Ohio Administrative Code
Title 3342 - Kent State University
Chapter 3342-6 - Administrative Policy on Awards and Compensation for University Employees
Section 3342-6-09.1 - Administrative policy and procedures regarding tuition benefits
Universal Citation: OH Admin Code 3342-6-09.1
Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
(A) 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 paragraphs (A)(1) and (A)(2) of this rule.
(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.
(B) 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:
(a)
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.
(b)
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.
(C) Benefits for individual employees.
(1)
Eligibility.
(a)
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.
(b)
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.
(c)
Tuition benefits
are available to eligible part-time faculty, classified, or unclassified
administrative employees for a maximum of four credit hours per
semester.
(d)
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.
(e)
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.
(f)
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.
(a)
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.
(b)
Tuition benefits are not available for any coursework
in the college of podiatric medicine or podiatric program.
(c)
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.
(d)
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.
(e)
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
(f)
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.
(g)
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.
(h)
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.
(a)
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.
(b)
The out-of-state surcharge, if applicable, will be
waived.
(D) 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.
(a)
For full-time faculty hired prior to August 16, 2005,
dependent children eligibility is defined in paragraph (D)(1)(h) of this
rule.
(b)
For full-time faculty hired on or after August 16,
2005, dependent children eligibility is defined in paragraph (D)(1)(i) of this
rule.
(c)
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.
(d)
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.
(e)
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.
(f)
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.
(g)
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.
(h)
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.
(i)
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.
(j)
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
(k)
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.
(a)
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.
(b)
Tuition benefits
are not available for any coursework in the college of podiatric medicine or
podiatric program.
(c)
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.
(d)
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.
(e)
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.
(a)
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.
(b)
The out-of-state
surcharge, if applicable, will be waived.
(E) 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.
(F) 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.
(G) 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.
Replaces: 3342-6- 09.1
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Ohio may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google
Privacy Policy and
Terms of Service apply.
