Gay and unmarried straight University of Georgia employees might be able to put their domestic partners on their insurance by next summer, UGA President Michael Adams said today.

Adams said he thinks he has the authority to extend soft benefits like dental and life insurance that are paid for entirely by employees to domestic partners and hopes to do so by July 1. Georgia Tech, Kennesaw State University, Georgia Perimeter College, Georgia State University and Georgia Health Sciences University already have similar policies.

Adams sent a letter Nov. 7 to his bosses, University System Chancellor Hank Huckaby and the Board of Regents, for permission to offer health insurance to domestic partners.

"We believe we have the flexibility to initiate the voluntary benefits," Adams said at his monthly press conference. "I would like to have that initiated by the end of the fiscal year. I have asked about the health care portion of the benefits, and I expect to hear a response in the not-too-distant future."

Health insurance is a bit more complicated than soft benefits because it's subsidized by taxpayers, although the faculty and staff on the University Council suggested finding another source of funding when they overwhelmingly asked Adams to institute partner benefits.

Adams said he wants the issue settled before he retires in June. "I would like to not have this hanging over the new president's head, whoever he or she may be," he said.

The university's strategic plan update calls for going after more federal research dollars and building up graduate programs—goals dependent on Congress avoiding the "fiscal cliff" that will hit in a month as a result of last year's debt ceiling deal. The automatic spending cuts known as sequestration would be "a significant negative for this institution" because a quarter of UGA employees' salaries are paid by grants.

Adams said he's optimistic that moderates on both sides of aisle will address both spending and revenue, praising Sen. Saxby Chambliss for bucking the anti-tax activist Grover Norquist. "I believe we'll come to our senses and find common ground," he said. "The election is over. The voters have spoken. It's time for everybody to come together and govern and move on."

And there's no truth to the rumors that UGA is leaving the SEC for the Pac-10 (kidding). But Adams said he's not a fan of the current bowl system or all the schools jumping to new conferences recently.

The SEC didn't try to poach new members Texas A&M or Missouri from the Big 12, he said. He criticized other conferences for chasing expansion opportunities but said he expects the number of major conferences to drop from six to four soon. (He didn't say which four). "There are some conferences I think are devaluing themselves in the process," he said.

He also thinks whoever loses the SEC championship game Saturday, whether it's Alabama or the Bulldogs, should get to play in a better bowl than the rumored Capitol One, instead of being leapfrogged by Florida.