6 - 09.1

Administrative policy and procedures regarding tuition benefits

  1. Policy Statement:  It is the policy of the university to support the education of employees and their dependents and to include the costs associated with that education as part of the total compensation package of the employee.  Therefore reasonable access shall be given to Kent state university coursework as approved by the supervisor and the administrator for this program.  Education access is a valuable benefit but cannot be transferable, exchanged, or paid for through other funds of a unit. Access shall be approved, monitored, and audited in accordance with standard procedure for all other benefits according to (A)(1) and (A)(2) below.
    1. Tuition benefits in the form of fee waivers are granted to full-time university employees, as defined in paragraph (B)(1) of this rule, and their spouses, domestic partner and/or dependent children and selected part-time employees, as defined in paragraph (B)(2) of this rule.
    2. The manager of university benefits shall be the reviewing authority concerning eligibility requirements. 
  2. Definition of employee.
    1. A "full-time employee" for purposes of eligibility regarding this benefit is defined as one who normally works a minimum of forty hours per week on a regularly scheduled basis. This includes permanent seasonal employees and regular, full-time, annual contracted faculty and administrative staff. Military personnel and their spouses and dependents who are assigned for regular duty as members of the ROTC staff are eligible, during the duration of their Kent state university assignment.
    2. A "part-time employee" for purposes of eligibility regarding this benefit is defined as follows:
      1. An eligible part-time faculty member is one who is appointed to a teaching position with faculty rank in a department for at least one semester or summer session.
      2. An eligible part-time classified or unclassified administrative employee is one who has worked a minimum of one thousand two hundred fifty hours within the previous twelve months.
    3. Former employees as a result of a separation for any reason other than recognized retirement must have active service of not less than thirty days within the semester their termination of employment or reduction of hours become effective to be eligible for tuition waiver for the complete semester. Any period less than thirty days will either constitute removal from classes through university exit or the full semester tuition payment must be made to the bursar's office in order to continue classes. Persons in temporary layoff or furlough status from a seasonal position shall continue to be eligible through their layoff or furlough periods.
  3. Benefits for individual employees.
    1. Eligibility.
      1. Tuition benefits are available to eligible employees of the university who have been employed on a full-time status for one semester or its equivalency of one hundred twenty days.
      2. Military personnel who are assigned for regular duty as members of the ROTC staff are eligible for tuition benefits during the duration of their Kent state university assignment.
      3. Tuition benefits are available to eligible part-time faculty, classified, or unclassified administrative employees for a maximum of four credit hours per semester.
      4. Retired full-time employees who had at least ten years of continuous full-time service with the university and would satisfy the eligibility requirements for retirement benefits under the OPERS traditional plan or the STRS defined benefit plan are eligible for complete tuition benefits, including employees who retired under an alternative retirement plan. 
      5. Disabled inactive employees must have completed a total of five years of full-time employment with the university and be qualified for disability payments from the long term disability plan, OPERS or STRS to be eligible for tuition benefits to continue. Any full-time employee who is on an authorized leave of absence for temporary disability shall be eligible for tuition benefits for the duration of the leave.
      6. Full-time employees as well as spouses, domestic partners, and dependent children of full-time employees on authorized leaves of absence are eligible for tuition benefits if the employee otherwise meets the eligibility requirements in paragraph (C)(1)(a) of this rule.
    2. Utilization.
      1. Each full-time employee may take coursework for which he or she is academically eligible, provided it does not conflict or interfere with normal hours of employment or other university policies or regulations.
      2. Tuition benefits are not available for any coursework in the college of podiatric medicine or podiatric program.
      3. Under special circumstances, such as the unavailability of a required course after normal working hours, an employee may be permitted to take one course per semester or summer session during working hours. However, satisfactory arrangements must be made both to make up the time missed and to adequately cover the employee's responsibilities. Written approval must be obtained from the employee's appropriate supervisor.
      4. Tuition benefits for individual employees are in the form only of a waiver of all instructional and general fees at the university for any credit course or program for which the employee is academically qualified.
      5. These benefits can be used for enrollment in an off-campus or international program for which university academic credit is received and for which tuition and fees are collected and retained by the bursar of Kent state university.
      6. Tuition benefits cannot be transferred or received in any form other than a waiver of fees; for example, a student receiving a tuition benefit from another source may not exchange the benefit provided by this policy for cash or any other consideration.
      7. Part-time faculty members are eligible to use the four-hour waiver during the semester the part-time faculty member teaches or the following semester, with summer terms taken at the option of the part-time faculty member. There will be no carryover of partially used tuition waivers or accumulation of credit hours from one period to another.
      8. Graduate students who have been assigned to a part-time faculty appointment may substitute their four-hour fee waiver for up to fifteen hours of dissertation credit, not to exceed the original cost of the four credit hours, when authorized by the appropriate graduate dean.
    3. Amount of benefit.
      1. The tuition benefit is limited to the waiver of the full amount of instructional and general fees normally charged for any program of studies up to and including eighteen credit hours of study per semester or its equivalent for summer or special sessions. Overload, admission, matriculation, parking, bus, special course fees, and all other fees are excluded from this benefit.
      2. The out-of-state surcharge, if applicable, will be waived.
  4. Benefits for employee's spouse, domestic partner, and dependent children.
    1. Eligibility of dependent children.  Dependent eligibility is based on date of hire of the eligible employee.
      1. For full-time faculty hired prior to August 16, 2005, dependent children eligibility is defined in paragraph (D)(1)(h) of this rule.
      2. For full-time faculty hired on or after August 16, 2005, dependent children eligibility is defined in paragraph (D)(1)(i) of this rule. 
      3. For full-time represented members of the AFSCME bargaining unit hired prior to May 1, 2007, dependent children eligibility is defined in paragraph (D)(1)(h) of this rule.
      4. For full-time represented members of the AFSCME bargaining unit hired on or after May 1, 2007, dependent children eligibility is defined in paragraph (D)(1)(i) of this rule.
      5. For all other full-time staff employees hired prior to May 1, 2007, dependent children eligibility is defined in paragraph (D)(1)(h) of this rule.
      6. For all full-time staff hired on or after May 1, 2007, dependent children eligibility is defined in paragraph (D)(1)(i) of this rule.
      7. The tuition benefit is only available to spouses, domestic partners, and dependent children, including stepchildren and legally adopted children, of full-time employees upon completion of the employee's eligibility period. This benefit is also applicable to dependent children under the legal guardianship of the employee. Tuition waiver benefits are available to spouses and dependent children of deceased, disabled or retired employees when the employees meet the eligibility requirements defined in this policy. Other relatives, such as father, mother, niece, nephew, sister, brother, and so forth, are not eligible to participate in this program.
      8. Children under twenty-eight years of age who are dependent for more than fifty per cent of their financial support from parents are eligible for tuition waiver. Children who reach their twenty-eighth birthday during the academic semester in which they are currently enrolled will be allowed to complete that semester.
      9. Children under twenty-five years of age who are dependent for more than fifty per cent of their financial support from parents are eligible for tuition waiver. Children who reach their twenty-fifth birthday during the academic semester in which they are currently enrolled will be allowed to complete that semester.
      10. Spouses and dependent children of military personnel who are assigned for regular duty as members of the ROTC staff are eligible for tuition benefits during the duration of the staff member's Kent state university assignment.  Dependent children are subject to the limitations of either in paragraph (D)(1)(h) or (D)(1)(i) of this rule based upon the date the staff member's assignment at Kent State University begins.
      11. Tuition benefits will be continued for spouses or dependent children of employees who die while actively employed full-time at the university and have served at least eighteen months of continuous university service and are either eligible for a survivor benefit, or who retired on disability from OPERS or STRS.  This applies to the spouse or dependent children who are receiving tuition benefits at the time of the employee's death.
    2. Utilization.
      1. Tuition benefits for spouses, domestic partners, and/or for dependent children of full-time employees are in the form only of a waiver of all instructional and general fees at the university for any credit course or program for which the beneficiary is academically qualified.
      2. Tuition benefits are not available for any coursework in the college of podiatric medicine or podiatric program.
      3. These benefits can be used for enrollment in an off-campus or international program for which university academic credit is received and for which tuition and fees are collected and retained by the bursar of Kent state university.
      4. Tuition benefits cannot be transferred or received in any form other than a waiver of fees; for example, a beneficiary receiving a tuition benefit from another source may not exchange the benefit provided in this policy for cash or any other consideration.
      5. Tuition benefits can be used in conjunction with other forms of financial aid, providing the beneficiary is eligible under federal, state and university laws and regulations for that aid as determined by the director of financial aid.
    3. Amount of benefit.
      1. The tuition benefit is limited to the waiver of the full amount of instructional and general fees normally charged for any program of studies up to and including eighteen credit hours of study per term or its equivalent for summer or special sessions. An employee must initiate an application for tuition waiver in behalf of their spouse, domestic partner, or dependent no later than thirty days after the first day of classes. Refunds of fees which were paid prior to submission of the fee waiver application will be processed only if the fee waiver form was received within the time frame previously stated. Overload, admission, matriculation, parking, bus, special course fees, and all other fees are excluded from this benefit.
      2. The out-of-state surcharge, if applicable, will be waived.
  5. Exclusions
    1. Tuition benefits cannot be used for the spouses, domestic partners, and dependent children of those who have graduate and research assistantships or fellowships. In addition, an employee's dependent fee waiver cannot be substituted for a tuition scholarship offered by a university department in conjunction with a graduate and research assistantship or fellowship.
    2. Tuition benefits cannot be used for enrollment in non-credit courses or credit courses which are audited.
    3. Any employee who fails to initiate an application for tuition waiver within thirty days after the first day of classes and makes any tuition payments will not receive a refund for that semester or any previous semester.
  6. Application procedures.
    1. Official application forms for these benefits are available from the Benefits office of the human resources department. Applications should normally be completed three weeks prior to the registration date for the semester in which the benefit is to be used and returned to the benefits office for verification of employment and dependent eligibility approval.
    2. For full-time faculty and staff, applications are submitted only once for the entire tenure of employment as long as the employee, spouse, domestic partner, or dependent continues to enroll in active classroom study.
    3. Part-time faculty and staff must apply for tuition benefits prior to each semester or summer session for which tuition benefits are requested.
    4. For full-time faculty and staff, tuition waiver benefits will be automatically canceled following a three-year period where the student does not exercise his or her privilege to attend classes. A renewal of the fee waiver must be reestablished by formally submitting a new application. A verification of eligibility will be made by the benefits office, which will also cancel waivers upon an employee/dependent's ineligibility.
    5. Employees who have completed the one-hundred-twenty-day equivalent period after date of hire may apply for the waiver even after a semester has started. The application process must be completed prior to the end of late registration.
  7. Exceptions.
    1. Exceptions to any provision of this rule will be determined by the president of the university or the president's designee upon submission of appropriate written documentation, establishing the reasons for the request.
    2. Any exception or waiver granted by the president is based on a case-by-case analysis. All decisions will be final and not considered a precedent for future requests.
Policy Effective Date:
Mar 01, 2015
Policy Prior Effective Dates: 
11/4/1977, 9/18/1978, 8/31/1979, 3/18/1982, 6/1/1988, 2/14/1994, 3/1/1994, 6/1/2007, 2/ 25/2009, 7/1/2012
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