Upon notification or discovery of the death of a staff or faculty member, University Benefits will notify or confirm notification of UIPD and the Office of Strategic Communication (OSC). University Benefits will monitor notification of the family and will inform OSC and the deceased employee’s senior HR leader when this notification has been confirmed.

Upon discovery or notification of the death of a staff or faculty member, UIPD will notify or confirm notification to University Benefits and the Office of Strategic Communication.

Upon notification or discovery of the death of a staff or faculty member, OSC will notify or confirm notification of UIPD and University Benefits. OSC will handle all requests from media for information and will not release the name or potentially identifying information about the employee until informed by University Benefits or UIPD that the family has been notified.

The HR representative of the deceased employee must take the following actions upon notification of a death of an employee:

• Submit and employment termination from within 72 hours of the notification (reason code=death)
  • Complete a termination transaction in the HR transaction system
  • The change is processed during the automated directory services update, which is reflected in the university directory and address book listings, distributed to computer services for HawkID eligibility changes, and fed into the HawkID system to lock the deceased employee's account.

Information Technology Systems (ITS)

• Notify computer application owners for computer services used by the deceased employee that do not use HawkID for login (for example, a local department application) so that deceased employee's name can be manually removed from access lists. The ITS Help Desk (its-helpdesk@uiowa.edu) can provide assistance.

• If work files, correspondence, and other electronic information need to be retrieved from the person’s office computer by the department using the deceased person’s Hawk ID, the request to reset the password must be documented as follows:

• Send a notice to the ITS Help Desk (its-helpdesk@uiowa.edu) requesting that the person’s account be unlocked and the password reset in order to retrieve work files.
  • Include the person’s name and HawkID (if known).
  • Include a contact name and phone number (the person to receive the password).
  • Copy the head of the department.
  • Copy the Information Security and Policy Office (it-security@uiowa.edu).

• The department may exercise discretion in determining how to handle the deceased employee’s business email account. The ITS Help Desk (its-helpdesk@uiowa.edu) makes these changes on the department’s behalf. The department should consider the amount and type of email received by the person when selecting email handling options, as well as the need for removing the employee from email subscriptions and from web forms that mail to them. Some options are:

• Automatic forward: All emails addressed to jane-doe@uiowa.edu is forwarded to mary-smith@uiowa.edu.
• Automatic forward with auto-reply: All emails addressed to jane-doe@uiowa.edu is forwarded to mary-smith@uiowa.edu, and an automatic reply is sent to the original sender, “The account for jane-doe@uiowa.edu has been closed. Your message has been automatically forwarded to mary-smith@uiowa.edu.”
• No forwarding with an auto-reply: An automatic reply is sent to the original sender, “The account for jane-doe@uiowa.edu has been closed. If you need assistance please resend your message to mary-smith@uiowa.edu.” This option works nicely if you need to split mail to several individuals. For example, “If you need assistance with billing, resend your message to mary-smith@uiowa.edu. If you need assistance with orders, resend your message to bill-jones@uiowa.edu. For all other messages, please resend to john-brown@uiowa.edu.”

Parking and Transportation

If the deceased employee has a departmental business placard, the employing department should return the placard to the parking and transportation office. In the event that parking and transportation does not receive the placard, they will send a letter to the department requesting the items. 

For university employee parking permits, parking and transportation will deactivate the card upon the notice of their death and it is not necessary to return the permit card. 

If the deceased employee's partner/spouse is employed by UI and shared a parking permit, the surviving partner/spouse may retain parking privileges by email or letter to the parking and transportation office requesting a transfer. If the surviving partner/spouse is assigned parking in a different lot than the deceased, they will retain the assignment in their respective lot rather than assuming the deceased partner/spouse's assignment. 

Contact parking and transportation at parking-office@uiowa.edu. 

If the deceased employee participated in the Employee Van Pool Program, their department should be contacted at 319-353-5770 or by email at commuter-programs@uiowa.edu to inform them of the employee's death. 

Sponsored Research: Grants and Contracts

If the deceased employee received salary from a grant or contract, the principal investigator or departmental administrator should contact the Division of Sponsored Programs (DSP) at dsp@uiowa.edu or 319-335-2123 as soon as possible.

If the deceased was a principal investigator or key personnel on a grant or contract, the department should consider whether another qualified staff or faculty member at the university can assume the role and submit a change of status with DSP. Some sponsors (funding agencies) require prior approval for these changes. 

It is important to work with DSP to determine appropriate course of action with grants and contracts.

University Benefits will notify the following departments following a death notification:

• Payroll Services
• Office of the President 
  • the Office of the President will send a letter of condolence to the family
• Staff Council
  • Staff Council orders a book in memory of the staff member that is kept in the University of Iowa Main Library.
• Iowa Now (the news service managed by the Office of Strategic Communications (OSC)

University Benefits works with the respective health, dental, retirement, and life insurance vendors to process claims and work with surviving family members and/or the estate executor to continue coverage, if desired. The office sends claim forms to beneficiaries and works to finalize these transactions.

University Benefits will accept the deceased employee’s university items from the family, as well as answer questions and direct family members, executors, and/or representatives from employing departments regarding the following topics: email, parking, ID cards, paychecks, work materials, the Employee Self-Service website, university property located at home, personal property at the work site, keys, and credit cards.

Continuing Benefits for Spouses/Domestic Partners

Health and dental insurance: Spouses/domestic partners and/or children of an active faculty or P&S staff member whose death occurs while employed may continue university insurances until such time that the children lose their dependent status or the spouse either remarries or obtains employment that includes an insurance policy. 

Spouse/domestic partner ID card: A spouse/domestic partner of an active regular employee whose death occurs while employed may obtain a spousal university ID card from Payroll Services that gives rights and access to certain university facilities and discounts.

Campus Mail Address

University Benefits changes the deceased employee’s campus mail address to the Benefits office address, and distributes mail appropriately upon its receipt.

Contact University Benefits at benefits@uiowa.edu or 319-335-2676.

University Benefits will notify Payroll Services of the event that includes next of kin contact information. Payroll will send the next of kin a letter that explains the following:

• the deceased employee’s final payroll payment(s) cannot be paid directly to the deceased employee. Payment must be made either to the deceased employee’s estate or to their legal beneficiary. The letter will include instructions on how to proceed.
• the employee’s final W-2 will be mailed to the employee’s home address unless otherwise directed by the executor of the estate. If other family members would like a copy of the W-2 or other arrangements are needed for the W-2, the executor of the estate may arrange to obtain a copy of the W-2.

A regular employee who passes away while actively employed is paid for any time worked during the current pay period, plus one additional month of regular base salary, plus any accumulated vacation time.  An additional sick leave benefit is paid if the deceased employee qualifies for the payment.

The employee’s final check(s) will be paid through the University of Iowa Accounts Payable vendor payment system, and the recipient of the final payment(s) will receive an IRS Form 1099 at year end, or for any payments made to the beneficiary or to the estate.

Payroll questions can be directed to 319-335-2381 or payroll-services@uiowa.edu.

Returning Property

The employing department, HR representative, or University Benefits should reach out to the next of kin of the deceased employee to coordinate the return of property. 

• ID cards: All ID cards, with the exception of UI Health Care, will be deactivated upon processing the termination form in the HR transaction system and do not need to be returned. UI Health Care ID cards should be returned to University Benefits or UI Health Care HR.
• Keys: Building and/or office keys should be returned to the employing department or University Benefits.
• Credit Cards: University procurement cards and credit cards should be returned to University Benefits, who will mail them to the purchasing department.
• UI property at home: Computer equipment, files, software, or other university property located at the deceased person’s home needs to be returned to or retrieved by the department. The department and University Benefits will coordinate contacting the next of kin or executor about retrieving university property from the home, so that only one visit is made.
  • If family members or executors request access to the person's computer account(s):
    • Do not share the person's password with the family/executor.
    • Do not forward or make copies of files, work, or other computer correspondence without first consulting with your department/local HR and the Office of the General Counsel (OGC) to determine confidentiality and ownership.
• Personal property at the work site: two persons from the employing department should inventory the property and coordinate with the deceased employee's next of kin to retrieve the property.

All University of Iowa employees who have an appointment of 50% or greater, as well as their partner/spouse and children under 26, are eligible to receive free, confidential counseling services through the Employee Assistance Program. Counselors offer sessions for assessment, referrals, and short-term counseling. This benefit is available to family members for grief counseling as well as stress management, family problems, physical or mental health concerns or job-related issues.

These services also are available to university staff and faculty members affected by your family member’s death. Call 319-335-2085 to schedule an appointment.

For inquiries about outstanding university charges, contact the UI Billing office at ubill@uiowa.edu or 319-335-0071.

For inquiries about outstanding charges at UI Health Care, contact Patient Financial Services at pfs-patientbilling@uiowa.edu or 319-384-2196.

If your family member subscribed to athletic season tickets, contact tickets@hawkeyesports.com or 1-800-IA-HAWKS (1-800-424-2957) to inquire about current or future tickets.

If your family member retained a locker at Finkbine Golf Course, contact the course at golf@finkbine.com or 319-335-9556 to inquire about its contents.

If your family member retained a locker at any of the fitness facilities on campus, contact Recreational Services at rec-services@uiowa.edu or 319-335-9293 to inquire about its contents.