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TUITION WAIVER POLICY
* POLICY NAME:
* POLICY TYPE:
Presidential Policy - University Administrative Policy
POLICY #:
E.3.9.2.
*STATUS:
Active
*CONTACT
OFFICE:
Administration and Finance – Human Resources
*OVERSIGHT
EXECUTIVE:
Vice President for Administration and Finance
*APPLIES TO:
Classified, wage, administrative faculty, professional faculty, and other nonfaculty part time employees
*PURPOSE:
The Office of Human Resources, in conjunction with the Finance Office,
administers a tuition waiver program, which allows the University of Mary
Washington employee to complete credit and non-credit courses at the
University of Mary Washington. The employee must have been continuously
employed by the University for a minimum of one year prior to being eligible to
receive a tuition waiver and must remain employed during the term of the
course. In order to be eligible for tuition waiver, the employee’s job
performance needs to be satisfactory or at least at the “partially achieved” or
the “contributor” level.
DEFINITIONS:
*POLICY
STATEMENT:
A tuition waiver program allows classified, wage, administrative faculty,
professional faculty, and other non-faculty part-time employees at the
University of Mary Washington to complete credit and non-credit courses at the
University of Mary Washington.
PROCEDURES:
* General
Procedures for
Implementation:
Tuition Waiver for Full-Time Employees
For purposes of this section, full-time employees include all full-time classified
employees and administrative/professional faculty.
1) The University will waive the costs not to exceed the in-state tuition
cost of four UMW undergraduate or graduate courses (16 credit
hours) per calendar year.
(Please note that should the amount paid in a single calendar year
exceed the IRS limit of $5,250 the employee will be responsible for
income tax on the difference between the amount paid by UMW and
$5250, to be paid by payroll deduction.)
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2) Tuition waiver applies to part-time study for credit or non-credit
courses. Audited courses are excluded from this policy. Waiver may
be made for in-state tuition, comprehensive fees, and laboratory fees
associated with coursework. All other fees, including books,
application fees, processing fees and/or material costs are not eligible
costs.
3) Computer technology and special certification courses offered by the
University may be waived at the UMW undergraduate in-state rate
equal to a single four credit undergraduate course. Individual
departments may elect to pay costs in excess of this rate for job
related or required courses.
Release Time for Full-Time Employees
It is expected that employees will make every effort to schedule courses before
or after the workday.
When courses must be taken during the workday, full-time employees may
request up to four hours per week for actual class time (on-the-job time to
attend class). This release time does not include travel time to and from class.
Release time is at the discretion of the immediate supervisor and appropriate
vice president. At no time will the granting of release time be allowed to
interfere with the proper completion of the employee’s daily assigned duties.
At the discretion of the immediate supervisor, employees who request to take
courses during the workday may be allowed, as operations permit, to adjust
their work hours to fulfill their normal work hours per week. Schedule
adjustments should be documented in the supervisor’s file.
Tuition Waiver for Wage (Hourly) and Non-teaching Part time Employees
For purposes of this section, an employee must work a minimum average of 24
hours per week to be eligible under this policy.
It is expected that employees will make every effort to schedule courses before
or after the workday. There is no release time (on-the-job time to attend class)
available for wage employees.
At the discretion of the immediate supervisor, employees who request to take
courses during the workday may be allowed to adjust their work hours to fulfill
their normal work hours per week. Schedule adjustments should be
documented in the supervisor’s file.
Requests for Tuition Waiver must be approved before implementation of work
schedule changes.
1) The University will waive the costs not to exceed the in-state tuition
cost of four UMW undergraduate or graduate courses (16 credit
hours) per calendar year.
(Please note that should the amount paid in a single calendar year
exceed the IRS limit of $5,250 the employee will be responsible for
income tax on the difference between the amount paid by UMW and
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$5,250, to be paid by payroll deduction.)
2) Tuition waiver applies to part-time study for credit or non-credit
courses. Audited courses are excluded from this policy. Waiver may
be made for in-state tuition, comprehensive fees, and laboratory fees
associated with coursework. All other fees, including books,
application fees, processing fees and/or material costs are not eligible
costs.
3) Computer technology and special certification courses offered by the
University may be waived at the UMW undergraduate in-state rate
equal to a single four credit undergraduate course. Individual
departments may elect to pay costs in excess of this rate for job
related or required courses.
Procedure for Tuition Waiver
1) The employee must complete the Tuition Waiver Request Form and
ensure all three signatory approvals are obtained.
2) The Finance Office will notify the employee when the Tuition Waiver
Request Form has been approved and prepare a check request for the
approved amount.
3) Once the employee has registered and the charges have been applied
to the employee’s student account, the waiver for the approved
course(s) will be applied to the employee’s student account.
Proof of Completion
Employees are required to submit evidence of course completion with a
minimum grade of “C” or “PASS” if a Pass/Fail course, to the Finance Office
within 30 days of semester end. If documentation is not received, the employee
will be required to repay the University for the tuition and fees paid under this
policy. In the case of withdrawal before course completion, employees will be
required to pay the full cost of courses taken. Failure to comply with this
provision may result in collection proceedings including wage garnishment.
* Process for
Developing,
Approving, and
Amending
Procedures:
* Publication and
Communication:
* Monitoring,
Review, and
Reporting:
(How will compliance be
monitored, reviewed and
reported?)
Suggestions for change will be brought to the attention of the Office of Human
Resources and/or the Finance Department for review and approval.
Policy will be published in Board Docs and posted on the Human Resources
website.
This policy will be reviewed annually by the Office of Human Resources and the
Finance Department.
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RELATED
INFORMATION:
Policy
Background:
* Policy Category:
Administration and Finance
Category Cross
Reference:
Related Policies:
HISTORY:
* Origination Date:
* Approved by:
January 1, 1997
Richard Pearce, V.P. for Administration and Finance
* Approval Date:
January 1, 1997
* Effective Date:
January 1, 1997
* Review Process:
* Next Scheduled
Review:
Revision History:
Reviewed at least annually and as needed by the Offices of Human Resources
and Finance.
October 31, 2016
Revision 1 – September 2007
Revision 2 – September 2008
Revision 3 – July 2011
Revision 4 – June 2012
Revision 5 – December 3, 2012
Revision 6 – October 24, 2014