Educational Benefits

I. Employees

Faculty and administrative employees and retirees of Northern Illinois University may enroll for credit in Northern Illinois University with exemption from tuition and other eligible registration fees (as defined in Section V.K. of these Regulations), except those fees (such as the student health insurance fee) where eligibility is determined by fee submission to an outside agency or vendor, in accord with university rules, provided that the employee or retiree has the required prerequisites, meets any other admissions standards, and the initial date of employment is on or before the 30th calendar day following the scheduled beginning of the academic term involved, or the last day of registration, whichever is earlier.

The waiver granted in any one semester shall be subject to the following maxima:

• Retirees and full-time employees -- 2 courses not to exceed 8 hours
• 3/4-time employees -- 2 courses not to exceed 6 hours
• 1/2-time employees -- 1 course not to exceed 4 hours

For summer session the waiver shall be subject to the following maxima:

Retirees and full-time employees -- 4 hours
• 3/4-time employees -- 3 hours
• 1/2-time employees -- 2 hours

For employees not working full-time during the summer, the waiver maximum may be determined by the employment rate of either the summer or of the semester immediately preceding the summer, whichever would yield the highest waiver.

For purposes of this Regulation, the summer session shall be considered to include all sessions, regardless of title (summer session, presession, postsession, intersession, etc.) between the close of the second (spring) semester of one academic year and the beginning of the first (fall) semester of the succeeding academic year.

A full-time employee may not register for credit in excess of the limits set forth above unless recommended by appropriate supervisory authority. For full-time employees the total number of registered credit hours may not normally exceed a credit-hour load associated with two courses. If a retiree or part-time employee registers for more than the maximum number of hours for which tuition and fees may be waived, the charge to the employee shall be the difference between the total tuition and fees which would normally be charged for the number of credit hours taken and the amount of tuition and registration fees which may be waived. The tuition and other registration fees to be waived shall be those usually charged undergraduate or graduate students. For employees registering in programs or courses with higher tuition and/or registration fees, the waiver shall be limited to the usual tuition and registration fee charge, with the employee paying any differential. Fees directly related to a particular course will not be waived.

Each faculty or administrative employee who wishes to enroll for credit must file with the department head, program coordinator, or other immediate supervisor a statement outlining the extent and goals of the proposed program of studies. That individual will forward the statement with recommendations to the appropriate dean or director for final approval. Approval by the employee's dean or director is a prerequisite for enrollment in any course.

Faculty who hold the rank of assistant professor or higher may take graduate courses but may not be admitted to or enrolled in a program leading to a graduate degree in the same program area or department in which they instruct.