Proposed change to the employee tuition waiver
May 3, 2011
May 3 memorandum from Beth Behner, Statewide Human Resources
Dear University of Alaska Employee:
The UA administration is considering two changes to the employee education benefit,
also known as the employee tuition waiver. Preliminary discussions have been held
with governance groups, chancellors, provosts and others.
These discussions began because of questions from state legislators regarding the
university’s management of the benefit. In short, legislators and the public want
assurance that UA is managing the benefit prudently. We believe we are, but we also
recognize improvements can be made.
Toward this end, the university negotiated two changes to the waiver in recent union
contracts. One change is a six-month vesting for new hires after a date certain (all
current employees are grandfathered). The second concerns reimbursement if an employee
or dependent fails a waived course, a statistically small number but one that represents
a cost nonetheless. Requiring employees to reimburse for failed courses is a straightforward
process; managing this for dependents is more complex. As a result, the university
is exploring if dependent waivers could be managed similarly to student financial
aid or scholarships, requiring a minimum level of academic performance to maintain
the benefit uninterrupted. When these changes will go into effect is not yet known.
The proposed regulation changes are being drafted and routed to affected governance
groups for input first. While it’s conceivable the six-month vesting for new hires
could begin as soon as July 1, 2011; the reimbursement issue may take more time. More
information will be shared as discussion progresses.
Both issues under discussion recognize and treat the waiver for what it truly is;
a valuable benefit that must be managed wisely. For employees, this benefit is calculated
into the staff-benefit rate and funded through restricted and unrestricted funds.
For employees’ dependents (spouses and children) it is managed internally through
unrestricted funds.
The university believes the employee tuition benefit is an important part of the overall
compensation package. We know it keeps us competitive with our peers and helps attract
and retain quality staff and faculty. An overwhelming majority of colleges and universities
provide educational benefits to employees; about half of all public institutions provide
waivers for dependents.
We want to keep the educational benefit going strong at UA. These fairly modest steps
will ensure its viability long into the future.