Professional Development

Employee Development Program
July 2007 - June 2008
An Affirmative Action Program of UW-Extension, Cooperative Extension

Program Purpose and Funding Source

This program supports the reimbursement of higher education tuition and fees and is open to all nonintegrated, nonclassified Cooperative Extension employees. The goal of the program is to further the diversity and multicultural recruitment and programming priorities of Cooperative Extension. It is administered under UW System and UW-Extension guidelines. It is intended to:

• Enable individuals of racial/ethnic and gender categories that are underrepresented according to the UW-Extension Affirmative Action Plan or diversity plans and policies to acquire advanced knowledge and skills necessary for UW-Extension positions

• Strengthen the professional expertise of employees who program with and for underserved clientele so they can provide more effective educational programs to those clientele.

The specific priorities of the program will be determined on an annual basis depending on the diversity and multicultural objectives and needs of Cooperative Extension.  Priorities will be communicated to all Cooperative Extension faculty and academic staff before the application deadline for fall semester.  The priorities for 2007-2008 are listed below in ranked order.

Who May Participate

This program is open to all nonintegrated, nonclassified Cooperative Extension employees who are employed half time or more and have a permanent or project appointment. Nonintegrated county-based and campus-based faculty and academic staff have 100% of their appointments with Cooperative Extension. State of Wisconsin classified personnel are not eligible for this program.

If during the reimbursement period (the beginning of a semester, quarter or summer session to one month after the last day of class) the employee terminates or is terminated from employment, UW-Extension will not reimburse for course work.

How to Participate

Requests for reimbursement for coursework or training must be facilitated through cooperation between the employee and the employee’s supervisor.

An educational plan with the written approval of the supervisor (this will often be in the form of a letter but may be a more formal educational plan) must be prepared and on file in the employee’s county office, unit or department.

Four items are required for application:

1. The Cooperative Extension form titled "Employee Development Program - Request for Authorization to Reimburse Employee's Fee/Tuition" The form is an Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF) file so it may be printed. You will need Acrobat Reader to access the file.
2. An educational plan outlining the applicant’s educational goals and how these goals will be applied to an Extension career.
3. Approval of the supervisor with a brief justification for awarding the applicant tuition reimbursement from this affirmative action fund. Justification might be: a) the applicant is from an underutilized demographic category and is preparing for a career in Extension education, or b) the applicant currently works with clientele of underrepresented demographic categories and is preparing for a career in Extension education.
4. The application must be approved prior to the start of the course for which reimbursement is being sought. If the application is approved, a copy of the signed form will be returned to the employee so it can be attached to the Travel Expense Form with tuition receipts.

Coursework for this program must be taken on the employee's own time. No more than one course of up to five credits or a training equivalent may be reimbursed in a semester or quarter.

Coursework may be taken at any state accredited public or private higher educational institution or WTCS district institution. Coursework at UW System institutions is encouraged. Reimbursement for coursework taken at private institutions will be limited to the rate of an equivalent course at the home institution.

Criteria for Approval:

Educational plans for the individuals seeking reimbursement must be approved by the supervisor.

Educational plans for individuals seeking reimbursement must be compatible with the educational mission and the diversity and multicultural priorities of Cooperative Extension.

In 2007-2008, the following priorities will be applied in this program.  The priorities are ranked with 1 being the highest priority and 3 being the lowest priority.  Funding will be distributed based on this ranking.
 
1) Individuals from racial and ethnic groups that are underutilized as defined by the UW-Extension Affirmative Action Plan or underrepresented as defined by UW-Extension diversity and multicultural plans and policies.

2) Individuals working with racial and ethnic audiences who are seeking university or technical college coursework to become fluent in Spanish as a second language and individuals who are seeking coursework to become fluent in English as a second language.

3) Individuals from racial and ethnic groups that are not underutilized as defined by the UW-Extension Affirmative Action Plan who work with racial and ethnic audiences that are underserved by UW-Extension.

Application Deadlines

There are three deadlines for applications:

August 4, 2007—applications for fall semester reimbursement
Dec. 21, 2007—applications for spring semester reimbursement
April 25, 2008—applications for summer session reimbursement

Employees will be informed of the status of their application via e-mail within one week after the deadlines.

Allowable Reimbursements

Reimbursement may be requested by nonintegrated, nonclassified Cooperative Extension employees for undergraduate and master’s degree courses (doctoral level work is not reimbursable) taken to meet the minimum educational requirements for Cooperative Extension positions, or which will qualify the employee for a new, higher level position.

Books, supplies and travel costs are not reimbursable.

If an employee changes jobs within an institution prior to completion of an authorized course, s/he must notify the new appointing authority of the authorization.

Segregated fees may be reimbursed or waived.

Employees applying for reimbursement under this program must notify Cooperative Extension at the time of application about any financial aid received by the employee for tuition and fees. Financial aid will be taken into account when determining the amount to be reimbursed. The employee will not be awarded reimbursement for tuition that is being paid by financial aid.

Reimbursement may be authorized as job-related or career related:

1. Job related course work directly applies to job responsibilities. This is considered a business expense like any other university business expense and reimbursement is generally not taxable.

2. Career related course work generally advances career goals of the individual.

Paperwork Required for Reimbursement

In either case, the employee is entitled to reimbursement of tuition and fees (or a lesser amount if agreed by the hiring authority). Books, supplies and travel costs are not reimbursable. After the course has been completed, the staff member should complete a university Travel Expense Report and attach a copy of the tuition receipt and grade report (you must pass the course in order to get reimbursement). A signed copy of the “Request for Authorization” form also must be attached. Submit the above materials to Virginia Nachreiner, Cooperative Extension, 601 Extension Building, 432 N. Lake Street, Madison, WI 53706. Reimbursement normally takes 2-3 weeks.

This program complies with the following UW-Extension and UW System policies:

• Financial and Administrative Policies - Educational Assistance for Faculty and Staff (G25)
• University of Wisconsin System Regent Tuition Policy Principles
• UW-Extension Tuition Reimbursement Policy (PDF 2 pages, 11 KB)

rev. 4/17/07

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