Dennis Disbot/The Ithacan Lisa Maurer, Coordinator of LGBT Education Outreach, discusses the college policy on benefits for same-sex partnerships.

Tammy Travis doesn’t work for Ithaca College. But if the partner of Assistant Professor of Writing Sarah Jefferis gets sick, she’s covered by college insurance.

That’s because the college is one of 196 colleges and universities that provide domestic partners with benefits, according to the Human Rights Campaign, a gay and lesbian rights advocacy group.

The University of Pittsburgh was sued for denying same-sex partner benefits, and announced last week that it will begin offering medical and dental insurance to same-sex couples.

Ithaca College has offered benefits to same-sex couples in domestic partnerships since 1996, said Cheryl Freer, director of benefits in the Office of Human Resources.

The college recognizes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender faculty and staff and their domestic partners by offering them the same benefits that married couples receive.

Approximately 20 same-sex couples have applied, said Pat O’Rear, administrative assistant in the Office of Human Resources.

However, faculty members in domestic partnerships pay more for benefits than married couples because of federal policy, said Lisa Maurer, coordinator of LGBT Education Outreach Services.

Jefferis said the policies are unequal.

“I’m very thankful for having the opportunity to place my partner on benefits, that’s great,” Jefferis said. “But it costs me money out of my pocket.”

LGBT faculty members with same-sex partners are forced to pay taxes on their insurance premiums, unlike heterosexual couples who are tax exempt under federal regulations, according to the Affidavit of Domestic Partnership.

In addition, same-sex couples married in Massachusetts remain unrecognized as married by the college, again because of federal policy.

Sophomore Raul Huezo said he thinks that sexual preference shouldn’t matter when determining benefit costs.

“It should be the norm,” he said. “It shouldn’t just be for straights, it should be for everyone. It goes back to the whole same-sex marriage legality issue.”

But the benefits program at the college is the same for same-sex and married couples.

It covers medical and dental insurance, and partners of faculty members can use campus facilities like the Fitness Center, Library, and pool.

Faculty members with partners must fill out a four-page document with their partner and present a certificate of domestic partnership to Human Resources.

Jefferis noted a discrepancy between the treatment of married couples and domestic partners.

“They told me that I had to bring Tammy [her domestic partner] in. Do they ask heterosexual couples to bring their spouse in? No. They just believe you.”

O’Rear compared the benefits policy to that of a bank.

“We require verification of cohabitation to make sure that they’re a committed couple - it’s like a joint bank account,” he said.

Human Resources does not require married faculty members to bring their spouse in for verification, O’Rear said.