[Major revision–posted 3/12/24 (replaces 7/28/22 edition)]
[Updated Office of Continuing and Professional Education to TTU Online–3/25/24; no additional change to OP]
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Operating Policy and Procedure

OP 70.18: Educational Incentive Pay

DATE: March 12, 2024

PURPOSE: The purpose of this Operating Policy/Procedure (OP) is to establish university policy related to educational incentive pay awarded to staff employees who continue their education and training by receiving degrees and/or job-related certificates.

REVIEW: This OP will be reviewed in March of even-numbered years by the Associate Vice President for Human Resources with substantive revisions forwarded to the Vice President for Administration and Chief of Staff for the President.

POLICY/PROCEDURE

1.  Eligibility

Full-time, regular employees who are classified as staff employed to work at least 40 hours per week, and who have been employed for a continuous period of at least four and one-half months, are eligible to participate in this program. Students employed in positions that require student status as a condition of employment may not participate in this program. Employees classified as faculty are not eligible for educational incentive pay.

2.  General Policy

The Educational Incentive Pay program rewards staff employees who take the initiative to increase their job worth by gaining job-related knowledge, behaviors, and personal and professional skills to significantly enhance their value to their department and the university. Educational incentive pay is not an entitlement and may not be awarded retroactively. Employees are limited to receiving one educational incentive pay increase per fiscal year.

3.  Eligible Programs

Eligible employees may receive a permanent adjustment to their base pay as follows:

GED or Associate's Degree                        $500 per year
Bachelor's or Master's Degree                $1,000 per year
Doctoral Degree                                        $2,000 per year

Certain job-related certificate programs and licenses, including industry career certificates offered through TTU Online, that are not considered a minimum job requirement of the position as determined by the department may be eligible for a permanent pay adjustment of up to $500 per year. Certifications and licenses, including industry career certificates offered through TTU Online, that are considered as a minimum job requirement of a position as determined by the department are not eligible for an educational incentive pay increase.

Job-related certificate programs, licenses, and industry career certificates that are designed to take less than 6 months to complete are eligible for a pay adjustment of $250 per year. Those that will take 6 months or more are eligible for a pay adjustment of $500 per year.

Certifications and licenses that require renewals should be tracked by the department.

NOTE: To qualify for educational incentive pay, employees must request a review of eligibility prior to undertaking job-related or industry career certificate programs or securing job-related licenses as outlined in section 5, Program Administration.

4.  Criteria

An educational incentive pay increase may be approved for an employee if all of the following criteria are met:

a.    The employee presents an official transcript from an accredited college or university indicating the degree completed or an approved job-related certificate or license or an industry career certificate.

b.    The employee received at least an overall score of “meets expectations” on his or her most recent performance evaluation and currently is not subject to formal corrective action.

c.    The employee has successfully completed all mandatory HR Compliance related trainings (EEO, Title IX, Clery Act, and Ethical Conduct Compliance Training).

5.  Program Administration

a.    Individual departments, in coordination with the appropriate vice president, are responsible for the overall administration of the Educational Incentive Pay program.

b.    Prior to beginning a job-related or industry career certificate program or license, the employee must request a review of eligibility and obtain the appropriate approvals.

c.    Using the Educational Incentive Pay Program application, course requirements for certification programs, industry career certificates, or licenses should be submitted to the employee's department head for initial review and determination of job relevance.

If the certificate program, industry career certificate, or license is determined to be job-related and beneficial to the department and/or the university as a whole by the department head, the department head will include their letter of recommendation in the Educational Incentive Pay Program application explaining the job-related value to the department and/or the university, approve the request, and then route the form to the appropriate vice president or the Provost and Senior Vice President for final approval. The vice president or the Provost and Senior Vice President has the discretion to determine the eligibility of the certificate program, industry career certificate, or license for the educational incentive pay. The vice president or the Provost and Senior Vice President will make a decision within 15 workdays of receipt, and the originating department head will be notified.

d.    Educational incentive pay may be approved at any time during the fiscal year; however, the electronic Personnel Action Form (ePAF) should be submitted within three months of the date the degree, license, or certification is completed, unless the increase will be effective the next fiscal year due to current departmental budget constraints. A copy of the college transcript indicating the degree completed, the certificate, or the license must be attached to the ePAF along with a copy of the approval form from the Educational Incentive Pay Program application. The ePAF should indicate an increase to base pay and be processed using university-prescribed procedures. The effective date for the new rate of pay will be the first of the month following receipt of the approved ePAF. No pay increases may be retroactive.

e.    Department heads and their vice president or the Provost and Senior Vice President will be responsible for funding educational incentive pay payments made to employees within their respective departments/divisions. All pay increases are subject to budget availability and may not be implemented until the next budget year if adequate funding is not currently available.

f.    A copy of all approved documents will be placed in the employee's official personnel file.

6.  Right to Change Policy

Texas Tech University reserves the right to interpret, change, modify, amend, or rescind this policy, in whole or in part, at any time without the consent of employees.

OP Categories

01 Chancellor
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