{"600648":{"#nid":"600648","#data":{"type":"news","title":"USG Expands Tuition Assistance Benefit","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA modification in a University System of Georgia (USG) policy may mean less out-of-pocket costs for staff and faculty who want to go back to school.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDuring its November 2017 meeting, the Board of Regents voted to amend its policy for the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP), a supplemental benefit intended to encourage professional development.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETAP provides a tuition waiver to full-time, benefits-eligible employees who have maintained this status for at least six months within the USG. The latest revisions allow USG employees to receive a waiver for the full tuition under TAP-eligible programs, and expands the number of academic programs eligible under the program.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA document outlining the recommended changes and prepared for the Board of Regents stated, \u0026ldquo;Professional development is important because it is a means by which employees maintain and enhance their knowledge and skills related to increasing their productivity and contribution to the University System of Georgia.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECandice Bovian, the work-life specialist in Human Resources, is the TAP coordinator for Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Programs like TAP show the University System is willing to invest in its people,\u0026rdquo; she said. \u0026ldquo;With rapid changes in how work gets done, I think we can all understand the importance of participating in lifelong education opportunities.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EJade Sims, a senior admission counselor in Undergraduate Admission, earned a master\u0026rsquo;s in education from Georgia Southern University in December.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESims said she wouldn\u0026rsquo;t have even looked into graduate school without the TAP benefit.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026ldquo;It relieves a huge burden on taking out student loans or even needing to leave my job to complete graduate school,\u0026rdquo; she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOver the two years it took to complete her program, Sims found it more challenging than she expected to balance full-time work with school. \u0026ldquo;Luckily, I chose a program that respected that many of its students had full-time jobs. For anyone looking into taking on this feat, I would say that researching a program that respects that balance is just as important as the degree itself.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECurrently, Georgia Tech has nearly 350 employees enrolled in TAP. With this announcement, Bovian said she expects to see that number grow.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Human Resources will offer a workshop on tuition assistance on March 28. More information about the supplemental education benefits are available at \u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ohr.gatech.edu\/benefits\/education\u0022\u003Eohr.gatech.edu\/benefits\/education\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA modification in a University System of Georgia (USG) policy may mean less out-of-pocket costs for staff and faculty who want to go back to school.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A modification in a University System of Georgia (USG) policy may mean less out-of-pocket costs for staff and faculty who want to go back to school."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2018-01-10 20:35:49","changed_gmt":"2018-01-22 21:28:05","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-01-10T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2018-01-10T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"600649":{"id":"600649","type":"image","title":"Jade Sims","body":null,"created":"1515616661","gmt_created":"2018-01-10 20:37:41","changed":"1515618652","gmt_changed":"2018-01-10 21:10:52","alt":"Jade Sims","file":{"fid":"228971","name":"JADE_MASTERSweb.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/JADE_MASTERSweb_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/JADE_MASTERSweb_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":896068,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/JADE_MASTERSweb_0.jpg?itok=JPTlvIYu"}},"256841":{"id":"256841","type":"image","title":"University System of Georgia","body":null,"created":"1449243856","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:44:16","changed":"1495650034","gmt_changed":"2017-05-24 18:20:34","alt":"University System of Georgia","file":{"fid":"225350","name":"bor200.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bor200.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bor200.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":65945,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/bor200.jpg?itok=yjyEhQi6"}}},"media_ids":["600649","256841"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/ohr.gatech.edu\/benefits\/education","title":"TAP and STRAP Programs"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1259","name":"Whistle"},{"id":"64303","name":"Human Resources"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}