Fee Waiver Program

Updated October 2007

Important Update: Age Limit for Dependent Fee Waiver of R06 Employees - TL-BEN 2009/15 (12/17/09)
This technical letter provides updates to provisions of the SETC Contract covering Parental Leave, Adoption/Foster Care Leave, MEal Allowances, and the Employee Fee Waiver Program. Technical Letter (TL BEN 2009-15).

Important Update: Graduate Professional Business Programs - Executive Order No. 1042 (08/10/09)
This technical letter announces fee structure changes for Graduate Professional Business Programs, beginning with the Fall 2009 academic term, as the result of Executive Order No. 1042. Technical Letter (2009-07).

Important Update: Fee Waiver Deadline (3/16/2009)
Fee Waivers will no longer be accepted after the Census Date of each quarter. Please check your CSUSB Class Schedule for the actual Census Date of each quarter.

Important Update: Fee Waiver Program Update for CSUEU Employees (3/16/2007)
Multiple changes were made to the Employee Fee Waiver program for eligible CSUEU employees. For detailed information, please review Technical Letter (2007-05) on the CSU Systemwide Human Resources Administration's Web site.

Employee Fee Waiver

The Fee Waiver Program provides a waiver or reduction of certain fees for employees who enroll in CSU courses, which are job-related or part of an approved Career Development Plan (CDP). This benefit provides an excellent opportunity for employees who wish to improve their current skills or embark on a career development program. As of January 2007, the Fee Waiver application system has been entirely automated, and the application process is via an online electronic application form accessed by clicking on the link located in the top right corner of this Webpage.

Eligibility:
Eligibility varies slightly by bargaining unit. Please refer to Appendix A - Employee Fee Waiver Eligibility for specific information. The following employees are not eligible to participate:

• Graduate assistants
• Student assistants

Job-Related Courses:
These are courses that directly improve skills or enhance knowledge for performing duties in an employee's current position. An employee may also take courses to acquire new skills needed to perform newly assigned duties and responsibilities. Enrollment may be voluntary or at the direction of the employee's supervisor or manager.

Career Development Courses:
For courses that are not job-related, there must be a current CDP on file. CDPs generally cover established programs such as degrees, certificates, or credentials. The primary responsibility for career development rests with the employee. While job promotions are not guaranteed as a result of completing career development courses, an employee may be better prepared and more competitive for job vacancies as a result of having completed specific courses or a degree program.

Faculty bargaining unit members:
Career development courses shall relate to future career opportunities and assignments within the CSU. Approval of career development courses shall require that a program of study be established by the employee and an appropriate advisor of choice. Please refer to the Unit 3 Collective Bargaining Agreement for specific information.

Limitations:

• The Fee Waiver Program applies to courses supported by the CSU general fund. Self-support courses (e.g., College of Extended Learning courses) are not covered by this program.
• Courses taken under the fee waiver program must be taken for grades or credit / no credit; they may not be audited.
• In order to achieve a reasonable balance between regular work responsibilities and the course load taken under the Fee Waiver Program, there is a limit of two courses or 6 units, whichever is greater, that can be taken each term.
• Staff employees may be granted release time to attend one course per term during scheduled working hours provided that the operational needs of the department are met (as determined by the area administrator), or there is an arrangement to make up the released time, or the released time is offset from an accrued balance of time. Approval of the area administrator and supervisor is required for all such arrangements.
• Normal academic standards shall be maintained. The appropriate administrator in Human Resources (HRD) shall conduct evaluations of the performance in courses taken on the Fee Waiver Program. This may include a review of the grades received for the courses taken. Unsatisfactory performance in the courses or lack of progress toward the goals stated in a Career Development Plan may be cause for withholding further approval for participation in the Fee Waiver Program.

Checklist - New Students:
The following procedures apply to employees not currently enrolled in the University or who have dropped all courses.

• Access the online Fee waiver system and complete the Electronic Fee Waiver Request Form. Course information is not necessarily required at this time; instead, check the box on the system for admission/application fee only. Once complete, the form will be electronically routed to the Human Resources Training and Development Department. Once approved by HR, an email notification will be sent to you. Please allow four working days for the approval process.
• Apply for admission to the university, based on instructions on the Admissions and Student Recruitment web page (http://enrollment.csusb.edu). If you are applying for admission to a degree program, you may also need to submit documentation such as transcripts; if you are applying for admission simply to take job-related courses, additional documentation is generally not required.
• If courses to be taken are not job-related, complete a CDP. Submit the completed CDP to HRD.
• Obtain a Class Schedule for each term as soon as it is available in the Bookstore. The Schedule gives course reference information needed to apply for waiver of tuition as well as important deadlines for adding or dropping courses, paying fees, and registering.
• Upon notification of admission to the University, complete and submit another Fee Waiver Request form to HRD. Course information should be included at this time. An email notification will be sent to you once the electronic from has been approved by HRD.
• Register for your selected course(s).

Checklist - Continuing Students:

• Obtain a Class Schedule for each term as soon as it is available in the Bookstore. The Schedule gives course information needed to apply for fee waiver as well as important deadlines for adding or dropping courses, paying fees, and registering.
• If the course(s) you are taking are not job-related and you do not have an updated CDP on file, please complete one and return it to HRD.
• Complete and submit an electronic Fee Waiver Request Form to HRD. Course information should be included at this time. An email notification will be sent to you once HRD has approved the Fee Waiver request. Please allow four working days for the approval process.
• Register for your selected course(s).

Spouse/Dependent Fee Waiver

Eligible employees may transfer their fee waiver benefit entitlement to a spouse, dependent child, or registered domestic partner.

Eligibility:

• Eligibility of a domestic partner is contingent upon the employee having a Declaration of Domestic Partnership on file with the California Secretary of State, and a copy in HRD (Human Resources Department), SH-110.
• Dependent child is defined as:
  1. your child or stepchild under age 23 who has never been married, or
  2. a child living with you in a parent-child relationship who is economically dependent upon you, under age 23 and has never been married, or
  3. your child or stepchild age 23 or above who is incapable of self-support due to a disability, which existed prior to age 23.

Note: Dependent Children of CSUEU (Units 2, 5, 7 & 9) and SETC (Unit 6) employees may now participate in the Fee Waiver Program up to age 25.

Conditions and Limitations of Benefit:

• As with employees using this benefit, the State University Fee for dependents is waived only for two courses or six units, whichever is greater. A dependent taking CSU courses in addition to those courses covered by the fee waiver shall pay the difference between the part-time State University Fee and the full-time State University Fee.
• The spouse, dependent child, or domestic partner (hereinafter referred to as "dependent") must be matriculated toward a degree or the attainment of a credential in the CSU and the course(s) enrolled in on a fee waiver basis must be for credit toward completion of that degree.
• The dependent fee waiver benefit applies only to certain fees incurred by California residents. Dependents who do not meet established in-State residency requirements (and who do not qualify for classification as residents in accordance with the provisions of Section 41910, California Code of Regulations) will be responsible for paying non-resident tuition charges based upon the total number of units in which they are enrolled.
• Graduate-level courses taken by dependents are subject to taxation for the employee; undergraduate and graduate-level courses taken by domestic partners are subject to taxation for the employee.
• The fee waiver program applies to courses supported by the CSU general fund. Self-support programs (e.g., College of Extended Learning courses) are not covered.
• Courses taken under the fee waiver program must be taken for grades or credit / no credit; they may not be audited.
• This benefit applies to all CSU campuses. However, admission to any CSU campus is not guaranteed. Applicants must meet all university admission requirements.
• Campus administration will determine that space is available in a particular class.
• A new dependent fee waiver form must be submitted for each term (quarter or semester).

Checklist - New Students Attending CSUSB:
The following procedures apply to dependents not currently enrolled in CSUSB or who have dropped all courses.

• The employee accesses the online Fee waiver system and completes an Electronic Fee Waiver Request Form. Course information is not necessarily required at this time; instead, check the box on the system for admission/application fee only. Once complete, the form will be electronically routed to the Human Resources Training and Development Department. Once approved by HR, an email notification will be sent to the employee. Please allow four working days for the approval process.
• The dependent applies for admission to CSUSB, based on instructions on the Admissions and Student Recruitment web page (http://enrollment.csusb.edu).
• The dependent obtains a Class Schedule for each term as soon as it is available from the Bookstore. The Schedule gives course information needed to apply for fee waiver as well as important deadlines for adding or dropping courses, paying fees, and registering.
• Upon notification of the dependent's admission to the University, the employee completes and submits another electronic Dependent Fee Waiver request to HRD. Course information should be included at this time. An email notification will be sent to the employee.
• The dependent registers for course(s).

Checklist - Continuing Students Attending CSUSB:

• The dependent obtains a Class Schedule for each term as soon as it is available in the Bookstore. The Schedule gives course information needed to apply for fee waiver as well as important deadlines for adding or dropping courses, paying fees, and registering.
• The employee completes and submits an electronic Dependent Fee Waiver request form to HRD. Course information should be included at this time. An email notification will be sent to the employee once HRD has approved the Fee Waiver request. Please allow four working days for the approval process.
• The dependent registers for course(s).

Checklist - New Students Attending Another CSU Campus:
The following procedures apply to dependents not currently enrolled at the CSU campus they wish to attend.

• The employee completes a CSUSB electronic Dependent Fee Waiver form. Course information is not required at this time; instead, check the box for admission/application fee. The form will be electronically routed to CSUSB HRD. Once approved, the form will be faxed by the CSUSB fee waiver coordinator to the fee waiver coordinator at the designated CSU campus. An email notification of the approval by CSUSB HRD will be sent to the employee. Please allow four working days for the approval process at CSUSB.
• The dependent follows application guidelines established by the appropriate CSU campus.
• Upon notification of the dependent's admission to the CSU campus, the employee completes and submits another electronic Dependent Fee Waiver form to CSUSB HRD. Course information should be included at this time. When approved, the form will be faxed by the CSUSB fee waiver coordinator to the fee waiver coordinator at the appropriate CSU campus. An email notification of the approval by CSUSB HRD will be sent to the employee. Please allow four working days for the approval process at CSUSB.
• The dependent registers for course(es) at the CSU campus.

Checklist - Continuing Students Attending Another CSU Campus:

• The employee completes and submits an electronic Dependent Fee Waiver form to CSUSB HRD. Once approved, the form will be faxed by the CSUSB fee waiver coordinator to the fee waiver coordinator at the designated CSU campus. An email notification of the approval by CSUSB HRD will be sent to the employee. Please allow four working days for the CSUSB approval process.
• The dependent registers for course(s) at the CSU campus.

Unit Limitation

All eligible non-represented and represented employees may enroll in a maximum of two courses or six units per term, whichever is greater.

Checklist For All Students

• A new electronic fee waiver form must be submitted for each term.
• The fee waiver form for course registration should be submitted at or prior to the time of registration so courses will not be dropped due to non-payment.
• It is recommended that registration be completed during priority registration time. During open enrollment, the fee waiver form must be submitted and processed before registration can occur, approximately five days.
• Registration during the late registration period generates a late fee (not covered by the fee waiver benefit) and a five-day processing wait before registration can occur.
• If the student's address changes, he/she must complete and submit to Records, Registration & Evaluations a change of address form, available at http://enrollment.csusb.edu/Download.html. In addition, students who are staff/MPP or faculty employees must also change their address by visiting HRD in SH-110 or Academic Personnel in AD-101.

Modifications to Course Schedule

Modifications to a course schedule following submission of a fee waiver form must be approved by the employee's supervisor if the modifications impact work release time, and HRD must be notified in writing.

Intercampus Enrollments

The employee may wish to enroll on his/her own time at a CSU campus other than CSUSB. In such cases, the employee must complete an electronic Fee Waiver form as usual, indicating the campus of enrollment, and submit it to HRD at CSUSB. The CSUSB fee waiver coordinator will fax the form to the fee waiver coordinator at the designated campus. An email notification of the approval by CSUSB HRD will be sent to the employee. Please allow four working days for the CSUSB approval process. The employee should then follow the application/registration guidelines set forth by the designated campus.

Fees Waived & Taxes

There are several types of fees associated with applying and registering for courses at CSUSB.

• Fees waived vary slightly by bargaining unit.
• Some fees waived or reduced for CSUSB employees cannot be waived for dependents due to statutory restrictions.
• Exact fee amounts may be found in the current Class Schedule.
• Please refer to Appendix B - Fees Waived for Employees & Dependents for specific information.
• The employee is always responsible for paying any of the following fees, which apply:
  • Lab Fees
  • Parking Fees
  • Late Fees