Fee Waiver Benefit Program
Fee Waivers are provided pursuant to Chancellor's Office
Executive Order # 712; California Code of Regulations, Title
5, § 41804; and Payroll and Benefits guidelines, as
follows:
|
Semester/Session |
Fee Waiver Application Period: |
|
YRO Summer |
First Monday in April through the First Friday in May |
|
Fall |
First Monday in April through the First Friday in May |
|
Spring |
First Monday in October through the First Friday in November |
On This Page:
The Faculty & Staff Fee Waiver Program provides
tuition reduction to eligible University faculty and staff under two categories:
- Career Development - This category of the Fee
Waiver Program is composed of two components:
- Classes required for credit toward the attainment
of an identified academic goal; or
- Classes taken for the attainment or enhancement of
skills for the purpose of career advancement
within the CSU system.
The following are examples of career
development/advancement courses that would prepare employees
for career advancement:
A Custodian, in preparation for a Lead Custodian
position, requests a course in Small Group Communication in
order to improve communication skills.
An Administrative Analyst/Specialist, in preparation for
a Human Resources Administrator position, requests a course
in Employment Law.
An Administrative Support Coordinator, in preparation for
an Analyst/Programmer position, requests a course in
Operating Systems Programming.
- Job Related - Classes taken for the purpose of
improving the level of skills needed to perform existing
employment (current job).
The following are examples of job-related courses that
would improve the skills used in the employees' current
position:
An Administrative Support Coordinator working in the
Educational Opportunity Program office requests a course in
Ethnic and Race Relations in order to better understand and
relate to the students from varied ethnic backgrounds the
EOP department services.
An Air Conditioning/Refrigeration Mechanic requests a
course entitled Computer Aided Construction in order to
improve his or her ability to understand and solve problems
that involve the construction of University buildings.
A Groundskeeper requests a course in Plant Science.
The Dependent Fee Waiver Program provides eligible
employees in certain employee categories with the
opportunity to transfer their fee waiver benefit to their
eligible spouse, dependent child, or domestic partner to
attend classes at CSU campuses at reduced rates.
Fee Waiver applies to CSU General Fund courses only!
| Employee Category |
Eligibility Criteria |
| Unit 1 (Physicians) |
All unit members |
Units 2,5,7,9 (CSUEU)
Unit 4 (Academic Professionals)
Unit 6 (Skilled Trades) |
Full-time employees (i.e. permanent, temporary, & probationary) and part-time permanent employees |
| Unit 3 (Faculty) |
Tenured* and probationary faculty unit employees, and probationary faculty unit employees (excluding coaches) with three (3) year appointments pursuant to Article 12 of the CFA Bargaining Agreement. Coaches must have at least six (6) years of full-time equivalent service in the department for enrollment in the CSU fee waiver program. |
Unit 8 (Public Safety)
C99 (Confidential)**
E99 (Excluded)**
M98 (Executive) |
Full-time or part-time permanent** employees, and full-time probationary employees (no temporary) |
| M80 (MPP) |
Full-time employees (includes temporary) |
| R11 (UAW) |
Not eligible |
*FERP employees are considered tenured faculty and are eligible for fee waiver only during the semesters when they are actively employed.
**C99 and E99 employees only attain permanent status in part-time positions as a result of completing a probationary period in a full-time position and, subsequently, reducing their timebase.
- Not Eligible: Part-time probationary and
temporary University staff, employees of the
Associate Students and Research Foundation, and Unit 11 student staff.
- Employees on an approved Leave of Absence may enroll in
units in excess of these amounts in accordance with the
following schedule:
| Fraction of Leave |
Maximum Units |
| full-time |
No limit |
| three-fourths but less
than full |
15 units |
| one-half but less than
three-fourths |
12 units |
| one-fourth but less than
one-half |
9 units |
- A maximum of two (2) courses or six (6) units per
semester, whichever is greater may be taken for a reduced
fee, see Fees & Taxation.
- All Career Development/academic goal classes taken for major, minor, or
General Education requirements must be taken for a letter
grade. A credit/no credit (CR/NC) grade is permitted for
electives, job-related courses, Career Development/advancement,or for courses in which
standard grading procedures are not practical or possible.
Courses taken on the Fee Waiver Program must be taken for
credit, not audited, and be General Fund courses only.
- Supervisors may authorize the use of State time for one
(1) course, depending on the operational needs of the
department, or they may allow changes in work schedule to
accommodate a class schedule. However, supervisors are not
obligated to do either, and employees may have to take fee
waiver courses on their own time. The operational needs of
the department must be met.
- Normal academic standards must be maintained by the Employee, spouse/domestic partner, or dependent child in order to continue participating in the fee waiver program.
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The two components of the Career Development
category have different form requirements. However, one form
requirement they have in common is the Career Development
Plan (CDP). The CDP identifies the
academic or career goal the employee is pursuing and
outlines the courses necessary to achieve it. Participants
must meet with an appropriate academic advisor (if pursuing
an academic degree, certificate or credential) or a
classifier from the Payroll and Benefits Office (if
pursuing career advancement) in order to develop the CDP. It
is the Fee Waiver coordinator's responsibility to ensure
that courses requested each semester are listed on the
CDP.
The CDP should be submitted to the Payroll and Benefits Office:
- The first semester the employee participates in the
Fee Waiver Program under the Career Development category
and
- Should there be a change in the stated Career
Development goal.
- Career Development/academic goal - Courses must be required classes taken for credit toward the
attainment of an identified academic goal (degree,
credential, or certificate).
- First-time Career Development/academic goal
participants are required to complete all the forms
necessary for regular admission and matriculation to
the CSU as follows:
- Undergraduate must submit the CSU Undergraduate
Application for Admission to Payroll and Benefits by the
appropriate fee waiver deadline.
- Graduate must submit the CSU Graduate Program application
materials directly to the Graduate Programs Office in
compliance with their normal deadline dates. Graduate
Program deadlines, in almost all cases, precede fee waiver
program deadlines. Visit http://www.csuchico.edu/gisp/gs/.
The $55 application fee will be waived if applicants submit a
Request for Temporary Waiver of Graduate Application Fee form,
http://www.csuchico.edu/gisp/gs/student_forms/admissions/ Fee%20Waiver%20for%20Employees.doc with the CSU Graduate Program. Or the applicant may pay the
application fee and request a refund after approval for fee
waiver participation.
- Additional Required Forms/Links (http://www.csuchico.edu/sro):
- Staff Council awards a scholarship of $250 to
a staff employee each spring. To apply,
go to Staff Council Scholarship Application
- To apply for participation in the Career
Development/academic goal category, employees
must submit to Payroll and Benefits:
- Continuing Career Development/academic goal
participants must submit to Payroll and Benefits
every semester they wish to participate:
- All Career Development/academic goal participants
who wish to change courses after their Fee Waiver
Applications have been approved must submit as soon
as the need for a change becomes evident to Payroll and Benefits a:
- Continuing undergraduate Career
Development/academic goal participants who wish to
take one or more semesters off from their studies
must contact the Office of Student Records to
request a Planned Educational Leave (PEL).
- Continuing graduate Career Development/academic
goal participants who wish to take one or more
semesters off from their studies may not be required
to maintain continuous enrollment through
registration as a matriculated student or through
adjunct enrollment. Contact the Graduate School for
information.
- Career Development/advancement - courses are
taken to attain or enhance skills for the purpose of
advancement into an identified CSU classification.
Completion of these courses does not guarantee the
employee a position when a job vacancy occurs.
-
Career Development/advancement participants are not
registered students and are considered "academic
visitors," unable to declare a major, and are not
required to provide transcripts or test scores. The same
admissions regulations and procedures required for
job-related courses apply.
-
During their first semester, participants must submit a
Career Development Plan, developed with the help of and
signed by a classifier from Staff Human Resources. The
purpose of the CDP is to identify the proposed
classification goal and the knowledge and skills to be
acquired through the requested courses. A new CDP would
have to be submitted if the goal were to change.
- Each semester an employee wishes to take a career
development/advancement course they must submit the
following to Payroll and Benefits:
- Job Related
-
Employees may take courses specifically to improve the
skills required for their existing employment (current job). These employees are not registered students and
are considered "academic visitors," unable to
declare a major, and are not required to provide transcripts
or test scores.
- Each semester a job-related course is taken the
participating employee must submit the
following to Payroll and Benefits:
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Employees taking classes during their regularly scheduled
work hours shall be granted reasonable release time for one
on-campus course per semester to be approved by the
supervisor and appropriate administrator based on the
operational needs of the department. If a supervisor does
not approve release from work, or if more than one course
meets during the workday, the employee may opt to use his or
her lunch hour to attend class, provided the class meets
toward the middle of the employee's work shift. Most staff
employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements
that do not allow them to skip lunch on some days to make up
for class time on other days. However, a supervisor, based
on the operational needs of the department, may modify an
employee's schedule and allow them to work later or earlier
in order to make up time spent attending class.
Employees whose work schedules are modified, must attach
a copy of their modified schedule (signed by the supervisor)
to the Faculty & Staff Fee Waiver Benefit
Application.
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In addition to the decision whether or not to authorize
release time, supervisors may also be called upon to assist
employees in identifying courses that would improve the
skills of their existing position or that would enhance
their skills for career advancement. In order to better
understand the Fee Waiver Program and their role in it,
Payroll and Benefits offers supervisor training. Contact
the fee waiver coordinator for more information at 898-6771.
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Unit 1 (Physicians), Unit 3 (Faculty), Units 2, 5, 7, 9 (CSEA),
Unit 4 (APC),
Unit 6 (SETC), Confidential employees, and Management Personnel Plan
(MPP) employees may transfer their fee waiver benefit to
their spouse, domestic partner, or a dependent child. Unit 8
(UPD) employees may transfer their fee waiver benefit to a
spouse or a dependent child.
A dependent must meet the following criteria:
- A dependent child is:
Please Note: Dependent children of CSUEU employees may now participate in the Fee Waiver Program up to age 25 effective Summer 2007.
- the employee's child or stepchild under age 23 (or age 25 for CSUEU employees) who has never
been married;
- a child, under age 23 (or age 25 for CSUEU employees), living with the employee in a
parent-child relationship who is economically
dependent upon the employee and has never been married;
- the employee's child or stepchild age 23 (or age 25 for CSUEU employees) or above who is
incapable of self-support due to a disability that existed prior to age 23 (or age 25 for CSUEU employees).
- The spouse, domestic partner, or dependent child must
be matriculated toward a degree or attainment of a
teaching credential in the CSU, and the course(s) enrolled in on a fee waiver basis must be for credit toward
completion of that degree or teaching credential.
- Campus administration must determine that space is available in the particular course offering before accommodating a spouse, domestic partner, or dependent child who wishes to enroll in the course on a fee waiver basis.
- The dependent fee waiver applies to only certain fees
incurred by California residents. Out-of-state
dependents will be responsible for paying nonresident
tuition charges based upon the total number of units in
which they are enrolled.
- The dependent fee waiver may be transferred to only
one person at a time.
- If both parents are employees eligible to transfer
their fee waiver benefit to a dependent child, each
employee may transfer the benefits. Therefore, it is
possible for one child to receive both benefits and be
eligible to enroll in up to four (4) courses or 12
units, whichever is greater, on a fee waiver basis.
Alternatively, each employee could transfer his/her
benefit to a different child, and each child will be
entitled to two (2) courses or six (6) units of fee
waiver eligibility.
- An employee transferring his/her fee waiver benefit to
a spouse, domestic partner, or dependent child must sign
the Dependent Fee Waiver Program Application, certifying that
the benefits have been transferred and that the
individual using the benefit is in fact an eligible
dependent.
- The employee cannot use the fee waiver benefit if it
has been transferred to a dependent.
- Dependents using the fee waiver plan may enroll in
courses at any CSU campus.
- Student Financial Aid may be affected by the use of
fee waiver. The employee or dependent may contact the Financial Aid and Scholarship
Office at the campus that the dependent is attending to
determine how financial aid will be affected by participation
in the Fee Waiver Program.
- Dependents taking courses in addition to the fee waiver courses shall pay any difference in fees, per applicable collective bargaining agreement and campus practice.
Employees who transfer their fee waiver benefit to a
dependent must submit to the Payroll & Benefits Office each semester:
Please complete the entire form and fill in all
requested information. Incomplete forms will be
returned to the employee, which may cause a delay in
processing.
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- New fee waiver application forms must be submitted each semester.
- All forms submitted to Payroll and Benefits must be filled
in completely and have all the appropriate signatures.
If they are incomplete, the forms cannot be processed
and will be returned to the employee.
- In order to continue in the Fee Waiver Program,
employees or their dependents must maintain good
standing academically, which means a "C" (2.0)
average or better. Grades are audited each semester, and
students who allow their grades to fall below a
"C" (2.0) average will be dropped from the
program.
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- Fall Semester: 1st Monday in April through the 1st
Friday in May
- Spring Session: 1st Monday in October through the 1st
Friday in November
- Summer Session: 1st Monday in April through the 1st
Friday in May (you must be registered fall or summer
that academic year to qualify)
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The Fee Waiver coordinator will review the application
materials and determine whether:
- the employee meets eligibility requirements for
participation in this program as defined above under
Eligibility;
- the courses are appropriate by comparing requested:
- Job-Related Courses with the employee's
CSUC Job Description to see if they meet the
definition provided above under Course Options OR
- Career Development Courses with the courses
listed on the Career Development Plan submitted for
the stated academic or career advancement goal.
After review, the Fee Waiver Coordinator will send the
employee a copy of the Fee Waiver Application form
indicating that the application:
- is being returned for additional information
- has been denied and provide the reason; or
- has been approved.
If approved, a copy will also be forwarded to the
Admissions Office or the Graduate School. We will also
notify Student Financial Services of the employee's approval
for participation in the program so their record can be
appropriately coded for the reduced fees.
If an employee who has been approved for the Fee
Waiver participation receives a bill from Student Financial
Services that does not reflect the fee waiver
deduction, he or she should call the number at the bottom of
the bill for clarification. All Fee Waiver Program
participants must pay fees in time to assure receipt by
Student Financial Services-Cashiering on or before the
Registration Fee Payment Deadline.
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Registration is now on-line, real-time, first-come,
first-served. Career Development/academic goal participants
will be invited by mail, e-mail and through their CSC Portal
account to register on their priority registration day based
on their class level and other criteria and again during
open registration periods. Because they are matriculated
students, their invitation to register is not predicated on
their approval in the Fee Waiver Program.
Career Development/advancement and Job-related
participants may register only during the open registration
periods that take place after their Fee Waiver Program
participation has been approved.
Refer to the Class Schedule for
available classes and other useful information including how
to register. (Go to http://www.csuchico.edu/schedule/
or purchase at the Associated Students Bookstore.)
Career Development/advancement and Job-related
participants may experience a lag between the time they receive
their
approved application form from the Payroll and Benefits Office
and the time the Registration and Admissions will allow you
to enroll. Be patient and keep trying. Should the process
seem to take an inordinate amount of time (over 7-10 days),
you may request assistance from the Fee Waiver coordinator
at extension 6771.
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Employees
| Employee Category |
Fees Fully Waived for Employee |
Fees Reduced to $1.00 for Employee |
Unit 1 (Physicians)
Units 2,5,7,9 (CSUEU)
Unit 3 (Faculty)
Unit 6 (Skilled Trades)
Unit 8 (Public Safety)
C99 (Confidential)
E99 (Excluded)
M80 (MPP)
M98 (Executive) |
Application Fee
Identification Card Fee
Instructionally Related Activity Fee
Health Services Fee
State University Fee* |
Student Body Association Fee
Student Body Center Fee/Student Union Fee
Health Facilities Fee |
| Unit 4 (Academic Professionals) |
Application Fee
Identification Card Fee
Instructionally Related Activity Fee
Health Services Fee
State University Fee*
All other Category I fees as defined in Executive Order No. 740 |
Student Body Association Fee
Student Body Center Fee/Student Union Fee
Health Facilities Fee |
*May be fully waived for a maximum of two (2) courses or six (6) units, whichever is greater, per term
The following fees are NOT waived for any Fee Waiver
Program Participants:
- Lab fees
- Employees taking courses in addition to the fee waiver courses shall pay any difference in fees, per applicable Collective Bargaining Agreements and campus practice. All other fees shall be at the regular rates.
For information on the current fees, go to: http://www.csuchico.edu/cmgt/Fees_Tuition/fees_tuition.html
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Dependents
The following fees are waived or reduced for dependents
of all eligible employees:
| Employee Category |
Eligible Dependents for Fee Waiver Transfer |
Fees Fully Waived for Eligible Dependents |
Fees Reduced to $1.00 for Eligible Dependents |
Unit 1 (Physicians)
Unit 6 (Skilled Trades)
Unit 8 (Public Safety)
C99 (Confidential)
M80 (MPP)
M98 (Executive) |
Spouse
Dependent Child
Domestic Partner |
Application Fee
Identification Card Fee
Instructionally Related Activity Fee
Health Services Fee
State University Fee* |
Student Body Center Fee/Student Union Fee
Health Facilities Fee |
Units 2,5,7,9 (CSUEU)
Unit 3 (Faculty)
Unit 4 (Academic Professionals) |
Spouse
Dependent Child
Domestic Partner |
Application Fee
Identification Card Fee
State University Fee* |
None - All other fees paid at regular rates |
Unit 11 (UAW)
E99 (Excluded) |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
*May be fully waived for a maximum of two (2) courses or six (6) units, whichever is greater, per term.
**As the result of an arbitration award.
Non-resident fees will NOT be waived for any dependents.
Taxes
- As of January 1, 2002, all undergraduate and graduate
coursework taken by an employee through the CSU Fee
Waiver Program will not be taxed.
- The amount of the fees waived for Graduate courses
taken by dependents and all courses taken by domestic
partners or children of domestic partners are eligible
to be taxed under Internal Revenue Code Sections 117(d),
127, and 132(d).
- The dollar value for the waived fees will be added to
the employee's salary, and the Payroll Office will take
deductions from the first payroll warrant issued
following receipt of the benefit.
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The California State University (CSU) has responsibility
to protect sensitive employee data and maintain
confidentiality of that data under the Information Practices
Act (IPA) and Title 5. All information collected
through the fee waiver benefit program complies with Title
5, California Code of Regulations, Sections 42396 through
42396.5.
If you have questions regarding the CSU, Chico Faculty &
Staff Fee Waiver Benefit Program or Dependent Fee Waiver
Benefit Program, contact the Fee Waiver coordinator via
e-mail (feewaivers@csuchico.edu) or phone
(898-6435).
Admissions
Registration