Expanded tuition plan will likely be rejected

A proposal for an expanded tuition assistance program for University staff members will probably be rejected today by a University Council committee, committee chairperson Elsa Ramsden said yesterday. Council's Personnel Benefits Committee today will discuss last year's Human Resources proposal to give University employees partial reimbursements for off-campus course tuitions. "We are probably going to recommend that we adopt in principle the concept, but we don't see how the University can afford it at this time," Ramsden said. Currently, the University allows staff members to enroll in two academic courses at the University each semester. The courses are free for the employees, and missed work time due to classes is negotiated on an individual basis between the supervisor and employee. "It is a gift, a way for some to get an education which they would not have been able to afford otherwise," Ramsden said. However, the current program does not provide opportunities for employees who are not academically eligible for admission to the University. The program is also of no service to individuals who are interested in programs which are not available at the University. "[A HR subcommittee] came up with the recommendation that the University allow employees to take courses off-campus and be partially reimbursed [for the cost]," said Manning Doxer, chairperson of the subcommittee. The subcommittee presented its findings to Human Resources in a report dated May 28, 1991. Ramsden said the problem is financing the expanded program. Employees' personnel benefits and salaries come out of the same pool, so an increased cost in the tuition assistance program "has to get set-off somewhere else," Ramsden said. According to a letter, written by Ramsden and Human Resources Director of Total Compensation Adrienne Riley and printed in Almanac last week, "Penn spends an additional 30 percent of total faculty and staff salaries to support the benefits program. In the fiscal year 1991 this cost was almost $90 million for the over 8500 benefits-eligible faculty and staff." The human resources' subcommittee report said that "full-time staff would be eligible for benefits of one-half tuition up to a maximum of $250 per term for undergraduate or graduate courses taken at another fully accredited institution." The report also recommends that the lifetime allowance be $2000 per employee, although this number should be periodically reviewed. Although she said the committee is "sympathetic and supportive" of the human resources subcommittee's findings, Ramsden said she does not think the program can be expanded at this time. "We don't see a way we can afford it," she said. Approximately 120 employees applied to the College of General Studies last year, the majority of whom were accepted. However, staff members are also enrolled in the University's other schools. Ramsden said several employees have attended classes until they received their doctoral degrees. "It's very exciting to see folks do that," Ramsden said. The Personnel Benefits Committee does not pass University mandates, but rather brings recommendations for courses of action to Council, the Senate Executive Committee, Human Resources Department, Provost Michael Aiken and Executive Vice President Marna Whittington.