(a) Approval of Coursework. All full-time and part-time employees shall be eligible to participate in the City’s Tuition Reimbursement Program. Under this program, each employee shall be eligible for a maximum of five thousand dollars ($5,000) in reimbursement per calendar year for tuition, and books, in courses of instruction voluntarily undertaken. Courses of instruction eligible for reimbursement under this program shall include courses necessary for job-related degree programs or courses of study not necessarily within a job-related degree program but which are still job-related. In addition, only coursework provided by a recognized institution (e.g. college, university, community college, post-secondary technical school, etc.) shall be eligible for reimbursement under this program. No reimbursement shall be approved for correspondence courses. Reimbursement shall include cost for all registration fees and textbooks.
(Ord. C25-13. Passed 5-6-13; Ord. C15-18. Passed 3-20-18; Ord. C61-22. Passed 9-19-22.)
(b) Reimbursement Process. All coursework subject to potential reimbursement shall be transmitted, in advance of enrollment in the course and through the employee's department/division head, to the City Administrator for approval. The department/division head shall provide a written recommendation concerning approval/disapproval of the request at time of transmittal. An employee shall make application for approval of the course work at least fifteen (15) days prior to commencement of the course of study. The City Administrator shall evaluate the employee's coursework/degree program for job-relatedness and shall notify the employee, in writing, regarding the approval/disapproval of said coursework/degree program on that basis.
Courses are to be taken on other than scheduled working hours, unless approval is obtained from the appropriate department/division head and the City Administrator to take such courses on work time.
An employee must timely complete all coursework in the regularly scheduled course schedule and receive a grade of “C” or better to be reimbursed per this program.
(Ord. C47-01. Passed 8-6-01; Ord. C10-09. Passed 2-17-09; Ord. C23-15. Passed 4-20-15.)