Employee Tuition Waiver Policy

I. Policy Statement

1. In order to take courses under the Educational Assistance Plan, the employee must be an active eligible staff employee of Fort Lewis College as defined in the Educational Assistance Plan and determined by Human Resources.  The employee have received satisfactory performance evaluations to be eligible for the program.  Spouses and dependents are not eligible.
2. Employees must apply for admission to Fort Lewis College through the Office of Admission and be admitted as a degree-seeking or unclassified student.  Once admitted, the employee must remain in good academic standing to continue to participate in this program. 
3. Full-time employees are limited to nine (9) semester hours per academic year with part-time employees limited to a proportional number of hours rounded up to the next whole credit hour.  This benefit covers tuition and mandatory student fees (meals, lodging, transportation, textbooks, tools, supplies, equipment, course fees or lab fees are not covered)..  The employee is responsible for any associated costs that are not covered under this program.
4. Enrollment is conditioned on course availability and, in no event, will a waiver be granted if enrollment will displace a tuition paying enrollee. An employee’s enrollment in the course is not counted towards the enrollment for determining if a course needs to be cancelled. An employee who enrolls in a degree program that includes a cohort must not displace a tuition paying enrollee as of the first day of the program.
5. This benefit may apply to graduate or undergraduate courses or any combination thereof.
6. Any employee who receives state or federal financial aid or scholarships will have the waiver reduced by the amount of the financial aid or scholarship.
7. If the employee does not comply with the policy, the Educational Assistance Plan or the procedures for implementing this program, the employee will not be eligible to further participate in the program.
8. An employee's participation in the program will terminate if their employment with Fort Lewis College is terminated for any reason including retirement or the employee does not maintain good academic standing.
9. Fort Lewis College reserves the right to amend or terminate the Educational Assistance Plan at any time.

III. Responsibilities

For following the policy:  Employees receiving the waiver

For enforcement of the policy:  Registrar, Office of Human Resources

For oversight of the policy:  Vice President for Finance & Administration

For notification of policy:  Policy Librarian

For procedures implementing the policy:  Registrar, Office of Human Resources 

V. Procedures

We encourage all supervisors to be flexible and allow employees to participate in this benefit. Supervisors who deny an employee request must provide Human Resources with a written reason as to why they are denying the request. Prior to course registration, the employee must complete a Staff Study Privileges Form and obtain written approval from their supervisor to participate in the program. The employee's supervisor must approve taking time off during the work day to attend class.  Administrative leave is not granted to participate in the program and the employee must make up the time taken to attend class or take leave (annual or comp time).

VII. Revision History