420-01 TUITION EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE—PROCEDURE

 

 

1. PURPOSE

The purpose of the Tuition Education Assistance policy is to encourage eligible College employees to pursue professional development through continuing education.

 

2. PROCEDURE

1.    Tuition Reimbursement

Full-time employees are eligible for the tuition reimbursement benefit for course work outside of the College. Part-time faculty, classified staff employees serving a probationary period, part-time employees, and work study employees are not eligible.

a.   An employee must be employed in a full-time status by the first day of class in order to be eligible for this benefit.

b.   An employee must be in good standing with the College, and not have been involved in any disciplinary action for the previous 12 months.

c.   Eligible employees will be reimbursed up to $111.00 per credit hour, for a maximum of nine (9) hours per fiscal year not to exceed a $1,000, conditional on a final grade of A or B (or equivalent) and a pass in a pass/fail class.

d.   For a class to be eligible for reimbursement, it must be job-related as determined by the supervisor and must be taken from an accredited institution of higher education. Job relatedness is determined by the supervisor and will normally be defined by the following:

1.   The class will further the employee’s skills and abilities in the employee’s current position.

2.   The class is part of a degree program that is related to the employee’s position.

3.   The class or degree program is a part of the employee’s professional development plan as documented in the employee’s performance appraisal.

4.   Reimbursement may apply only to tuition and mandatory fees that are required for enrollment. Textbooks are not considered mandatory fees. Reimbursement will not apply to any fee already covered by a grant, scholarship, assistantship or other form of financial assistance.

5.   The reimbursement may be taxable, based on IRS regulations.

 

2.   Tuition Waivers

a.   Full-time faculty and full-time staff who are assigned 30 hours or more per week are eligible for 15 credit hours per semester with 100% of tuition waived, to be shared between the employee and spouse or dependents. A person must qualify as a “dependent” or “spouse” for federal income tax purposes in order to qualify for the benefit.

 

b.   Part-time faculty is eligible to have one credit hour waived for every credit hour taught not to exceed seven (7) credit hours per semester or summer. Credit hours waived must be taken during the same semester they are teaching, or the immediate semester following the semester they taught in the same fiscal year. The seven (7) credits can be shared with eligible spouse and/or dependents.

c.    Part-time staff who work twenty (20) hours or more for twenty (20)

consecutive weeks are eligible for seven (7) credits per semester with 100% of the tuition waived. The seven (7) credit hours can be shared with eligible spouse and/or dependents.

d.   There are no provisions for eligible employees, spouses or dependents to audit a course under this benefit. In all cases, registration, laboratory or other related class fees are excluded and must be paid in accordance with normal payment processes.

e.      The tuition waiver does not apply to non-credit workshops or classes and only applies to in-state tuition.

f.   An employee must be employed in an eligible status by the first day of class in order to qualify for the benefit for that semester or summer session.

g.   EDU 250 will be completely waived for employees who are required to take this class as part of satisfactorily fulfilling the College’s credentialing requirement. Refer to the Faculty Handbook for details.

   h.   Eligible part- time faculty may use this benefit for any semester or summer session in which they teach or the immediate semester following the semester they taught in as long as it’s in the same fiscal year. Dependents may only use the waiver in the same semester the part-time faculty taught in.

   i.   The part-time faculty or eligible dependent will pay for each class when registering. After the first week of teaching class, part-time faculty shall submit a Tuition Waiver Form to their supervisor and then the Human Resources Department for approval. This is to ensure that the class being taught makes and is active prior to the awarding of the benefit.

   j.   Part-time faculty requesting pre-approval will need consent from their Department Chair, Dean and Human Resources. In the event that the class or classes the part-time faculty member was scheduled to teach are cancelled or do not make after a tuition waiver has been approved, the approval will be revoked and tuition will be billed to the student. In addition, the part-time faculty will be reimbursed at 100% if they choose to drop the class.

 

3. Background

1.      References: Faculty Handbook

2.      Revision history: 05/13/2009, combines Procedures 420.1 and 420.3 into 420-01

3.      Legal review: none

 

Adopted by College Council: 05/13/2009