By Alysa TeichmanThe Daily Northwestern

Northwestern provides more generous benefits to its faculty and staff for the holidays than other universities, according to several NU administrators.

Sodexho gives its employees the choice of taking home either a whole turkey or an Eli’s cheesecake before Thanksgiving, free of charge, said Paul Komelasky, Sodexho regional district manager.

“Frankly, I was pleasantly surprised when I got this memo about ordering the food for Thanksgiving,” said Mike Blecha, the lead manager of Sargent Hall. “It’s a nice thing that I haven’t run into before.”

Sodexho also “does something similar at Christmas time,” Komelasky said.

All NU employees enjoy a paid vacation days on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

This year, because of the way the dates fall, employees can take two extra vacation days and receive an entire week off. Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday – that employees already have off – so NU adjusted its schedule and moved the additional paid day off to Dec. 26.

“The calendar really favored us this year,” said Guy Miller, NU’s associate vice president for human services.

Unlike many businesses that give employees holiday bonuses, NU does not offer cash bonuses, administrators said. The university considers its holiday parties and paid vacation days ample compensation for the holidays.

Loyola University at Chicago offers similar benefits to its employees. Employees receive the same amount of paid vacation as Northwestern faculty and staff, but they get one additional day on the Dec. 22, according to Olivia Delacruz, a human resources representative at Loyola.

Like at NU, Loyola employees enjoy holiday luncheons paid for by central funding and human resources. Loyola invites its faculty, staff and retirees to a Christmas luncheon on Dec. 21 where they can win prizes, compete in contests and eat. Afterward, most leave work early and start their holiday break.

In addition to the school-wide parties, both Northwestern and Loyola have benefits by departments, as well.

Although Loyola’s employees enjoy a generous paid time-off plan, Miller said that many schools do not offer its employees such benefits.

“I can say the staff at Northwestern enjoys one of the more generous time-off paid plans in the Chicago market,” Miller said.

Reach Alysa Teichman at [email protected].