College Policy Number/Title:

• 63.07  Benefits

Full- and part-time position control/budgeted employees of Howard Community College are eligible for tuition reimbursement for courses offered by an accredited or professionally recognized educational institution other than HCC according to established priorities and within available resources.  Dependents, spouses,  same sex domestic partners, and dependents of same-sex domestic partners of full- and part-time, position control/budgeted employees will be eligible for reimbursement for any courses successfully completed at Howard Community College according to established priorities and within available resources.  A dependent is one who is the biological child of the parent or who has been legally adopted, and is financially dependent on the parent and resides in the residence of the parent, as defined by the Internal Revenue Service.

Adjunct faculty may also be eligible for limited tuition reimbursement.  Criteria and application forms are available in the division offices.

For information on tuition waivers for budgeted HCC employees who take courses at HCC, please reference Tuition Waiver Procedure (63.07.14).

CRITERIA

1. In instances where a full- or part-time, position control/budgeted employee receives full or partial tuition support from another source, tuition reimbursement will defray only those costs not covered by such arrangements and in accordance with the criteria listed in this procedure.
2. Employees will not be allowed to take courses during their regular working hours unless they are on an approved sabbatical, administrative, or other leave.
3. Tuition reimbursement approval must be obtained prior to registering for a course and/or program.  Forms are available in the office of human resources and online.
4. Tuition reimbursement is for courses offered by an accredited or professionally recognized institution.  Job-related workshops, seminars, special supervised training sessions, etc. will not be funded under the tuition reimbursement program.  Participation in such activities must be approved by an employee's supervisor and budgeted for in the "Conferences and Workshops" category in administrative cost centers.
5. Employees must be employed at the college through successful completion of the course; employees who leave the college prior to completion will not be eligible for reimbursement.
6. Successful completion is required for reimbursement.  Successful completion is defined as a passing grade in a credit course, and a certificate or letter of completion in a non-credit course.  Auditing a course is not considered successful completion unless the student has completed all course requirements as certified by a letter from the instructor.

PRIORITY 1 – College Employees (Courses that are Job, Career, or Degree Related)

Tuition Reimbursement
The first priority is to provide tuition reimbursement up to $3,000 per fiscal year for full-time and $1,500 for part-time, position control/budgeted employees who request to take courses at another college or university.  The courses must be:  job-related, career-related, or required as part of a degree program.  The college reserves the right to reject applications for courses that will not benefit the college.

Fee Reimbursement
The first priority also includes fee reimbursement for:  (1) courses taken by employees at Howard Community College that are job-, career-, or degree- related or taken as part of the Wellness Program and (2) course fees only for courses taken at another college or university which are job-, career- or degree- related.  For courses taken at Howard Community College, which are, job-, career-, or degree- related, employees may request to have fees deferred, provided the employee agrees to pay the fees if the course is not completed successfully.  Employees must agree to have an automatic payroll deduction if it is necessary to refund the fees.  Paperwork to request the fee deferral is available in the office of human resources. 

PRIORITY 2 – College Employees (Courses that are not Job, Career, or Degree Related)

The second priority is to provide 50 percent tuition reimbursement per fiscal year for full-time and part-time, position control/budgeted employees who request to take courses at another college or university that are not job-, career-, or degree- related.

PRIORITY 3 – Family Members Taking Courses at HCC

The third priority is to provide tuition reimbursement for courses taken at Howard Community College by a budgeted employee’s family members (including spouses, dependents, same-sex domestic partners, and dependents of same-sex domestic partners).

Priority 3: Full-time

For full-time budgeted employees, tuition will be reimbursed for up to 15 credits per fiscal year, per family member, without any reduction in the employee’s $3,000 allotment for his/her own tuition reimbursement.  At the employee’s request through human resources, tuition for the 15 credits may be waived in advance of the class rather than reimbursed afterwards; however, the employee will need to sign an agreement promising to pay the tuition if the class is not completed successfully or the employee separates from the college prior to the end of the class.    

Full-time budgeted employees may also be granted reimbursement for tuition costs for a family member beyond the initial 15 credits taken in a fiscal year or for any noncredit classes; however, these tuition costs are deducted from the employee’s $3,000 allotment.  Any remaining tuition charges beyond the initial 15 credits and the reimbursement dollar allotment must be paid out-of-pocket by the employee.

The college caps tuition at the 15 credit level per semester.  Therefore, if a full-time budgeted employee’s family member takes and successfully completes 15 or more credits in a single semester no additional charges will be assessed for that semester or counted against the employee’s allotment.

Note that some noncredit classes, for example those denoted XE in the continuing education catalog, are not eligible for tuition waiver, but are eligible for tuition reimbursement.  Any questions about whether or not a class is reimbursable should be directed to human resources.

Priority 3: Part-time

For part-time budgeted employees, tuition will be reimbursed for up to 8 credits per fiscal year, per family member, without any reduction in the employee’s $1,500 allotment for his/her own tuition reimbursement.  At the employee’s request through human resources, tuition for the 8 credits may be waived in advance of the class rather than reimbursed afterwards; however, the employee will need to sign an agreement promising to pay the tuition if the class is not completed successfully or the employee separates from the college prior to the end of the class.   

Part-time budgeted employees may also be granted reimbursement for tuition costs for a family member beyond the initial 8 credits taken in a fiscal year or for any noncredit classes; however, these tuition costs are deducted from the employee’s $1,500 allotment.  Any remaining tuition charges beyond the initial 8 credits and the reimbursement dollar allotment must be paid out-of-pocket by the employee.

The college caps tuition at the 15 credit level per semester.  Therefore, if a part-time budgeted employee’s family member takes and successfully completes 15 or more credits in a single semester no additional charges beyond 15 credits will be assessed for that semester or counted against the employee’s allotment.  However, the employee will have to pay (or use their allotment) for the credits beyond 8 up to 15. 

Note that some noncredit classes, for example those denoted XE in the continuing education catalog, are not eligible for tuition waiver, but are eligible for tuition reimbursement.  Any questions about whether or not a class is reimbursable should be directed to human resources.

PROCESS  

1. All full- and part-time, position control/budgeted employees and/or their dependents, spouses, same-sex domestic partners, or dependents of same-sex domestic partners must complete a tuition reimburse­ment form and obtain the approval of their immediate supervisors prior to registration.
2. Fifty percent of the reimbursement pool will be awarded in January and the balance of this pool will be awarded in June according to the preceding criteria.

Same Sex Domestic Partners are defined as:

1. The partners must have attained a minimum age of 18.
2. Neither person is related by blood closer than is permitted by state law for marriage.
3. The partners must have a committed relationship.
4. The partners must be financially interdependent.
5. The partners must live in the same household.

In a period of retrenchment, the president may override these priorities in favor of retraining individuals subject to reduction in force.

Effective Date:   10/14/11