elections will appear under the "Benefits Status" column.
  2. Select the "Health" link under the "Group" heading to begin making changes to your coverage. You will be routed to the "Open Enrollment Group Detail" page:

  3. Changes can be made to the following benefits in this system:

     Medical Insurance

     There are four possible reasons for making changes to your medical coverage:


     You want to switch between the Health Savings Account (HSA) and the Health Reimbursement Account (HRA)
    1. Select the medical plan option under which you are currently covered.
    2. Select .
      1. If you are switching from the HSA to the HRA, make sure to also stop your personal HSA contributions by going to the ""Health Savings Account Employee Contribution" link and selecting .

    3. Select the alternative medical plan option.
    4. Select the appropriate coverage level, then .
    5. When all changes to your other benefits have been made for all applicable benefits, follow the instructions on changing your dependent coverage.
     You want to add or drop dependents from your current coverage
     Adding dependents


    If your dependents are not already entered into Banner:

    1. Navigate to "Employee Menu" > Benefits and Deductions Menu" > "Personal Data."


    2. Select the link to add new dependents under the "Beneficiaries Information" section.
    3. Enter the requested information into the appropriate fields, then select .

      1. PLEASE NOTE: HR will need to create this record on your behalf, so it might take some time.

    To add dependents to your coverage:

    1. Once all of your dependents are entered into Banner, navigate to the Open Enrollment system (instructions above)

    2. Make the necessary coverage level changes to your medical plan and select .
    3. Once all of the necessary coverage level changes have been made for all applicable benefits, follow the instructions for changing dependent coverage.
     Dropping dependents
    1. Make the necessary coverage level changes to your medical plan and select


    2. Once all of the necessary coverage level changes have been made for all applicable benefits, follow the instructions for changing dependent coverage.
     You previously waived your medical coverage but would like to be on the plan for the upcoming year
    1. Select the medical plan option next to which you see "7-Waived."


    2. If you wish to begin coverage under this plan, select the appropriate coverage level choice and select .
    3. If you wish to begin coverage on the other medical plan, select and once you are back to the "Open Enrollment Group Detail" page, navigate to the other medical plan option.


    4. Select the appropriate coverage level, then .
    5. When all changes to your other benefits have been made, follow the instructions on changing your dependent coverage.
     You would like to waive your medical coverage for the upcoming year
    1. Select the medical plan under which you are already enrolled.
    2. Choose the "7-Waived" option and hit .


    3. If you are making contributions to the Health Savings Account (HSA), go to "Health Savings Account Employee Contribution" and select .
    4. When all changes to your other benefits have been made, follow the instructions on changing your dependent coverage.



     Dental & Vision Insurance
    1. Once you have selected the benefit, you will be routed to the "Open Enrollment Choice Detail" page. Your current plan will be already selected.



    2. If you would like to change your coverage level, select the corresponding radio button and select either or (whichever is present).



    3. When all changes to your other benefits have been made, follow the instructions on changing your dependent coverage.
     Health Savings Account (HSA) Personal Contributions

    If you need assistance calculating your maximum personal contribution amounts, please see the HSA Calculator.

    1. Select the "Health Savings Account Employee Contribution" link from the "Open Enrollment Group Detail" page.
    2. If you are currently making personal contributions to your HSA, that amount will appear in the "Employee Pay Period Amount" field:

      1. If you wish to change the contribution amount, change the amount in that field, and then select .
      2. If you wish to stop making personal contributions, select .
     Emeriti Personal Contributions


    1. Select the "Emeriti Employee Contribution" link from the "Open Enrollment Group Detail" page.
    2. If you are currently making personal contributions to the Emeriti program, that amount will appear in the "Employee Pay Period Amount" field:

      1. If you wish to change the contribution amount, change the amount in that field, and then select .
      2. If you wish to stop making personal contributions, select .

     Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)

    There are three Flexible Spending Account options for you to pick from:

    • Healthcare Flexible Spending Account (can be used with the HRA, but not the HSA)
    • Limited Purpose FSA (for dental and vision expenses only - can be used with an HSA)
    • Dependent Care FSA (for dependent or elder care expenses - can have with either medical plan)
    1. Select the FSA option from the list of the "Open Enrollment Choice Detail" page.
    2. Enter the per-pay period amount that you would like to contribute into the "Employee Pay Period Amount" field:
    3. Select .
  4. Once you have made all of the desired coverage changes, select the  button to take you back to the "Open Enrollment Summary" page. Your benefit elections will now show under the "Benefits Status" column. Make sure that everything looks correct!
  5. Once you have verified that all of the changes have been made, select  to submit your election changes. 
    1. If you need to make changes to dependent coverage, continue on to the "Changing Dependent Coverage" section below.
    2. If you do not need to make any dependent changes, you have completed Open Enrollment!


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Changing Dependent Coverage

Be sure to change your coverage levels before you make any dependent changes! Follow the instructions for Benefit Elections (above) before moving on to this stage. 


  1. Once you have selected the  button, two more buttons will appear: the "Reopen Open Enrollment" button and the "Dependent Benefit Selection" button. Select the  button, which will take you to the "Dependent Benefit Selection Summary" page.
  2. At the top of the page, you will see the "Beneficiaries and Dependents Information" section. The employee's name is listed first, and then any dependents that the employee may have, along with what benefits they are currently covered under.  This is showing your benefits AS OF THAT DAY, so any coverage changes made are not being reflected there yet.
  3. The second section is entitled "Enroll Coverage and Allocations." This is where you will be able to select dependents to cover or drop. Any benefit that will allow you to cover dependents has a "Coverage Details" link next to it:
  4. Select the "Coverage Detail" link next to the appropriate benefit to take you to the "Benefits Coverage" page. 
  5. Select the checkbox under "Choose Benefit" for the correct dependent.
    1. If you are adding a dependent to your coverage, enter 07/01/2021 into the "Begin Date" field.
    2. If you are dropping a dependent from your coverage, enter 06/30/2021 into the "End Date" field.
  6. Once your changes have been made for this benefit, select the  button to save. A message should show up that says "Successfully Updated" (see image below). Then, select to return to the main "Dependent Benefit Selection Summary" page.

  7. When all of your dependents' information has been verified, each dependent's benefits coverage should be listed:
  8. Select  at the bottom of the page to return to the main "Open Enrollment Summary" page.
  9. If no other changes need to be made, you are now finished with Open Enrollment!

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What if I need to make changes after I've already submitted my Open Enrollment changes?

Once you have logged back in to Banner and navigated back to the Open Enrollment system (see directions above), select the  button and the system will allow you to go through the process again.

You can make changes to your Open Enrollment benefit elections through Friday, November 3, 2023.

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