Regulations & Policies

Human Resources

I. OBJECTIVE & PURPOSE

The purpose of this policy is to offer a benefit to University employees by providing assistance to spouse and dependent children of eligible employees who are seeking a college education at the undergraduate or graduate level, by reducing the financial burden for family members.

II. STATEMENT OF POLICY

It is the policy of the University to offer financial assistance for the education of spouses of eligible employees, and dependent children of eligible employees, subject to published guidelines and procedures. This benefit includes University paid tuition, at the current in-State rate, and does not cover related fees, books, supplies, or any ancillary costs.

III. STATEMENT OF GUIDELINES

1. Full time UNF faculty, Administrative and Support employees in good standing*, who have been employed for at least six (6) months in a budgeted position, are eligible to have their spouse or dependent children enroll in up to three (3) credit hours of instruction per semester at the University per family.

   *For the purposes of this policy, an employee shall not be considered 'in good standing' if a notice of non-reappointment or just cause termination has been issued, or if the overall performance is below the satisfactory level.

2. This program is not available to OPS and temporary personnel.
3. This program is not available for thesis, dissertation, internships, directed independent study, non-credit courses or sponsored credit program offerings.

    

4. The employee cannot assign his or her tuition to a spouse or dependent children.
   1. In no case will a dependent and/or spouse be allowed to assign credit hours to the University employee.
   2. Unused tuition hours do not roll over into another semester.
5. Dependent Child - For the purposes of this benefit, dependent children are:
   1. Claimed as a "qualifying child" on the employee's most recent IRS tax return, or
   2. Child of the employee, 25 years of age or younger at the time of registration, and claimed as a "dependent" on the employee's most recent tax return.
6. Eligibility to utilize the Dependent Tuition Scholarship benefit does not guarantee admission to the University, or to any specific program or course.
7. Upon request, an employee must produce any supporting documentation requested by UNF to show that any person noted as spouse/dependent meets the criteria set forth in this program.
8. Any individual, employee, spouse, or dependent, receiving Student Financial Aid must notify the Student Financial Aid Office of their Tuition Scholarship benefit prior to registering for classes.
9. The value of courses taken using the tuition Scholarship is not used to compute the employee's base rate of pay or regular rate of pay.
10. The University is not responsible for any tax liability arising from the use of this Tuition Scholarship Program.
11. The University reserves the right to exempt specific courses from Dependent Tuition Scholarship eligibility. For a list of exempted courses for a specific semester, contact the Enrollment Services Processing Center.
12. The lifetime maximum is 132 attempted credit hours per individual through this Program.
13. Recipients of other scholarships and/or funding sources shall be subject to those provisions first, and the Tuition Scholarship Program shall be the last source of funding.

IV. STATEMENT OF PROCEDURES

1. The employee is responsible for completing the "Tuition Scholarship for Spouse or Dependents" form.
2. The dependent and/or spouse must meet admissions criteria and complete registration requirements.
3. Any individual receiving Student Financial Aid must notify the Student Financial Aid Office of the use of a Tuition Scholarship.
4. In the event the hours are being split between more than one dependent, only one form showing all users shall be prepared for submission to the Enrollment Services Processing Center.
5. Upon request, an employee must produce any supporting documentation requested by the University to show that any person noted as spouse/dependent meets the criteria set forth in this program.
6. As a precondition to approving a request to participate in this program, the University will require the user to enter into an agreement that requires the following in order to enjoy continued participation in this program:
   1. Remain in good academic standing as defined by University policy.
   2. Complete all courses taken through this program which the user does not drop/withdraw before the expiration of the regular add/drop period. Designations including withdraw (W), withdraw/passing (WP), withdraw/failing (WF), or incomplete (I) will not satisfy the requirements of this paragraph, and will count toward the lifetime maximum as stated in Guideline (III-L) above.
   3. Failure to remain in good academic standing or complete the courses as described in (a) and (b), above, will result in the user's loss of eligibility to participate in the program for the subsequent semester.
7. Submit the fully approved original copy of the Tuition Scholarship for Spouse and Dependents form to the Enrollment Services Processing Center by the published last day to pay fees.

Adopted by the University of North Florida Board of Trustees as part of the University's Personnel Program on January 26, 2006, Amended 1-23-2009.

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