Professional Study

Objective

Provide opportunities for instructional, administrative, and career support staff to improve their professional and work-related competencies, work toward a degree in an approved and accredited program, or retrain to meet new institutional program objectives.

The purpose of the study or training may be one or more of the following:

• Department need, job related study, or skill improvement
• Degree
• Professional certification or re-certification
• Update training directly related to job responsibilities

Guidelines

• All personnel
  
  • The above objective will be accomplished by providing payment for tuition and certain fees, which are indicated in section IV -  Reimbursement.
  • Request for tuition or fee reimbursement must be submitted prior to the starting date of the study or training. Tuition and fee reimbursement requests received after the activity or class has started or finished will not be approved.
  • For degree seeking applicants, a planned program of study is required. For all other applicants a statement of the direct relationship of the activity to work improvement is required.
• Full-time employees must have been employed full-time for at least six (6) months
• Part-time Personnel
  Part-time employees must meet the following eligibility requirements in order to be eligible for tuition reimbursement.  These requirements must be met prior to each request
  
  • Part-time instructional employees must be employed at the college and must have at least 225 contact hours (equivalent of one term of hours for a full-time college credit instructor: 15 hour-load x 15 weeks in a term) within a 2-year period prior to applying for funding.
  • Part-time non-instructional employees, excluding student employees, must have completed 600 hours of employment within a 2-year period prior to applying for funding. Student employment positions are ineligible for SPD travel and professional study funding.
  • 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 2-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% of the 225-hour requirement and 450 non-instructional non-student employment hours, which is 75% of the 600-hour requirement, will be considered to have met the requirement because the combination equals 100% of the minimum requirement.
  • The SPD committee may grant special consideration to employees who do not meet these requirements provided that the study and training activities are immediately needed for college responsibilities.

Application Procedures

• Obtain Request for Professional Study Form from the SPD Office.
• Submit completed form to the SPD Office, with required signatures and registration paperwork, prior to the start of the activity.

Reimbursement

• The person must be employed at the end of the activity funded.
• All 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.
• The SPD committee may grant special consideration to employees who do not meet the full-time or part-time service requirements, provided that the study and training activities are immediately needed for college responsibilities.
• Proof of payment is required for reimbursement. The intent is that reimbursement will be made to employees when the initial 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. Payments made by other third parties will be approved/disapproved according to the intent of this guideline.
• For full-time employees, the maximum reimbursement per fiscal year for any combination of tuition and travel is $2,000.
• For part-time employees, the maximum reimbursement per fiscal year for any combination of tuition and travel is $750.
• 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, health fees, and certification fees incurred by college personnel while enrolled in college credit and non-credit activities. Testing fees will also be covered if the testing is for job-related certifications, such as automotive certification testing for automotive faculty, computer certification testing for networking faculty. Books, test preparation courses (examples: GMAT and GRE test preparation courses), testing (other than job-related certification testing), application fees, and convenience fees for charging tuition online, are not included. Seminole State College parking fees will be covered, but parking fees at other institutions are not covered.
• If the course(s) or job-related certification tests are not completed successfully with a "C" or better (or equivalent), the employee must notify the SPD Office that reimbursement will not be requested.
• For college credit courses, transcripts and/or certificates of completion are to be submitted to the SPD Office at the end of the course.  A certificate of completion is required for non-credit courses and activities.  If a certificate of completion cannot be obtained, a brief written verification may be submitted along with documentation from the event. Transcripts and/or certificates of completion are to be submitted to the SPD Office at the end of the course.
• Reimbursements must be requested in the fiscal year in which they occur. No payments will be issued unless all documentation is received prior to June 30.

Did you know?

Seminole State awarded 1,377 A.A. and A.S. degrees in 2005-06 - an all-time high!