Policy

POLICY

It is the policy of The Johns Hopkins Health System Corporation (JHHSC) and The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) to invest in the continuing education of its employees.

ELIGIBILITY

Tuition assistance is available and may be granted, after sixty days of employment, to full-time employees regularly scheduled to work forty (40) hours per week and part-time employees regularly scheduled to work twenty to thirty-nine (20-39) hours per week.  To receive reimbursement, eligible employees must attend an accredited college, technical or vocational school.  The course(s) must lead to licensure, degree, and/or meet the criteria of business necessity (required for their job at JHHSC/JHH) or operational necessity.  In this educational partnership, the employee agrees to work for a predetermined period after satisfactory completion of the course(s) (per semester, quarter, trimester, etc.).

Conditions
1. Satisfactory completion of approved courses or Challenge Exams are: a "C" or better for Undergraduate courses; a "B" or better for Graduate courses; for Pass/Fail courses, a "P" grade accompanied by a letter from the instructor indicating the equivalent letter grade. 

2. Employees may take up to 18 credits per academic year (September 1st – August 31st). Employees in an accelerated MBA program may take a maximum of 24 credits per academic year.

3. Each non-credit course will be the equivalent of a three (3) credit course to determine maximum credit hours per academic year.

4. An employee whose status changes to other than active, full-time or part-time of twenty (20) hours or more, prior to completion of any course or Challenge Exam, is not eligible for reimbursement for that course.

5. Eligibility for reimbursement will be determined by the employee's full-time or part-time status at the course ending date.

6. An employee’s status must remain the same during the service pay back period as when the class started. (Example, if an employee works 40 hours and was reimbursed at 100%, he or she must remain 40 hours during the service pay back period.

7. An employee who currently is under written disciplinary action prior to approval of any course or Challenge Exam is not eligible for reimbursement approval/consideration. 

8. Tuition Reimbursement is income and is subject to tax, as determined by Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidelines.

9. Amounts reimbursed/advanced will be for tuition only and Challenge Exams. The employee pays all fees. JHHSC/JHH will not duplicate reimbursement made by any other agency or institution.

Approved Educational Institutions
JHHSC/JHH will recognize only accredited technical, vocational, and post-secondary educational institutions in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area, or in the geographic area of the employee's legal residence. If it is outside of this area, exceptions to this may be made, provided the employee’s vice president approves the course of study and submits a written explanation of necessity for the course outside the geographic area to Human Resources.

Courses
Course for credit and Internet courses are covered under the policy, provided that such course work leads to licensure or a degree. Correspondence course, seminars or conferences are not covered by this policy. Reimbursement for such programs will be the responsibility of the department if it deems such training necessary.

Non-credit courses which are required as part of the curriculum leading to a degree or licensure will be considered on case by case bases subject to approval of the Manager of the Benefits Office. Computer software courses (WordPerfect, Lotus, etc.) are excluded from this policy.

Technical/Vocational Programs
Employees enrolled in technical or vocational programs are required to turn in a certificate of completion.

Challenge Exams
Challenge Exams for courses toward a degree program will be considered for reimbursement as individual courses.  If the Challenge Exam is not pass/fail and a grade is awarded, the standard grading criteria, as outlined in this policy, will apply.  Requests for approval should be submitted two (2) weeks after the exam date as outlined in this policy. 

Tuition Advancement for Associate, Baccalaureate, and Hopkins Supported Programs (Excludes Graduate Studies)

Tuition may be advanced to an employee under the following conditions:
1. Eligibility:  All non-represented employees earning less than $30,000 annually ($14.42/hour) are eligible for tuition advancement.

2. Represented Employees:  A special fund has been set up in accordance with the Collective Bargaining Agreement.  Only the initial advanced tuition amount will be charged to the fund. Subsequent reimbursement will be charged to the tuition reimbursement fund.

3. Agreement:  An employee receiving tuition advancement must sign a legally binding agreement that if she/he fails to meet the requirements of this policy, she/he will be obligated to repay the amount advanced either through payroll deductions or other legal means.  If employee does not repay the advancement, department funds will be deducted accordingly.
    
4. Unsuccessful completion of course:  Employees receiving tuition advancement, who do not successfully complete the course, will not be eligible for additional tuition advancement or reimbursement until the initial advancement has been repaid.

Service Payback
An employee receiving tuition assistance (reimbursement or advancement) must agree in advance (as part of the application/approval process) to work for JHHSC/JHH for a period of time as follows:

If for any reason an employee terminates employment with JHHSC/JHH  before completion of the service payback requirement described above, the employee must repay all educational assistance amounts provided for the course(s) for which the service payback was required.  The repayment obligation will be prorated to take into account any partial completion of the service payback requirement.  By accepting educational assistance, an employee expressly authorizes his or her employer to withhold any repayment amounts required under this Policy from any amounts owed to the employee (including but not limited to the employee's final pay or PTO pay).  If the employee fails to make any required repayment and JHHSC/JHH takes legal action to recover the repayment obligation, the employee agrees to pay the legal fees incurred by JHHSC/JHH in pursuing recovery.

This service payback requirement is not an employment contract and in no way obligates Hopkins to provide any future employment to any person.  The Benefits Office in its sole discretion may waive part or all of any repayment requirement in the event of involuntary termination of employment without cause.

NOTE:  Service payback will be prorated according to the reimbursement schedule, if applicable.

Business Necessity:   For purposes of this policy, business necessity is defined as a course(s) needed to maintain or enhance skills in current job.

Operational Necessity:  For purposes of this policy, operational necessity is defined as a course(s), which meets the operational needs of JHHSC/JHH.  Such course work requires the approval of the department's vice president.

FORMS

Tuition assistance includes (a) tuition reimbursement and (b) tuition advancements.  Tuition reimbursement is payment made after completion of an approved course.  Tuition advancement is payment made before completion of an approved course.

1. Application for Tuition Reimbursement (Attachment A)

The Tuition Assistance Application, grades, itemized bill and proof of payment must be submitted to the HR Service Center/Benefits at the end of the course, but no later than six months following the end of the semester.  Proof of payment consists of the following: canceled check (copy of the front and back), bank statement, credit card statement and or a paid receipt from the college/university.

2.   Application for Tuition Advancement

Tuition Assistance Application, Tuition Advancement Application along with a bill from the college/university must be submitted no later than four (4) weeks before the course starting  date.  Applications submitted after the class has started, will not be processed as an   
advancement.  Official grades must be submitted within one (1) month from the completion date of the course.

REIMBURSEMENT/ADVANCEMENT

Program Reimbursement/Advancement is based on the following:

PROCEDURES

Employee 

Completes tuition application and delivers to manager for signature.

Supervisor/Manager 

1. Reviews request and conducts educational development plan and service payback discussion with the employee.  See attached Educational Development Discussion Guideline (Addendum A).

2. Approves/disapproves request, obtains department head approval and returns form to employee.

Employee 

Submits completed tuition application to the Benefits Office prior to the course starting date.

HR Service Center 

1. Reviews and acknowledges application

2. Returns copy to employees

3. Processes reimbursement or advancement if applicable.

Employee 

Submits grades and proof of payment to the HR Service Center within one (1) month of course completion.

SPONSOR

Vice President, Department of Human Resources

REVIEW CYCLE

3 years

APPROVAL

Pamela D. Paulk                              7/01/03   

Vice President, Human Resources    Date 

Amendment Record

Addendum A

Educational Development Discussion Guideline

This document is a tool that may be used by Managers to help facilitate the discussion of career goals with the employee applying for assistance under the Tuition Assistance Program.  This list is not intended to be inclusive, but rather as a guide for Managers to use in discussions with employees.

Discussion Points May Include:

1. Determine the employee's interest in pursuing this course of study.

2. Determine how this course of study relates to the employee's development plans, career plans, business necessity, or operational necessity.

3. Determine the additional competencies the employee will gain after completing the course or program.

4. Determine the time frame in which the employee will complete the course or program.

5. Determine appropriateness of the employee's current course load.

6. Ask the employee how you, as their Manager, can provide assistance (accommodation of work schedule, etc.)

7. Inform the employee of other internal educational resources provided through the Department of Human Resources.
a. Career counseling - Career Services, extension 5-6529.
b. Training opportunities - Office of Training and Development, extension 5-6748.

Other Discussion Items

1. Discuss service payback requirements with your employee:

Service Payback Guidelines
An employee receiving tuition assistance (reimbursement or advance) agrees in advance (as part of the application/approval process) to work for JHHSC or JHH for a period of six (6) months and (8) months for employees who enrolled in accelerated MBA programs following the completion of all courses taken which start between January - June and for the separate period of six (6) and (8) months for employees who enrolled in MBA programs following the completion of all courses taken which start between July-December.  In addition, upon completion of a degree program for which assistance is received, the employee agrees to work for JHHSC or JHH for a period of one (1) year and (1) year, (4) months for those employees enrolled in an accelerated MBA program.

2. Review the next steps of the application process with your employee.

NOTE:   This guideline is should be part of the development plan process associated with Performance Management.  It is not intended to replace it.