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4.43 Policy on Board Office Educational Assistance Educational assistance includes reimbursement for tuition, fees, books, or other expenses incurred by a Board Office employee in taking coursework for credit at an educational institution. The employee is expected to maintain everyday job responsibilities while taking this coursework. 1.
Eligibility/Criteria Any
regular employee of the Board Office who has completed the equivalent of
one year of full-time continuous service is entitled to consideration
for the benefits provided under this program.
(For example, an employee budgeted one-half time would be
required to have been employed for at least two years in order to be
eligible for the program.) An
employee receiving other financial assistance, such as scholarship aid,
GI funds, etc., will be eligible to receive educational assistance to
the extent that the sum total of all methods of reimbursement does not
exceed 100 percent of tuition and fees. Employees
are required to first seek enrollment into evening and Saturday classes;
tuition reimbursement may be granted for a maximum of four credit hours
at one time. If
the necessary courses are not available during evenings and Saturdays,
flex time and tuition reimbursement may be granted for a maximum of four
credit hours at any one time. When
flex time is granted, the individual's work schedule will be modified to
the extent feasible to accommodate class hours. However, merit
staff employees may be expected to make up the time missed from work,
and professional employees are expected to meet project deadlines. 2.
Acceptable
Courses of Study This
program is exclusively designed for school-related courses of study.
Any course of study must be in an area that has a relationship to the
tasks accomplished within the office, the requirements of the position
the individual currently holds and/or requirements for the learning of
skills for which the office has need. The
course must be taken from an accredited institution approved by the U.S.
Department of Education. Short
courses, workshops, CEU courses, etc., will not qualify unless they
carry credit toward a degree or certificate. 3.
Educational
Institutions A
staff member may, under this program, attend any institution of higher
learning within the state that is accredited by an organization approved
by the United States Department of Education.
In the statement, “accreditation” refers to a specific
program of study that is approved or accredited by the profession, if
any. 4.
Reimbursement An
employee will be reimbursed for tuition and fees upon submission of an
original paid receipt from the academic institution to the designated
agency representative. Prior
to reimbursement, the employee must provide proof of successful
completion of the course. Successful
completion of undergraduate course shall require attainment of at least
a "C" grade, a “complete” or a “pass”. Successful
completion of a graduate course shall require attainment of at least a
"B" grade or “pass”. Successful
completion of a vocational or correspondence course shall be recorded by
submittal of an official certificate. 5.
Termination
of Employment Any
staff member who receives reimbursement for tuition shall agree to
remain in the active employment of the Board Office after the receipt of
such benefit for a period of one month for every unit of credit earned
or to repay to the state of Iowa such compensation as the staff member
shall have received. Months
shall be counted beginning with the first full month of active
employment following the official semester closing date of the
institution wherein the employee is enrolled. |
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