II.10 TUITION REMISSION

In July 2005, Chancellor Wiley and the University Committee charged the Tuition Remission Task Force with the responsibility of identifying and assessing alternative approaches to address a revenue shortfall resulting from graduate assistant tuition remissions. The final report submitted to the Chancellor (http://www.secfac.wisc.edu/TRTFFinalReport.pdf ) included a recommendation that a tuition remission surcharge of a fixed dollar amount be applied for all graduate assistants eligible for tuition remission, regardless of funding source. Vice Chancellor Darrell Bazzell issued a new policy on tuition remission on June 26, 2006 (http://www.rsp.wisc.edu/policies/tuitionremission.html) that goes into effect in January, 2007.

The new surcharge is currently $4,000 per semester per appointment at the 1/3 time and above (Fall and Spring) totaling $8,000 for the academic year for all project assistant and research assistant appointments, regardless of funding source. In the case of multiple appointments, the charge will be pro-rated. These surcharges will be billed monthly to the source of funds supporting the student. While teaching assistant appointments are currently exempt from this charge, appointment shifts to the TA category will be monitored at the campus level and appointment shifts for the purpose of tuition remission exemption are prohibited. TA appointments are included in the calculation to determine if the combination of grad appointments is at least 1/3 time or greater, making the graduate student eligible for tuition remission.

Frequently Asked Questions

Because of the many questions surrounding the changes in policy in this area, we have started a “Frequently Asked Questions” list. The current version of the FAQ is provided below.

1. Can the tuition remission surcharge be waived based on the individual situation of a particular PA or RA (e.g., student is receiving tuition assistance from an outside agency or indicates that he/she does not need this assistance)?
• No, the tuition remission surcharge is based on the position, not on the individual filling it. There will be no exceptions to this.
  
2. Lecturers are eligible for out-of-state tuition remission, but not in-state remission. Does the new policy affect lecturers in any way?
• The new policy does not affect lecturers.
  
3. Is the tuition remission surcharged assessed on summer appointments?
• No, there is no charge for summer appointments, only for appointments in the academic year. 12-month appointments are charged for both the fall and spring semesters.
  
4. Can graduate students volunteer to provide research work without being paid?
• Graduate students could serve in this capacity only if the work is directly related to coursework for which they are registered.
  
5. Can a graduate student be appointed as a student hourly in order to avoid the surcharge?
• It has long been College policy that a position requiring the expertise of a graduate student must be filled with a graduate assistantship and not with a student hourly appointment. The most recent collective bargaining agreement with the Teaching Assistants’ Association states this explicitly and we can expect that the TAA will be watching for lapses from policy in this regard.
  
6. Are students in professional degree programs allowed to serve as graduate assistants and are programs employing them charge a fee beyond the normal $4,000 per semester remission surcharge?
• Professional students are not eligible for graduate assistantships (TA, RA or PA). There is no tuition remission surcharge if professional students are hired in other positions. It's only the graduate assistantship appointments that are charged a tuition remission surcharge. For purposes of defining Professional students, the Professional Schools are: Law School, School of Pharmacy, School of Medicine & Public Health and School of Veterinary Medicine. The only Professional program in Letters and Science is the Doctor of Audiology professional program in Communicative Disorders.
  
7. Is the $4,000 surcharge variable depending on the percentage of appointment?
• No, the $4,000 is charged per individual from the one-third time level on and does not change based on the individual’s appointment level.
  
8. Can we appoint a PA or RA at less then one-third time in order to escape the tuition remission charge?
• College policy is that all graduate assistantships be at a total of at least one-third time during the academic year to provide the graduate student with both a tuition remission and eligibility for health care coverage. For TA and PA appointments, the collective bargaining agreement specifies that total appointments of graduate student TAs and PAs must be at least one-third time unless the employee agrees to a lesser percentage and this is approved by both the department and the Dean’s Office. In L&S, Dean’s Office approval (Nancy Westphal-Johnson or Brian Bubenzer) is granted only in exceptional circumstances.
  
9. How is the surcharge billed?
• The tuition remission surcharge will be charged monthly against the funding source. Since the semester length is approximately four and one-half months, the monthly charge will be $888.89 for full months and $444.44 for the half month (usually January).
  
10. Can a cash award or scholarship be given instead of appointing someone as an PA or TA?
• If there is an employer/employee relationship, the graduate student must be appointed as a PA or TA. A cash award or scholarship is given with no expectation of work on the part of the graduate student.
  
11. Will the rate remain at $4,000 or will it increase in the future?
• The surcharge rate will be increased in the future based on increases in tuition.
  
12. Can we appoint a graduate student as an academic staff appointee in order to avoid the tuition remission surcharge?
• Graduate students may meet the requirements for a given academic staff position but all rules concerning searching and appointing someone to the academic staff applies to any academic staff position. That is, there would need to be open recruit ment and all job security and promotion policies would apply whether the academic staff member is a graduate student or not. There are also issues of retirement, insurance premiums, salary equity, vacation, sick leave, personal holiday hours and the spring semester break. Therefore, hiring graduate students as academic staff employees is not a good way to go if the goal is to support graduate students during their studies at UW-Madison.
  
13. Can someone working on course development be classified as a TA rather than as a PA?
• According to the collective bargaining agreement, project assistantships are not to be assigned work involving “regular preparation of instructional materials for courses” (II.1.). Therefore, there may be cases in which a graduate student working on course development should be appointed as a TA rather than as a PA. Such situations are handled on a case-by-case basis; contact Nancy Westphal-Johnson or Brian Bubenzer.
  
14. Is there a tuition remission surcharge for TAs that are not paid on fund 101?
• There is no tuition remission surcharge for TAs regardless of their funding source. Currently, the campus is paying the tuition remission for all TAs.
  

Revised 8/27/07