Ithaca College 2026 Open Enrollment Instructions

2026 Annual Open Enrollment is the time for Benefits Eligible IC employees to make benefit plan changes without having a qualified life event (e.g. family or employment change). Changes made during this period will be effective January 1, 2026. The open enrollment period will begin on October 27th and end at 5pm on November 7th. There will be no exceptions to the deadline due to the short amount of time we must process all changes and send updated files to our benefit partners.

Contents

Section 1: Review Your Information in IC HR Cloud

Section 2: Update Your Benefits Enrollments in IC HR Cloud

Section 3: Elect a Spending Account

Section 4: Finalize Benefits Enrollment

Section 1: Review Your Information in IC HR Cloud

Reviewing your information in IC HR Cloud for accuracy is an important step to ensure that your 2025 benefits enrollments are processed accurately and all enrollment information can be received in a timely manner. 

1. Review and/or Update Your Personal Information in IC HR Cloud
   • ​Click here to review/update your personal information in IC HR Cloud. This includes name, gender, dependent full-time student status (if applicable). etc.
   • Click here to review/update your contact information in IC HR Cloud. This includes your address, secondary phone numbers, and email addresses.
2. Review Current Benefit Enrollments:
   • Login to HR Cloud Here
   • Click on the Home icon in the top right of the page
   • Click the orange Benefits tile in your "Me" section
   • Click on the Your Benefits tile
   • Click the drop-down menu and select Today
   • Click on IC Benefits Program
     • You may also click Print in the upper right corner for a PDF view
   • Review all plan selections and covered dependents. This includes Medical, Dental, Vision, Spending Accounts, Supplemental Life Plans, and Employer benefits
     • Click on the down-facing carrot icon to extend the sections and review additional details
3. Review your dependents and contacts on your record
   • Login to HR Cloud Here
   • Click on the Home icon in the top right of the page
   • Click the orange Benefits tile in your "Me" section
   • Click on the Before You Enroll tile
   • Review current dependents/contacts under People to Cover
     • This displays all of the current contacts on your record, not just those enrolled in your benefit plans

• What is the difference between a contact and a dependent?
  • A contact is someone added to your record who may serve as your emergency contact or be designated as a beneficiary for your life insurance. 
  • A dependent, on the other hand, is a spouse or child added to your record to be enrolled in healthcare benefits and/or be designated as a life insurance beneficiary. 
  • If you need to add a dependent, contact, or beneficiary to your record ahead of open enrollment, submit a dependent/contact add form linked here.

*Designating a life insurance beneficiary will be required during open enrollment. You will not be able to submit your enrollments without a beneficiary designated. 

Section 2: Update Your Benefits Enrollments in IC HR Cloud

This section outlines the specific steps you should take when making changes to your benefits during this Open Enrollment period. Please follow each step as outlined below, and reach out to a member of the Benefits team if you have any questions via the HR Help Desk here. 

1. Update your Benefit Enrollments in IC HR Cloud
   • Login to HR Cloud here
   • Click on the Home icon in the top right of the page
   • Click the orange Benefits tile in your "Me" section
   • Click on the Before you Enroll tile
     • Ensure all dependents/beneficiaries you plan to add to your benefits are listed here 
   • Click on Continue in the upper right hand corner
     • If this button is greyed out for you, please reach out to the benefits team here
   • Select the edit pencil icon next to any benefit section you wish to update
     • Select OK once you make changes for each plan.
     • Select Continue in the upper right hand corner after you have made necessary edits to each benefits plan in order to advance to the next plan.
     • If you are covering any eligible dependents on your health insurance plans, please ensure that you check the box under “Who do you want to cover?” next to each person.
   • Ensure you review all life insurance plans you are enrolled in, including the employer-provided plans, and ensure you have designated a beneficiary for each one
     • If you are designating a beneficiary, please ensure you add a % next to their name. Ex: you can have two beneficiaries both at 50%. You just need to ensure the percentages equal to 100%. 

*If you are enrolling in the High Deductible Health Plan, a Health Savings Account, or a Flexible Spending Account, please review Section 3 for helpful information.

Section 3: Electing Spending Accounts

When electing a Flexible spending Account or a Health Savings Account and adding the amount you wish to contribute during the calendar year, you will need to do the following:

1. Click Edit next to the Spending Accounts header to access the spending accounts associated with Open Enrollment (includes FSA and HSA information). Your current HSA or FSA option will be selected by default.
2. Click on the pencil icon next to "Health Savings Account" or "Flexible Spending Account" and add the annual amount that you wish to contribute. Click OK.
3. Click Continue. Once you click Continue, you will be able to continue down through your elections. After completing your elections, you will click Submit.

Section 4: Finalize Benefits Enrollment

1. Select Submit in the upper right hand corner to re-calculate your per pay-period cost for all benefit elections combined and to save your re-enrollment changes. You will receive a Confirmation that your benefit elections were saved. Please save a copy for your records.
2. You can review the elections you make any time throughout the year by going to the Benefits app in HR Cloud and selecting Your Benefits.

Want to print or download your benefits selections for your records?

1. In the Benefits app, click Your Benefits.
2. See Benefits As of Date: type 01/01/2026
3. In the right corner, click the Print tile. A pdf of your Benefits Confirmation & Summary will display in a separate tab.