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Graduate School Benefit Programs: AY 2016-17

This agenda provides information on the tuition benefit program guidelines, subsidized health insurance, and finding resources online for graduate students. It also includes job code definitions and financial support requirements.

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Graduate School Benefit Programs: AY 2016-17

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  1. Graduate school benefit programs Information and training: AY 2016-17 • AGENDA: • Tuition Benefit Program Guidelines • Subsidized Health Insurance

  2. FINDING RESOURCES ONLINE: gradschool.utah.edu/tbp

  3. TBP DEADLINE CALENDAR / MIN SUPPORT

  4. Tuition Benefit Program Guidelines • To be eligible, grad students must be: • Full-time, matriculated • Compensated through the University of Utah under an eligible job code • Maintaining a GPA of 3.0 or above (2.0 for Law students) • Tuition Benefit covers: • Regular tuition • Mandatory fees • Non-resident tuition (except for RA’s who have reached 85 credit hours) • Tuition benefit does not cover: • Differential tuition charged by various university graduate and professional programs • non-mandatory fees (special course fees, etc.) • Repeated courses • Undergraduate and noncredit courses • Continuing Education courses

  5. TBP Job Code Definitions • Graduate Teaching Assistant (TA), (job code 9416, Exempt): A graduate student with instructional responsibilities as instructor of record, assistant to the instructor of record or tutor. Duties may include lecturing, holding discussion or problem sessions, conducting laboratory sections, conducting studio or performance work, online instruction, grading, tutoring, and holding office hours. International students must be cleared through the International Teaching Assistant Program (contact Diane Cotsonas x. 5-6659) before being placed in jobs coded 9416. • Graduate Research Assistant (RA), (job code 9314, Exempt): A graduate student assigned directly to an externally funded research grant (5000 fund only) and doing research for that project.

  6. TBP Job Code Definitions • Graduate Assistant (GA), (job code 9330, Exempt): A graduate student assigned work related to his/her degree program and not covered in the previous two categories. A GA must be funded by his/her academic department and not supported by 5000 funding. If a student wishes to work as a GA outside his/her home (academic) department, prior approval must be granted by the Dean of The Graduate School. • Exceptions are generally granted in cases where the work of the GA will forward the student’s academic career, if the home department is in support of the request. A letter to the Dean from the student’s committee chair requesting the approval and discussing how the work will forward the student’s academic career is required.

  7. TBP Job Code Definitions • Graduate Fellow (GF): A graduate student on a fellowship, whose tuition is not paid by their fellowship award. TBP has right of first reversal if other sources of tuition funding are available. Fellowship payments may be distributed as a scholarship through the University’s Scholarship Administration System (SA), or in special cases as a monthly traineeship disbursement through Accounts Payable. Fellowship payments made through Scholarship Administration must be paid from item types set up as fellowships in order to count toward the student’s TBP-eligible income (with budget category code 66900). No employer-employee relationship exists in a fellowship. The University administers the award. A service expectation may or may not accompany it.

  8. Financial Support Requirements

  9. Financial Support Requirements Minimum support levels for the 2016-17 academic year are: • $7,250 per semester: 100% tuition benefit • $5,438 per semester: 75% tuition benefit • $3,625 per semester: 50% tuition benefit No tuition benefit is granted to students receiving less than $3,625 in support for the semester.

  10. Financial Support Requirements • There are 9 pay periods in each Fall or Spring semester. The TBP calculates financial support for each semester based on payroll during the following dates: • Fall: August 16 – December 31 (final paycheck Jan 7) • Spring: January 1 – May 15 (final paycheck May 22) • Summer May 16 – August 15 (final paycheck Aug 22) • Payments outside of these dates do not count toward the financial support requirement for the semester.

  11. Financial Support Requirements • No student is required to work more than 20 hours a week (0.50 FTE) in order to receive a tuition benefit. • Faculty may expect up to: • 20 hours of work a week (0.50 FTE) from students receiving a 100% tuition benefit • 15 hours a week (0.375 FTE) from students receiving a 75% tuition benefit • 10 hours a week (0.25 FTE) from students receiving a 50% tuition benefit • Students working one or more on-campus jobs with a combined FTE greater than 0.74 FTE are ineligible to participate in the Graduate Tuition Benefit Program.

  12. Questions?

  13. Tuition Benefit Data Entry

  14. Tuition Benefit Data Entry

  15. Tuition Benefit Program Report

  16. Tuition Benefit Program Report Classification - P is PhD, G is Masters This determines total eligibility for tuition benefit. Change of Classification forms must be completed in order to make a change. The form is due to the Registrar two weeks before the first day of the semester. Call Jolyn if you plan to change a TBP recipient from PhD to Masters.

  17. Tuition Benefit Program Report

  18. Tuition Benefit Program Report

  19. Tuition Benefit Program Report

  20. TBP REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS • For tuition benefit recipients only, full-time student status means registration of at least 9 credit hours throughout the semester. • Undergraduate, contract and/or audited courses count toward the required minimum 9 credit hours but do not qualify for a tuition benefit. Students may register for a maximum 16 semester hours but are responsible for tuition for hours exceeding 12 credits. • TBP covers 9-12 credit hours, except for RAs whose Fall/Spring tuition benefit covers 9 - 11 credits, with 3 credit hours available in Summer semester. An RA can only receive TBP for summer semester IF they received TBP as an RA for either the previous Fall OR Spring. • Also not covered: continuing education courses, repeated courses, non-graded coursework, etc.

  21. TBP Credit Hour Policies • IMPORTANT: • Students adding and/or dropping courses after the semester's published add/drop deadlines are responsible for any and all charges incurred. If registration falls below 9 credit hours, a student becomes ineligible for TBP and will be billed the full tuition for that semester. • Tuition benefit will not cover dropped courses. If a student drops after the drop deadline and does not petition Income Accounting to also drop the tuition charges, they will be responsible for the tuition.

  22. Tuition benefit program report

  23. Tuition benefit program report

  24. Tuition benefit program report Term Count: Includes the current term. If it is the first semester it shows a 1, if it is the tenth, it shows 10. Count does not include summer terms. Cumulative Hours: For RAs, at 85 cumulative credit hours, the TBP will only pay at resident tuition rates.

  25. Tuition benefit petitions • Petitions for additional semesters of tuition benefit are rarely approved in the absence of extenuating circumstances. • To submit a petition, the faculty advisor or department chair should draft a letter on behalf of the student. The letter should be addressed to Dean Kieda and sent to Jolyn for processing. The letter should include: • a clear path to graduation • details of the request • extenuating circumstances • Note that petitions will be returned if the following items are not entered in Grad Tracking: • Program of Study • Committee

  26. Signature Tracking The “Signed” column will display a Y for a student who has signed electronically, and an N for a student who has not signed. Students will be prompted to re-sign if a change is made to their insurance enrollment. An email is sent to the student once they are entered into the system, and again if the insurance election is changed. “Signed date” is a record of the date that the student signed.

  27. TBP Approval: Email & Link **We’ll be modifying this process this year, so please feel free to send any feedback to Jolyn.

  28. Graduate Tuition Benefit Approval Screen

  29. CIS Access to Graduate Tuition Benefit Approval Form

  30. Tuition Benefit Program Report • Common Error Messages • 84 hours exceeded for NR Ben (NR=Non-Resident) • No matching job code • No matching SSN • No RA 5k fund code • Insufficient credit hours • GPA below 3.0 • Term count exceeded • Actual Support low • Projected support low • FTE exceeded • Maximum Credit Hours exceeded • No Graduate Classification • Override: Eligible

  31. Most Common TBP Problems • 1. Student is paid outside of semester dates so pay doesn’t count toward semester, or pay is short by a small amount. • 2. FTE going up before semester is over. Problematic especially from Spring to Summer when students are hired full-time or in more than one position. • 3. TBP entry of a student by both the academic and paying departments. Should be entered by academic department only. When one department deletes, the student is deleted from all lists. • 4. Incorrect classification as either PhD or Masters student. • 5. Registration for too many or too few credit hours, or dropping courses mid-semester.

  32. Signature Sheet Print by: Sept 12 Due: Sept 19

  33. Questions?

  34. Graduate Subsidized Health Insurance • Eligibility is the same as for TBP, except limited to TA’s & RA’s at 100% • The plan is the same student plan that is available to all U students - only difference is the premium subsidy. • Student must be: • 100% RA or TA • Combination of RA/TA that qualifies for 100% tuition benefit

  35. Graduate Subsidized Health Insurance • The student portion of the subsidized insurance premium for the 2016-17 academic year is $369.60 which is paid at $184.80 each semester. • For Fall 2016, this must be paid in Income Accounting between: September 19 – September 30, 2016 • Coverage periods for the subsidized plan ONLY are biannual: 8/16 – 2/14 (FALL), 2/15 - 8/15 (SPRING). Enrollment changes cannot be made after TBP data entry closes (September 12 at 3 pm)

  36. Graduate Subsidized Health Insurance • Buy-up Coverage • No longer an option – UHCSR plan has no maximum benefit. • Adding Dependents to Coverage • Subsidized students MUST add dependents during the open enrollment period (Sept 13 for Fall). They do not need to wait for their own coverage to be processed. • Go to www.uhcsr.com/utah • Click on “Request Dependent Coverage.” • Procedure for students/dependents who are paid for by the department will not change. Please email me if you need to be added to the spreadsheet to enroll students directly. If you used the spreadsheet last year, you are already on the list.

  37. Graduate Subsidized Health Insurance • All benefit, rate, enrollment information can be found at: www.uhcsr.com/utah Voluntary enrollment spreadsheets should be submitted by September 13, 2016. After you submit your spreadsheet to sidpremium@uhcsr.com, you will receive an invoice and can prepare payment at that time. The enrollment spreadsheet can also be used to update student’s contact information or to remove coverage. Note: there may be an additional option this year to upload your spreadsheet to a secure FTP site. I’ll be in touch with those who utilize this process.

  38. Graduate Subsidized Health Insurance • Any time there are students coming off or on to the subsidized program mid-year, it could result in a coverage gap or overpayment. Please feel free to contact Jolyn at anytime for guidance. • For subsidized students who are new to the insurance policy in the Spring, an additional $225 will be added to their tuition bill if they choose to have coverage dated back to 1/1/17. Please send me a list of names and Unids in the Spring if you have students that fall into this category and wish to purchase the coverage. International students will be automatically enrolled and billed. • Student subsidized in Fall and not in Spring, they should use a special enrollment form to enroll for the second semi-annual period. That way they don’t pay for coverage they don’t need. Please contact me if you have a student in that situation.

  39. Graduate Subsidized Health Insurance • INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS • Are automatically enrolled in the voluntary student health plan and billed for the full premium at the start of each semester. • If they are subsidized: a list of subsidized grads is sent to Kerry Hill periodically throughout the tuition benefit data entry period. She removes premium fees as quickly as possible. • The subsidized fee won’t be added until September 21. • International students with their own insurance coverage must complete a waiver process with Kerry Hill in the International Center. Coverage must be comparable to the student plan – Kerry can provide more information. • For the spreadsheet people – in lieu of adding international students to your spreadsheet/invoice, you have the option to simply pay for their insurance through Scholarship Administration, since they will have already been enrolled and billed by Student Health.

  40. Graduate Subsidized Health Insurance • DEPARTMENT-PAID ENROLLEES • Some departments choose to pay premiums for students who don’t quality for the regular subsidized plan. • Use the provided voluntary enrollment spreadsheet. If you need access to the spreadsheet and have not used it previously, contact the Graduate School. • Submit for fall enrollment by September 13, 2016 to sidpremium@uhcsr.com. • Be sure to use the correct location code. • You will be billed for the premium via secure email – prepare a payment request and send the check to the address on the invoice along with a copy of the invoice.

  41. Most Common Insurance Problems • Sending checks to insurance carrier (usually directly from Accounts Payable) without information on students and premiums. Be sure to include your invoice. • Not checking invoices for accuracy. Make sure that everyone that you meant to enroll is on your invoice. • Sending the student 20% premium ($190.40) to the insurance carrier instead of paying through Scholarship Administration. • Paying a full premium through Scholarship Administration, without ensuring that enrollment has occurred. • Please continue to encourage students to visit the Student Health Center first, except in cases of emergency.

  42. TBP Requirements for International Teaching Assistants Graduate School Policy states that in order to receive a tuition benefit as a Graduate Teaching Assistant (TA), (PAN job code 9416) non-native English speakers must be cleared by the International Teaching Assistant Program. More details are available at http://www.utah.edu/ita or contact Diane Cotsonas, ITAP Manager for assistance: Office: 801.585.6659 Email: diane.cotsonas@.utah.edu

  43. Questions?

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