DLA Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) Job Aid

1. DLA Tuition Assistance Program (TAP)Job Aid December 2008 DLA Training Center LMS-DTC@dla.mil

2. Contents This job aid is designed as a reference for associates interested in or currently participating in the DLA Tuition Assistance Program (TAP). DLA Tuition Assistance Program

3. Contents, Continued DLA Tuition Assistance Program

4. Overview Highlights of the DLA TAP are: • Agency-wide DLA TAP policy dated November 14, 2006. • Centrally managed by DTC. • TAP course requests are managed through the DLA Learning Management System (LMS) automated approval process for all associates who have access to LMS. • Associates who are not authorized access to LMS will submit their request by forwarding a properly completed and signed SF 182. DLA Tuition Assistance Program

5. Overview, Continued • Copies of this TAP Reference Job Aid and the DLA TAP FAQ are located on the DLA Human Resources Web site: • http://www.hr.dla.mil/ • Agency-wideDLA TAP Policy is located in the DLA One Book. DLA Tuition Assistance Program

6. The basic objective of tuition assistance is: to encourage and assist employees in increasing their knowledge, skills, and abilities in order to better perform the duties of their current position, or to strengthen their potential contribution to the overall mission of the Agency. Tuition Assistance DLA Tuition Assistance Program

7. Eligibility Requirements Permanent, full-time civilian employees • who have successfully completed a 1-year probationary/trial period in Federal service (1 year continuous civilian service) • are performing at the fully successful level or better, and • have an approved individual development plan (IDP) that specifies Tuition Assistance. Note: The use of DLA funds for college tuition payment for military personnel assigned to DLA is prohibited. DLA Tuition Assistance Program

8. Criteria for Approved Courses • Schools must be accredited by an agency recognized by the US Department of Education. http://www.ope.ed.gov/accreditation • Final notification of approval by the TAP manager for the specified course must be received prior to registration and attendance of the requested course. • Courses may be taken during off-duty hours only. DLA Tuition Assistance Program

9. Criteria for Approved Courses, Continued • Courses must be: • undergraduate, • or graduate level. (If a compelling mission requirement exists, a waiver may be requested for post-graduate/doctoral courses. Waiver format can be requested from TAP Program Manager.) • Courses must be mission-related (i.e., improve individual and organizational performance and assist in achieving the Agency’s mission and performance goals). Note: TAP is not for the sole purpose of obtaining a degree or certification. Individual course requests must be related to an employee’s official duties. DLA Tuition Assistance Program

10. Expenses Covered by TAP • Tuition up to $4,700 for undergraduate level courses, $7,000 for graduate level courses per student per fiscal year • Subject to the availability of funds. • Payment for tuition will be made by the TAP manager directly to the college/university. Note: All other costs/fees are the responsibility of the student. Sample vendor payment DLA Tuition Assistance Program

11. DLA does not provide payment or reimbursement for the following: Expenses Not Covered By TAP DLA Tuition Assistance Program

12. Conditions • The continued service agreement of 3 months per undergraduate level course is required to begin the first day following course completion • The continued service agreement of 6 months per graduate level course is required to begin the first day following course completion • Successful completion with a grade of “C” or better is required. DLA Tuition Assistance Program

13. Conditions, Continued • Additionally, the student is responsible for • applying directly to the accredited educational institution of their choice and for registering for their approved tuition assistance course(s) • complying with the institution’s admission and/or registration requirements, and • remaining in “Good Standing” with the educational institution. DLA Tuition Assistance Program

14. Unsuccessful Course Completions • All tuition costs must be reimbursed for failure to successfully complete a course. This includes: • Withdrawal from a course • Drop or incomplete with penalty/cost incurred • Course failure or grades below “C” • Courses substituted for the approved course, etc. • Additional tuition assistance will not be approved until acceptable repayment arrangements have been made. DLA Tuition Assistance Program

15. Vendor Payment • The TAP manager will make all tuition payments to the school directly. No reimbursements will be made to individuals. • Vendor payment authorization will be provided to employee with final approval, to be presented to school for enrollment. • Only courses with notification of final approval by the TAP manager are guaranteed for payment. DLA Tuition Assistance Program

16. Other Sources of Financial Aid • Grants, scholarships, GI Bill, veteran benefits, or other aid may be accepted only to the extent that expenses are not covered by payments under the DLA Tuition Assistance policy. • In no circumstances are employees to accept payments that result in dual compensation. DLA Tuition Assistance Program

17. Basic Steps for the Request Process Note: It is suggested to start this process a minimum of 45–60 days prior to the course start date. Your request must be initiated in LMS at least 30 days prior to course start date. DLA Tuition Assistance Program

18. Step 1: Gather School and Course Information Some of the required information includes: • Course Name • Catalog Number • Course Description and Web site • Tuition Cost • College/University name and address • Address of site you will be attending class DLA Tuition Assistance Program

19. For associates with LMS access submit the request via LMS. A detailed job aid for LMS request submission is contained in the last section of this document. For associates not authorized LMS access, submit completed SF 182 through their first and second level supervisors to the TA Program Manager for consideration a minimum of 30 days prior to the class. Specific SF182 guidance is provided at end of last section of this document. Recommend the request be submitted a minimum of 45–60 days prior to course start date, to allow sufficient time for first and second level supervisors to approve. Step 2:Enter Request in LMS Note: It is suggested to start this process a minimum of 45–60 days prior to the course start date. Your request must be initiated in LMS at least 30 days prior to course start date. DLA Tuition Assistance Program

20. Monitor the course request to ensure first- and second-level supervisor approval is completed in a timely manner. The TAP manager should receive tuition assistance requests as far in advance as possible in order to insure the review and processing is completed prior to course start date. Step 3: Monitor Approval Process DLA Tuition Assistance Program

21. The TAP manager has final approval authority for all TAP requests. Upon their approval or denial, a Notification of Approval/Denial will be emailed. If denied requests are returned to employee from denial level instead of being forwarded to next approval level. Upon approval, you will receive a notice instructing you to enroll in your requested course. Additionally, you will receive a Memorandum for Vendor Payment for your course that you will present to your school (vendor). Step 4: Final Approval Sample memorandum for vendor payment DLA Tuition Assistance Program

22. Step 4: Final Approval, Continued If you receive a message that your request has been denied, you may contact the individual who denied the request for additional information. DLA Tuition Assistance Program

23. Step 4: Final Approval, Continued Some reasons for denial may include : • incomplete information on request • course justification not sufficient or appropriate • course not appropriate • late submission • funding from employee’s activity not available DLA Tuition Assistance Program

24. You may attend class only during non-duty hours after receipt of final course approval. Any registration, enrollment, or attendance in a course prior to final approval by DTC will be at the employee’s personal expense. Step 5: Attend Course DLA Tuition Assistance Program

25. Approved through LMS—Within 30 days of course end date, verify course completion in LMS. After submitting your electronic verification, send copy of official grade report or transcript with final grade to the TAP manager. Step 6: Verification of Completion DLA Tuition Assistance Program

26. Step 6:Verification of Completion, Continued • Upon receipt of your grade, your LMS verification will be approved by the TAP manager and the successful completion will be automatically recorded in your LMS training history by the LMS TAP Program. • Approved through SF 182—Send copy of official grade report or transcript with final grade to the TAP manager. DLA Tuition Assistance Program

27. If a course is not successfully completed for any reason, contact the TAP manager immediately for further guidance and requirements. Step 7: Unsuccessful Completion of Course DLA Tuition Assistance Program

28. All associates with access to LMS must submit their TAP course requests through LMS Automated Approval Process. The following screens will provide you with instructions and samples of LMS screens for submission of TAP requests. LMS Job Aid for TAP Automated Approval Process Note: It is suggested to start this process a minimum of 45–60 days prior to the course start date. Your request must be initiated in LMS at least 30 days prior to course start date. DLA Tuition Assistance Program

29. Welcome (Your Name) Employee Welcome (Your Name) Employee Select the “Learning” tab. DLA Tuition Assistance Program

30. Welcome (Your Name) Select “Tuition Assistance Requests.” Select “New Tuition Assistance Request.” DLA Tuition Assistance Program

31. Stude Employee A Student Block A.1 System will auto fill Block A.4 Leave blank Block A.6 Select your position level DLA Tuition Assistance Program

32. Employee.Student@dla.mil Office Symbol Office Address Block A.7 Enter your office symbol and address Block A.8 Enter your office commercial phone number Block A.9 Enter your work email address Block A.10 System will auto fill Block A.13 thru A.16 System will auto fill DLA Tuition Assistance Program

33. Block B.1a Select your school from the dropdown. If the school is not listed select other and specify. Enter address of school. Block B.1b Enter address of training site. If online enter online in front of school address. Block B.1c Enter email address of your school contact/POC Block B.1d Enter commercial phone number of your school contact/POC DLA Tuition Assistance Program

34. Block B.2a Enter course title out of school catalog Block B.2b Enter course number out of the school catalog Block B.3/B.4. Use system calendar to enter course start/end dates. Block B.7 Select 03: Improve Present Performance Block B.9 Select training sub type code that depicts course purpose Block B.10 Select delivery type code that depicts course format Block B.11 Select designation code that depicts course level Block B.12 Enter number of college credit hours Block B.13 Select type of college credit hours Block B.14 Select Yes Block B.17 Select 03: Non-government DLA Tuition Assistance Program

35. Block B.18 Enter justification that supports how the course will improve current job performance and/or support the DLA mission Block C.1.a Enter amount of course tuition only Block C.1.b and C.2a. Through C.2.c Enter 0 Block C.3 and C.4 Leave blank Block C.6 Enter course description out of school catalog. List school website where description can be located. DLA Tuition Assistance Program

36. The next screen to appear will list the: • automated approval steps, and • associated approvers. Welcome (Your Name) You should review the Acknowledgement statement TAP manager(s) usually have both levels here You must click on the I Agree box and Select “Submit” to launch your request. Note: By clicking on the I Agree box and selecting the “Submit” button, you are agreeing to all terms and conditions of the DLA TAP policy dated November 14, 2006. DLA Tuition Assistance Program

37. Print Request Tuition Assistance Requests Tuition Assistance DLA Tuition Assistance Program

38. Monitor Request Approval Status Tuition Assistance Requ To monitor request approval status Name Name DLA Tuition Assistance Program

39. Verify Request Within 30 days of Course Completion Tuition Assistance Note: Successful course completion is not recorded until the TAP manager receives your transcript and approves the verification. DLA Tuition Assistance Program

40. Error Message resolution when TAP action bridges LMS 5.5 and LMS 5.8 The issue is a date/time disconnect between the old LMS 5.5 and the new LMS 5.8 programs. To resolve the invalid date or time error/disconnect you will need to access LMS and click on the Personal tab/Regional Settings subtab. Using the drop down feature on the time pattern ID option change the time format as follows. If the current time format is set as HH:mm it will need to be changed to hh:mm aaa. If the current time format is set as hh:mm aaa it will need to be changed to HH:mm. If this does not resolve the error send a email to LMS-DTC addressing the issue and include screen captures to outline problem. DLA Tuition Assistance Program

41. Error Message resolution when TAP action bridges LMS 5.5 and LMS 5.8 Select Personal tab/ Regional Settings Change time format from hh:mm to hh:mm aaa or hh:mm aaa to hh:mm DLA Tuition Assistance Program

42. Tuition Assistance Statistics DLA Tuition Assistance Program

43. Supervisory TAP Request Review and Approval/Disapproval Process Welcome (Your Name) Welcome (Your Name) Select “Approvals” from the Personal tab or select the alert on your LMS home page. DLA Tuition Assistance Program

44. Welcome (Your Name) Student Name World History $785.00 Student Name For Internal Training, to view course information click on course title. For Tuition Assistance request form, click on course title under Tuition Assistance. DLA Tuition Assistance Program

45. Welcome (Your Name) Student Name World History $785.00 Student Name Follow screen prompts to approve, deny, or skip request. Select Next. DLA Tuition Assistance Program

46. Welcome (Your Name) Student Name World History This course is denied because it is not mission supported…/inappropriate for job series …/funding not available/…. Enter reason why approved or denied and select Next. DLA Tuition Assistance Program

47. Welcome (Your Name) Student Name $785.00 World History Select Confirm to finish approval process. Student and next approver will receive e-mail notification of each action. DLA Tuition Assistance Program

48. Welcome (Your Name) Select Start Overif you want to return to approval process. You can do multiple approvals and denials at one time. DLA Tuition Assistance Program

49. Guidance for Associates without LMS Access (TAP Non-Automated Approval Process) Only for associates routinely not authorized LMS access. • SF 182 approved for DLA employee use is available at Web site http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/infomgt/ forms/eforms/sf0182.pdf • Prepare a SF 182 according to the instructions located on page 6 through 14 of the SF 182 package. DLA Tuition Assistance Program

50. Guidance for Associates without LMS Access (TAP Non-Automated Approval Process),Continued Forward the following through the first and second level supervisors for review and supervisory approval/disapproval to the DLA TA manager for final review and approval/disapproval. Note: If a request is disapproved at any level it is returned to the submitting employee from the disapproval level instead of being forwarded to next approval level. • Completed SF 182, (Page 1 thru Page 3) • Signed DLA TA Training Agreement (available in DLA TAP policy/One Book) • A copy of the school’s catalog course description • Exceptions to SF 182 guidance: Do not make entries in— Section A blocks 2 through 5 Section B block 19 Section C blocks 1-b, 2 through 5 Section C block 1-a and 1-c enter only tuition cost. DLA Tuition Assistance Program