Gonzaga University

NOMINATOR COMMENTS

In early 2023, Gonzaga University Vice President of Human Resources Operations Lisa Schwartzenburg and her colleagues stepped out of a retirement conference and onto a Florida beach. Discussions and presentations at the conference, packed with other higher-education leaders, had prompted her to think about the retirement benefits offered to Gonzaga’s employees.

What started as a series of questions on that warm evening led to an outcome for Gonzaga’s workforce that makes the university a strong candidate for Plan Sponsor of the Year. After months of research and work, Gonzaga’s retirement plan committee settled on an approach: A custom target-date solution with a glide path built specific to the Gonzaga University participant demographics with an embedded lifetime income sleeve; full re-enrollment into the age-appropriate model portfolio; and a full-throttle education and marketing campaign to back it all up. These efforts greatly improved participants’ engagement with their plan accounts and the percentage of participants on track for a secure retirement.

Lisa Schwartzenburg, AVP, Human Resources Operations, Gonzaga University
Photograph by Matt Kalinowski

PLANSPONSOR: How would you describe Gonzaga University?

Gonzaga: Gonzaga University was established in 1887 and is a nationally ranked liberal arts institution that educates students for lives of leadership and service for the common good. In keeping with its Catholic, Jesuit and humanistic heritage and identity, Gonzaga models and expects excellence in academic and professional pursuits and intentionally develops the whole person—intellectually, spiritually, culturally, physically and emotionally.

Since Gonzaga is Jesuit, we as a human resources team operate under foundational Jesuit principles, one being cura personalis. Cura personalis means “care for the whole person,” and this principle is the standard we hold our work to as a benefits team—we ensure that that mindset and focus is integrated into our retirement offering to our staff and faculty.

PLANSPONSOR: What are you most proud of in relation to your retirement plan offering?

Gonzaga: This work began as an intentional reflection of the previous default retirement plan and [the desire] to create an even better offering for GU employees. Through months of research and dedicated reflection, our retirement committee worked with CAPTRUST and TIAA to design a custom target-date solution aimed at better supporting employees’ financial stability and wellness.

Our goal was to create a default retirement plan that included an optional lifetime income feature that offers a guaranteed rate of return while still providing a choice for the employees if they wanted to convert their retirement savings into a lifelong income at retirement.

Through this process, our team also saw an opportunity to increase employee literacy about retirement planning and the value of having plans that consider their individual circumstances and financial goals. This education was accomplished through intentional learning opportunities and one-on-one meetings to discuss each person’s financial goals.

PLANSPONSOR: Please cite any noteworthy initiatives you have taken in the past 24 to 36 months that have produced results to improve your plan, and describe the results.

Gonzaga: In 2023, Gonzaga University embarked on a mission to enhance our default investment option within the retirement program, transitioning from a passively managed target-date series. Over an eight-month period, the retirement committee collaborated closely with our investment adviser to tailor the default investment option to the unique demographics of the university’s plan. This involved aligning equity and fixed-income exposure to the specific contribution rates, account balances and ages of the participants. Additionally, the committee introduced an optional lifetime income component to the portfolio, providing stability through a guaranteed rate of return and offering participants the option of annuitization upon retirement. Once the new default was crafted, we implemented a full plan re-enrollment, accompanied by a robust communication and education campaign to ensure employees were informed and proactive about the changes.

The campaign successfully prompted participants to review their accounts, leading to significant engagement and action. The messaging continued through the Gonzaga University Total Rewards Fair, highlighting all employee benefits.

Key outcomes of the campaign include:

• 21% increase in participant retirement readiness, measured by a TIAA proprietary metric;
• Reduction of the plan’s overall weighted average expense ratio to .17% from .20%, with an estimated savings in investment fees for participants of $150,000 annually;
• 68% increase in access to lifetime income; and
• 81% reduction in missing beneficiary designations, demonstrating successful engagement with the communications.

PLANSPONSOR: What does winning Plan Sponsor of the Year mean for Gonzaga?

Gonzaga: Being recognized by PLANSPONSOR is not only an incredible honor, but it showcases the discernment and hard work our team has put into our offerings to our employees. This win reflects Gonzaga’s commitment to offering a leading retirement plan to our staff and faculty in alignment with the university’s mission and commitment to cura personalis in terms of their financial stability and financial wellness.

PLANSPONSOR: Is there anything else you would like to share?

Gonzaga: Surprisingly, we did not receive ANY complaints during the transition, even to this day. This demonstrates that employees had enough detail to make informed decisions on their accounts and knew where to go to get additional information or help. In addition, HR has noticed an increased understanding of annuities by employees, given the additional annuity education that was provided both before and during the plan changes, as well as the materials supporting the transition. Attendance at retirement webinars and seminars has increased, and we have expanded our education efforts to other topics such as estate and will planning.

This year, for our Plan Sponsor of the Year profiles, we are publishing Q&As based on the finalists’ applications and nominator comments. Responses are edited and may be paraphrased. In cases where the finalist self-nominated or, on its application, referred judges to the nomination for the answer, we have attributed those nominator answers to the plan sponsor.