SPD Professional Study-Degree Seeking

Effective July 1, 2014

Purpose

The purpose of the SPD Tuition Reimbursement program at the College is to encourage Non-Bargaining employees to continually obtain new information and skills. The program is designed to help Non-Bargaining employees improve current job performance, prepare employees for positions of greater responsibility, and promote lifelong learning.

General Information

Eligibility

1. Non-Bargaining full-time employees must have been employed full-time for at least six (6) continuous months prior to applying for funding.
2. Part-time instructional employees must be currently employed at the College with at least 225 contact hours accumulated (equivalent of one term of hours for a full-time college credit instructor: 15-hour load x 15 weeks in a term) within a two-year period prior to applying for funding.
3. Part-time non-instructional employees, excluding student employees, must have completed 600 hours of employment within a two-year period prior to applying for funding. Student employment positions are ineligible for SPD travel and professional study funding.
4. Part-time employees who are employed in both instructional and non-instructional non-student positions will need to work the minimum required hours within a two-year period prior to applying for funding. The hours in each category will be weighted to determine if this criterion is met. Example: an employee who works 56.25 instructional hours, which is 25 percent of the 225-hour requirement, and 450 non-instructional non-student employment hours, which is 75 percent of the 600-hour requirement, will be considered to have met the requirement because the combination equals 100 percent of the minimum requirement.
5. Collective Bargaining Faculty members are not eligible for SPD tuition benefits, as provided by Article 23 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Qualified Courses

• Courses must be taken at an accredited college or university.
• Undergraduate- and graduate-level courses must lead to an approved degree.

Application

• Download the Request for Reimbursement - Professional Study Form. Please see the SPD Request for Reimbursement page for detailed instructions.
• Submit completed Request for Reimbursement-Professional Study form to your SPD Contact with required documents prior to the start of the activity.

Procedure

1. A planned program of study for the degree being sought must be approved by the employee’s supervisor and submitted to HR prior to beginning a course of study.
2. If an employee is already in a degree program prior to being hired by the College or prior to reaching eligibility as outlined above, he/she can submit their current program of study status upon reaching eligibility.
3. Request for tuition or fee reimbursement must be submitted to HR on the Request for Tuition Reimbursement – Degree Seeking Form prior to the start date of the course. Requests received after that date cannot be approved.
4. Reimbursement will be made when the payments are related to: personal out-of-pocket expenses, personal loans obtained through financial aid, payments made by family members, the Florida Prepaid College Program, etc. Payments made by federal, state, or institutional grants, (e.g. Pell, Bright Futures), or scholarships are ineligible for reimbursement.
5. For Non-Bargaining full-time employees, the maximum reimbursement per fiscal year for any combination of degree seeking tuition reimbursement and any other SPD-funded professional study and travel is $2,500.
6. For part-time employees, the maximum reimbursement per fiscal year for any combination of degree seeking tuition reimbursement and any other SPD-funded professional study and travel is $1,000.
7. Reimbursement is for tuition and certain associated fees that are charged with tuition, such as access fees, capital improvement fees, financial aid fees, student activity fees, technology fees, laboratory fees and health fees incurred by college personnel while enrolled in college credit activities. Books, organizational memberships, test preparation courses (e.g., GMAT and GRE test-preparation courses), testing, application fees, late fees, convenience fees for charging tuition online and third- or fourth-attempt course fees are not included. Seminole State College parking fees will be covered, but parking fees at other institutions are not covered.
8. Course(s) must be completed successfully with a grade of “C” or higher (or equivalent). If the course is not successfully completed, please notify the SPD/Finance Office on the Sanford/Lake Mary Campus that reimbursement will not be requested.
9. For college credit courses, transcripts and/or certificates of completion are to be submitted to SPD/Finance Office on the Sanford/Lake Mary Campus at the end of the course.
10. Reimbursements must be requested in the fiscal year in which the course(s) conclude. Payments will be issued for courses ending on or before June 30, if all documentation is received prior to July 11. However, in the case of courses ending on or before June 30 for which grades will not be issued by the institution until after July 11, approved reimbursement will be made and applied to the current fiscal year in which the payment is disbursed.
11. The Non-Bargaining employee must be a current employee at time of reimbursement. All non-bargaining employees requesting SPD reimbursements for professional study are hereby advised that reimbursements will only occur if funds are available at the time the reimbursement is being processed.