The College issued a one-time payment of $1,000 to staff earning up to $60,000 in base salary or its part-time equivalent to offset rising health care costs on Jan. 16. The payment follows months of criticism from staff and students on recent changes to employee benefits.
The payment will be prorated for part-time employees and distributed in January. The measure is part of a broader review of compensation and benefits that will continue through the spring, Mandel wrote in an all-staff email in December that was obtained by the Record.
“In conversations last fall, staff described the challenges of affordability in our region and asked us to adjust the college’s pay and benefits practices in relation to this challenge,” Mandel wrote in an email to the Record. “My colleagues and I heard the concerns and took them to heart. Williams staff are valued members of this community, and we’re in the midst of a systematic effort to develop meaningful solutions.”
Mandel emphasized that the one-time payment is not intended to function as a permanent solution to rising costs. “The payment is definitely part of a multi-pronged effort,” she wrote. “Health care costs in this country are rising, and inflation continues to erode people’s overall buying power. We want to soften the blow for employees, especially those in lower-earning jobs.”
In the fall, a group of College employees organized to protest changes to staff benefits. Flyers posted across campus criticized increased health insurance costs, modifications to vacation day accrual policies, and a cap on the dependent tuition benefit. Dozens of staff, faculty, and students gathered at Mandel’s office in November to protest the changes.
The protests followed the College’s announcement last spring that it would increase the share of medical premium contributions paid by employees to 25 percent by 2030. The share paid by employees is currently 21 percent.
Under the current model, all employees pay the same insurance premiums, regardless of income, meaning health care costs make up a larger percentage of the salaries of lower-paid staff. Last April, the Williams Staff Committee (WSC) proposed a sliding-scale contribution model in which premiums would be tied to income.
That proposal was initially rejected by the administration in April, but it is now under review. “The college’s Benefits Committee and Committee on Priorities and Resources are considering in parallel a proposal from WSC for a new method of assessing health benefits costs,” Mandel wrote. “The WSC believes their approach would reduce the burden on employees in the lower tiers of pay.”
The College has paused further increases in employee premium contributions for 2026 while the committees review alternative benefits models, according to Mandel. “We will instead take the year to review our model and decide whether to resume the sequence of annual adjustments in 2027,” Mandel wrote.
The College is also conducting its first externally-led staff compensation study in more than two decades. Launched in February 2025, the study is intended to assess whether the College’s pay structures remain “competitive, equitable, and aligned with our compensation philosophy,” according to Mandel. Findings and recommendations are expected in spring 2026, after which any necessary adjustments would be considered, Mandel wrote.
