Financial Support Towards Approved Study (CSE)

Issue

The Head of School seeks to put in place an equitable process for application and approval of submissions for financial course fee support for staff by reimbursement within a prescribed budget allocation on a year-by-year basis.

History

In the past, CSE has supported up-front payment of staff course fees towards a first or even second qualification. The process has been for staff to make application to the Head of School and the decision have been made on the basis of, up to three supported places per year, and/or within budget constraints.

Comments

There have been no published procedures for formal application and determination/approval. There has been no formal follow-up mechanism or record keeping, to provide for proof of pass or fail in the courses that have been supported.

Budget

It is proposed that by 30 November of each year the Head of School will determine a dollar figure to be committed for support of staff course enrolments in the following year.

Applications for course financial support

This policy will provide assistance to staff that undertake studies which CSE considers appropriate to their current positions and/or would provide career development towards future positions within CSE.

Full time continuing staff and part time continuing staff that work 50% or more, are eligible to apply for financial support. Contract staff of one year or more will also be considered.

Applications will be considered on a year-by-year basis, that is, there will be a one-year commitment towards course fees for each year's application. Staff will be required to apply each year for further funding.

Applications must be submitted in writing to the Head of School by 30 November of the previous enrolment year. The reason for this is that staff may rely on the reimbursement to enable a commitment to their course prior to enrolment. The application must be signed and noted by the supervisor prior to submission to the Head of School.

Criteria

Financial support may be granted for study:

• at an institution acceptable to the University
• which is a first formal qualification up to a bachelor's degree and is considered appropriate to current employment or career development pertinent to the School's Mission Statement.
• beyond a bachelor degree which is considered appropriate to current employment or career development pertinent to the School's Mission Statement.

Records

A record of the application, approval and payment will be retained in the Head of School's office.

Approvals

A committee comprising the Head of School, Associate Head of School and the Executive Officer will review the merit of each application in the first week of December.

Applications must meet the criteria for approval. The committee will not limit the number of applications approved. The committee will review the value of the course to current employment or to future career prospects within CSE. Applications will be ranked and funding will be committed to each application.

Course fees up to the value of the committed amount will be reimbursed to the applicant when pass results are available and transcripts are submitted to the Executive Officer who will approve the reimbursement.