| | | | | | | |  | Resolutions - C7 T
COMMISSION MEMORANDUM |
| | | |
| | | | | | | | | TO: | Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Commission | | | FROM: | Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager | | | DATE: | January 11, 2017 | | | |
| | SUBJECT: | A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, ACCEPTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE FINANCE AND CITYWIDE PROJECTS COMMITTEE TO AMEND THE CITY’S TUITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM AS SET FORTH IN THE ATTACHED EXHIBIT “3”. |
| | | |
| | | | | | | | RECOMMENDATION
| We still believe that a Tuition Assistance Program is a valuable tool in enabling our employees to reach their personal goals, while also creating a pool of qualified staff to contribute to the City. Therefore, the administration is recommending a more streamlined, simplistic procedure for approving course work and applying the tuition assistance reimbursement.
Areas of clarification are recommended as follows and will reflect in the Administrative Procedure No. HR.20.1 (Exhibit 3 – Revised Draft Procedure):
• All coursework must be related to a City of Miami Beach career path
• Six (6) credit hour limit per semester; eighteen (18) credit hours per year
• No reimbursement for PhD’s
• The tuition per credit hour rate for classes taken at Miami-Dade College is $118.22 (this rate will be updated by the Human Resources Department, as needed)
• Reimbursement will be at the following levels, with the per credit hour rate (tuition only, exclusive of fees) not to exceed the FIU rate, for traditional Undergraduate and Graduate programs, published each July in the State University System of Florida, Tuition and Required Fees (www.flbog.edu/about/budget/current.php):
o 90% reimbursement for courses in which employees earn an “A”
? Includes a “passing” grade on a pass/fail basis
o 80% reimbursement for courses in which employees earn a “B”
o 60% reimbursement for courses in which employees earn a “C”
• Corporate/Executive programs (ie. MPA, MBA) will be reimbursed at the same grading scale above, at $714 per credit hour (including on-line courses and courses at private schools)
• Maximum allowable reimbursement for each employee, regardless of the educational program they are enrolled in is $5,250 per year (federal government cap for exemption from withholding tax)
• Approved, non-degree, work-related courses shall be reimbursed at 70% of the course cost, exclusive of books and other fees
• Approved, certification courses, directly related to a City of Miami Beach career path, will be reimbursed at 70% on a pass/fail basis. (Examples of certification programs: Film, Human Resources, Finance)
Using the recommended changes proposed above, we are proposing a $300,000 budget allocation using the following participation scenarios:
Undergraduate Program
• 40 enrolled employees
• Each of the 40 employees takes 6 credit hours per semester for a total of 18 semester hours per year at $162.61 per credit hour (using FIU per credit hour rate)
• 40% earn an “A” which results in a cost of $42,148
• 40% earn a “B” which results in a cost of $37,465
• 20% earn a “C” which results in a cost of $14,050, for a total expenditure of $93,663
Graduate Program (traditional)
• 10 enrolled employees
• Each of the 10 employees takes 6 credit hours per semester for a total of 18 semester hours per year at $398 per credit hour (maximum allowable per year $5,250)
• 40% earn an “A” which results in a cost of $21,000
• 40% earn a “B” which results in a cost of $21,000
• 20% earn a “C” which results in a cost of $8,617, for a total expenditure of $50,617
Executive/Corporate Program
• 10 enrolled employees
• Each of the 10 employees takes 6 credit hours per semester for a total of 18 semester hours per year at $714 per credit hour (maximum allowable per year $5,250)
• 40% earn an “A” which results in a cost of $21,000
• 40% earn a “B” which results in a cost of $21,000
• 20% earn a “C” which results in a cost of $10,500, for a total expenditure of $52,500
Certification Programs (City of Miami Beach career path)
• 50 employees at an average of three (3) courses at $500 per course = $1,500
• Completion of courses on a Pass/Fail basis, reimbursed at 70% for a “Pass”
• Estimated annual cost for certifications is $52,500
Non-degree Programs (City of Miami Beach career path)
• 25 employees at an average of three (3) courses at $250 per course = $750
• Completion of courses on a Pass/Fail basis, reimbursed at 70% for a “Pass”
• Estimated annual cost for certifications is $13,125
With the recommended changes, the Administration intends to make Tuition Assistance a smooth process for those employees wishing to expand their knowledge and skills by obtaining a degree or certification in a career-related path at the City. These amendments will also improve the process for the Human Resources staff that is responsible for processing the tuition assistance reimbursement request.
|
| | | |
| | | | | | | | ANALYSIS
| Beginning in January 2015, the program utilization was as follows: twenty-nine (29) undergraduate enrollees, fifteen (15) graduate enrollees, and twelve (12) non-degree seeking enrollees. With a total of fifty-six (56) employees utilizing the program, to date, approximately $67,000 has been reimbursed, that is 21.96% of the current budget. The majority of our employees attended Miami-Dade College (21.4%), Florida International University (19.6%), and Barry (19.6%). We have determined that some aspects of the current program are vague and somewhat confusing to the user, as well as the Human Resources staff that is calculating the reimbursement. Several employees voiced their concern about the way tuition assistance is being applied when compared to the illustration used in the January 14, 2015, Commission memo (Exhibit 1). For example, the information provided to the FCWPC and Commission includes executive degree programs at colleges such as Barry, Nova, and FIU, in which the City has partnered with these schools to offer varying preferred tuition rates, costing as much as $760, exclusive of application and lab fees, books and other related expenditures. The cost analysis used for the two-year pilot program was based on the following assumptions for an Undergraduate student at FIU and a Graduate student in a corporate Master of Business Administration program at $760 per credit hour. The tuition assistance budget allocation for the two-year pilot program is $305,000. This budget was arrived by using the following assumptions:
Undergraduate Program
• 56 enrolled employees
• Each of the 56 employees takes 6 credit hours per semester for a total of 18 semester hours per year at $203.59 per credit hour
• 40% earn an “A” which results in a cost of $66,000
• 30% earn a “B” which results in a cost of $37,000;
• 30% earn a “C” which results in a cost of $25,000, for a total expenditure of $128,000
Corporate Graduate Program (Business Administration)
• 18 enrolled employees
• Each of the 18 employees takes 6 credit hours per semester for a total of 18 semester hours per year at $760 per credit hour
• 60% earn an “A” which results in a cost of $118,000; and
• 40% earn a “B” which results in a cost of $59,000;
• 30% earn a “C” which results in a cost of $25,000, for a total expenditure of $177,000
However, as we near the end of the two-year pilot program, and look back at past practices, we believe that the program was not used to its full potential due to the conflicting class approval process and the misunderstanding of the reimbursement process, especially as it relates to the Corporate/Executive Graduate programs. Additionally, we received a letter from the Director, Master of Public Administration (“MPA”) at FIU regarding their program structure for the Executive MPA and how the tuition is determined. An MPA program cost is $32,000, with $2,000 of those dollars used for books and food, resulting in a $714 per credit hour tuition rate. The Director also states that the MPA program has been very successful since its inception in 1978, with 2800 graduates (Exhibit 2).
|
| | | |
| | | | | | | | CONCLUSION
| | The Administration recommends adopting the Resolution. |
| | | |
| | | | | | | | Legislative Tracking
Human Resources |
| | | |
|