Transferability of tuition waiver benefit extended

To help faculty, staff and their dependents with enrollment for the summer and fall 2011 semesters and beyond, the Human Resources Office, Resource Management Division, and the Office of Admissions and Records recently clarified enrollment procedures.

The administrative actions follow CU President Bruce D. Benson's extension of a two-year-old UCCS policy that allows faculty and staff to transfer a tuition waiver benefit to dependents.

"Tuition waiver is an important and long-standing benefit for faculty and staff members," said Cindy Corwin, director of the human resources office. "The ability to use this benefit yourself and extend that benefit to a spouse, child or same gender domestic partner is a bonus that I hope many people will take advantage of."

During the two-year pilot program phase from 2008 to 2010, some 50 families participated and enrolled in 290 credit hours, Corwin said. The positive responses of those UCCS community members helped extend the policy. University leaders are reviewing the feasibility of such a benefit policy for faculty and staff throughout the system.

Key elements of the UCCS policy include:

• The benefit waives tuition costs for up to nine credit hours per academic year. Employees and their dependents are responsible for all course and campus-wide fees as well as applying for the state's College Opportunity Fund.
• The faculty or staff member or dependent must meet admission eligibility requirements.
• One week before the start of classes, faculty and staff must obtain an employment certification form from the Human Resources Office.
• Faculty and staff must follow the same bill payment deadlines as other students with a first payment due by census date.
• The benefit for staff may be used for either graduate or undergraduate courses. Dependents may only use the benefit for undergraduate, for-credit courses.
• Faculty and staff may enroll on the first day of classes and a completed tuition benefit certification form must be received by the office of admissions and records by the census date for the semester.

For more information about the program, contact Cindy Corwin, 719-255-3696. To see the complete tuition benefit policy, visithttp://www.uccs.edu/~hr/web/advantagesbenefits/tuitionwaiver.htm