VIII. University Benefit Program

The University offers a comprehensive employee benefit program to protect the health and welfare of you and your eligible dependent(s). The University benefit program is an important part of an eligible employee’s total compensation package. At the present time, we offer eligible employees the opportunity to participate in the following benefit plans:

• Health Insurance Plan
• Dental Insurance Plan
• Medical Flexible Spending Account Plan
• Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account Plan
• Short-Term Disability Insurance
• Long-Term Disability Insurance
• Staff Retirement Plan
• Tax-Deferred Retirement Plan
• Life Insurance Plan
• Voluntary Life Insurance
• Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance
• Death Benefit
• Travel Accident Insurance
• Employee Assistance Program
• Employer-Assisted Housing Program

Summary plan descriptions describing each benefit plan offered, the benefits available, and the eligibility requirements are distributed to all eligible employees. Generally, an employee’s eligibility to participate in the University benefit program described below depends upon their employment category. Regular full-time employees and regular part-time employees with benefits are eligible for these plans, unless eligibility is otherwise required by federal or state law. Only regular full-time employees are eligible to participate in the University’s tuition waiver program. For more information concerning the benefit plans available, please contact the benefits office in the Office of Human Resources and Institutional Equity. 

Each benefit plan, including each tuition waiver program detailed below, is subject to change, amendment or termination by the University at any time in its sole discretion. 

The University adheres to all the requirements of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986, as amended (“COBRA”) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended (“HIPAA”) as they apply to our employees.

Eligibility

• Regular full-time employees who have completed the introductory period and enlisted personnel of the ROTC units employed by the University; and
• After an employee described above completes three (3) years of full-time continuous service at the University, the spouse and/or dependent children of such employees. For purposes of this program, the term “spouse” means the person to whom the employee is currently and legally married, and does not include divorced and legally separated spouses. For purposes of this program, the term “dependent children” means the biological, adopted, or stepchildren of the employee who are claimed as dependents for federal income tax purposes on the employee’s income tax return. Spouses and dependent children of regular full-time employees who are themselves employees of the University will have their eligibility for tuition waivers determined exclusively on the basis of their own employment.

Benefit

• Each semester, eligible employees may receive exemption from the payment of tuition, but not University fees, for up to two (2) courses or six (6) hours, whichever is greater, at the undergraduate or graduate level. For clarity, it is possible to take two (2) courses of four (4) hours each in a semester because the two-course maximum would not be exceeded. It is also possible to take three (3) courses of two (2) hours each because the six-hour maximum would not be exceeded. 
  
  Any of the summer sessions are considered a semester. Employees are allowed to take a maximum of two (2) courses or six (6) hours, whichever is greater and regardless of sessions, for the summer, as in Fall and Spring.
  
  If a spouse or dependent child of an eligible employee is employed by the University and eligible for the tuition waiver benefit, the benefit will apply under the terms of their own employment status.
   
• Eligible spouses and dependent children of an eligible employee may receive exemption from the payment of tuition, but not University fees, for credit courses at the undergraduate level only.
   
• Tuition waivers are granted for college-level work taken for credit and do not include workshops or non-credit seminars.

• Tuition waivers are not granted for some programs, including but not limited to: 

  • Executive Master of Business Administration
  • Concurrent Enrollment
  • Gifted and Talented
  • Project Tulane
  • Tulane Junior Summer Lyric Theater
  • Freeman Summer School Abroad
  • Master of Liberal Arts, not including Master of Liberal Arts from the School of Continuing Studies
  • Executive Master of Health Administration
  • Civic and Cultural Management Program
  • Master of Science in Pharmacology
  • Master of Science in Cell and Molecular Biology
  • Executive Master of Medical Management 

  Please contact the Office of Human Resources and Institutional Equity to determine whether a program is covered by this policy.

• Under no circumstances will a tuition waiver be granted to any eligible person for taking a previously completed course a second time.
   
• Please note that graduate-level tuition waivers for University employees can be provided on a tax-free basis up to $5,250 annually.

Procedures

• The University requires a copy of the employee’s most recent federal income tax return when a tuition waiver is claimed for a dependent child. Failure to provide this or any additional documentation requested may result in denial of the benefit.
   
• An online Tuition Waiver Application form must be completed each semester in which enrollment is requested. Eligibility for tuition waivers is determined when an online Tuition Waiver Application is submitted.
   
• An online Tuition Waiver Application must be submitted to the Office of Human Resources and Institutional Equity by the applicable deadline. The deadline for applications for a particular academic session can be found on the Office of Human Resources and Institutional Equity web site. Late online Tuition Waiver Applications will not be processed and tuition becomes the employee’s responsibility.
   
• If the person enrolled on a tuition waiver basis becomes ineligible for the tuition waiver during a semester, the ineligible person will be allowed to complete the semester in which they are enrolled. However, if the person enrolled becomes ineligible for the tuition waiver as a result of such employee’s voluntary termination of employment at any time during the semester, the former employee will be charged for the full tuition amount for that semester.
   
• In the event that an eligible person drops a course subsequent to the deadline for drop/add, the employee will be charged a $50.00 per class drop fee per course.
   
• These benefits are contingent upon the University’s admissions guidelines.
   
• Tuition waivers for employees, spouses, and dependent children for undergraduate study are treated as non-taxable educational assistance. Tuition waivers for education beyond the undergraduate level for eligible employees (not available for spouses or children) may be treated as taxable income to the employee under the Internal Revenue Code.

Eligibility 

Employees:

• Retirees with at least twenty-five (25) years of full-time service at the University who completely sever their employment relationship with the University;
   
• Employees who have been approved and accepted as disabled under the University’s Long-Term Disability Plan and have at least five (5) years of full-time service at the University at the time of the disability;
   
• Employees who have been approved and accepted under the University’s Long-Term Disability Plan, have less than five (5) years of full-time service at the University, and are enrolled on a tuition waiver basis at the time of the disability;
   
• Faculty members whose tenures are terminated under extraordinary circumstances caused by financial exigencies or by a bona fide discontinuance of a program or a department of instruction.

Spouses and Dependent Children:

• The spouse and dependent children of a retired employee described in subparagraph (i)(a) above;
   
• The spouse and dependent children of a disabled employee described in subparagraph (i)(b) above;
   
• If enrolled on a tuition waiver basis at the time of an employee’s death or disability, the spouse and/or dependent children of a disabled employee described in subparagraph (i)(c) above or of an employee who dies before completing five (5) years of full-time service at the University;
   
• The spouse and dependent children of an employee who has at least five (5) years of full-time service at the University and separates from service by reason of death.

Dependent Children:

• The dependent children of tenured, full-time faculty members whose tenures are terminated under extraordinary circumstances caused by financial exigencies or by a bona fide discontinuance of a program or a department of instruction. For purposes of this program, the term “spouse” means the person to whom the employee is currently and legally married, and does not include divorced and legally separated spouses. The spouse of a deceased employee becomes ineligible for an extended tuition waiver when they remarry. For purposes of this program, “dependent children” means the biological, adopted, or stepchildren of the employee who are claimed as dependents for federal income tax purposes on the employee’s federal income tax return. In the case of biological, adopted or stepchildren of a deceased employee, “dependent children” are children who were claimed as dependents for federal income tax purposes on the employee’s federal income tax return in the year of death or the year immediately preceding the employee’s death.

Exclusion

• If an employee is terminated by the University for cause, neither the employee, nor any spouse or dependent child of the employee is eligible for tuition waivers under this program.

Benefit

• Except as provided in subparagraph (ii) below, the total number of annual tuition waivers available to an eligible employee, along with their spouse and/or dependent children as a group is equal to the number of years of full-time service by the employee, including the academic year in which the retirement, disability or death occurs.
   
• Employees described in subparagraph (A)(i)(c), together with the spouse and/or dependent children of such employees described in subparagraph (A)(ii)(c) shall be eligible to receive a total of five (5) annual tuition waivers. If more than one eligible individual is enrolled on a tuition waiver basis at the time of the employee’s death or disability, the enrolled individuals as a group shall be entitled to receive a total of five (5) annual tuition waivers.
   
• An annual tuition waiver is defined as the exemption from the payment of tuition, but not University fees, to the extent available for active employees under the tuition waiver program at the time the application for tuition waiver is submitted, for credit courses during an academic year (August to August: fall, spring and summer sessions).
   
• Annual tuition waivers are not granted for some programs, including, but not limited to:
  • Executive Master of Business Administration
  • Concurrent Enrollment
  • Gifted and Talented
  • Project Tulane
  • Tulane Junior Summer Lyric Theater
  • Freeman Summer School Abroad
  • Master of Liberal Arts
  • Executive Master of Health Administration
  • Civic and Cultural Management Program
  • Master of Science in Pharmacology
  • Master of Science in Cell and Molecular Biology
  • Executive Master of Medical Management
     
• Under no circumstances will a waiver be granted to any eligible person for taking a previously completed course a second time.

Procedures

• The University requires a copy of the employee’s most recent federal income tax return if the tuition waiver requested is for a dependent. Failure to provide this or any additional documentation requested may result in denial of the benefit.
   
• If the spouse or dependent child is enrolled on a tuition waiver basis and becomes ineligible for the tuition waiver during the semester, the ineligible person will be allowed to complete the semester in which they are enrolled. 
   
• The use of a tuition waiver by an individual at any time during the academic year is counted as the use of one annual tuition waiver. This means that if the former employee, spouse, or dependent child uses a tuition waiver to take only one course during an entire academic year, it counts as the use of one annual tuition waiver. However, if the former employee, spouse and dependent child each take one course during an entire academic year or a full course load all three semesters, it counts as the use of three annual tuition waivers.
   
• These benefits are contingent upon the University’s admissions guidelines.

The University participates in a tuition exchange program. Under certain circumstances, this program permits those who would be eligible to receive a Tulane tuition waiver as an undergraduate dependent child of a Tulane staff member to receive some level of waiver to attend other colleges and universities. A listing of participating institutions can be found at www.tuitionexchange.org. Please contact the University’s Financial Aid Office for more information.