The UNC Policy
Manual
1000.2.1
Adopted
10/14/77
Amended
11/14/97
Amended
08/04/98
Amended
02/12/10
The General Assembly has
provided the privilege of tuition-free enrollment to certain family of deceased
or totally disabled emergency workers of this State and directed that the Board
of Governors of the University of North Carolina promulgate rules and
regulations necessary for the implementation of the statute with respect to the
constituent institutions of the University of North Carolina.
1. Definitions.
a. “Educational
program” means either:
1. those
courses taken within the University of North Carolina in fulfillment of
requirements for a degree, certificate, or certification; or
2. any
course or aggregation of courses within the University of North Carolina not
taken with respect to pursuit of a degree, certificate, or certification.
b. “Emergency
worker” means a firefighter, volunteer firefighter, law enforcement officer, or
rescue squad worker.
c. “Employer”
means the State of North Carolina or any of its departments, agencies, and
institutions; or a county, city, town, or other political subdivision of the
State.
d. “Firefighter”
or “volunteer firefighter” means a fireman eligible under N.C.G.S. § 58-86-25
for membership in the North Carolina Firemen’s and Rescue Squad Workers’
Pension Fund.
e. “Law
enforcement officer” means:
1. an
employee or volunteer of an employer who (a) possesses the power of arrest, (b)
has taken the law enforcement oath administered under authority of the State as
prescribed by N.C.G.S. § 11-11, and (c) is certified as a law enforcement
officer under the provisions of N.C.G.S. Chapter 17C or is certified as a
deputy sheriff under the provisions of N.C.G.S. Chapter 17E; or
2.
the sheriff of a county of this State.
f. “Legal
resident” or “resident” means a domiciliary of North Carolina without reference
to duration of domicile. The
determination of legal residence shall be made in accordance with A Manual to Assist the Public Higher
Education Institutions of North Carolina in the Matter of Student Residence
Classification for Tuition Purposes, as amended. Determinations with respect to legal
residence may be appealed as provided by the residence Manual and the Policies and
Procedures of the State Residence Committee.
g. “Permanently
and totally disabled as a direct result of a traumatic injury sustained in the
line of duty” means a person who:
1. as
a law enforcement officer, firefighter, volunteer firefighter, or rescue squad
worker suffered a disabling injury while in active service or training for
active service;
2. at
the time of active service or training was a North Carolina legal resident; and
3. has
been determined to be permanently and totally disabled for compensation
purposes by the North Carolina Industrial Commission.
h. “Rescue
squad worker” means any member of a rescue squad or an emergency medical
services squad eligible under N.C.G.S. § 58-86-30 for membership in the North
Carolina Firemen’s and Rescue Squad Workers’ Pension Fund.
i. “Survivor” means any person whose
parent or spouse:
1. was
a law enforcement officer, a firefighter, a volunteer firefighter, or a rescue
squad worker;
2. was
killed on or after October 1, 1997, while in active service or training for
active service or died on or after October 1, 1997, as a
result of a service-connected disability; and
3. was
a North Carolina legal resident at the time of active service or training for
active service.
“Survivor”
does not mean the remarried widow or widower of a law enforcement officer,
firefighter, volunteer firefighter, or rescue squad worker.
j. "Tuition"
means the amount charged for registering for a credit hour of instruction and
shall not mean any other fees or charges or costs of textbooks.
2. Eligible
persons. The tuition waiver privilege of
N.C.G.S. Chapter 115B shall be available only to the following persons:
a. Repealed.
b. A
survivor who is a child of the deceased emergency worker, without regard to the
survivor’s legal residence or age.
c. A
survivor who is the unremarried widow or widower of a
deceased emergency worker, without regard to the survivor’s legal residence or
age; however, the tuition waiver shall not be granted with respect to any
academic term commencing after remarriage of the widow or widower,
or be denied by reason of the elapse of time while the widow or widower
is in either enrolled or non-enrolled status.
d. The
spouse of an emergency worker who became permanently and totally disabled on or
after October 1, 1997, as a direct result of a traumatic injury sustained in
the line of duty as an emergency worker.
The tuition waiver shall not be denied by reason of the elapse of time
while the spouse of the disabled emergency worker is in either enrolled or
non-enrolled status. Neither the legal
residence nor the age of the emergency worker’s spouse is material in
determining the spouse’s eligibility for tuition waiver.
e. A
child, at least age 17 but not yet 23, whose parent became permanently and
totally disabled on or after October 1, 1997, as a direct result of a traumatic
injury sustained in the line of duty as an emergency worker; provided, that the
tuition waiver:
1. shall
not be extended beyond 48 consecutive calendar months incident to an
educational program in pursuit of a baccalaureate degree;
2. shall
not be extended beyond the time period necessary to
complete the relevant educational program through consecutive regular-term
academic semesters, carrying a “normal” (full) academic load, if incident to an
educational program in pursuit of a certificate, certification, or a degree
other than the baccalaureate degree; and,
3. shall
be available for course enrollments after the student reaches age 23 only if
the enrollments are part of an educational program in pursuit of a degree,
certificate, or certification, that was begun before the student reached age 23
and all other pertinent requirements of N.C.G.S. Chapter 115B are met.
The
legal residence of the child of the disabled parent is not material in
determining the child’s eligibility for tuition waiver.
3. Academic
qualifications. To receive tuition
waiver for a given course, a person shall first meet all institutional
requirements with respect to institutional admission, course enrollment, and
any other standards deemed appropriate by the enrolling institution; provided,
that institutional requirements for course enrollment tuition-free under this policy
shall include the requirement that there be space available for enrollment
tuition-free in any course for which tuition waiver is sought.
4. Student
status. This tuition waiver privilege
may apply to courses taken under any student status recognized under institutional
policy (e.g., degree candidate, special student, auditor); provided, that
tuition waiver shall be available only for courses for which a tuition charge
is set and normally levied.
5. Other
scholarship awards. If a person who
receives tuition waiver under N.C.G.S. Chapter 115B as the survivor, spouse, or
child of an emergency worker also receives a cash scholarship, from whatever
source, paid or payable to the enrolling institution, the amount of the
scholarship shall be applied to the credit of the person in payment of expenses
incident to the person’s attendance at the institution, and, if the terms of
the scholarship permit, any balance shall be returned to the student.
6. FTE
accounting. Persons attending classes
under the tuition-waiver privilege of this policy shall be counted in the
computation of institutional enrollment for funding purposes.
7. Implementation;
proof of eligibility. The chancellor of
each constituent institution, or the chancellor’s delegate, shall have
authority to make those determinations required under this policy for
application of the tuition-waiver privilege; and the chancellor, or the
chancellor’s delegate, may require such proof as he or she deems necessary to insure that a person applying to the respective institution
for tuition waiver is eligible for the benefits provided under this policy for
the pertinent course(s).
With
respect to applications for tuition waiver from spouses and children of
disabled emergency workers and from survivors of emergency workers, each institution
shall include in its required proof of eligibility, the following:
a. To
demonstrate a parent-child relationship, submission of a birth certificate,
legal adoption papers, or other documentary evidence deemed appropriate by the
institution.
b. To
demonstrate a marital relationship, submission of a marriage certificate or
other documentary evidence deemed appropriate by the institution.
c. To
evidence the cause of death of an emergency worker, submission of certification
of death from the records of (1) the Department of State Treasurer, (2) the
appropriate city or county law enforcement agency that employed the deceased,
(3) the administrative agency for the fire department or fire protection
district recognized for funding under the Department of State Auditor, or (4)
the administrative agency having jurisdiction over any paid firefighters of all
counties and cities.
d. To
evidence permanent and total disability of an emergency worker, submission of
documentation from the North Carolina Industrial Commission deemed necessary by
the institution.
8. Timely
application. Application for the tuition
benefit shall be permitted with respect only to academic terms commencing on or
after the date on which the applicant delivers in proper order, an application
for the benefit, including all supporting forms, documents, and materials.
9. Multiple
educational programs.
a. Tuition
waivers under N.C.G.S. Chapter 115B may be extended to a student for more than
one educational program if the student qualifies for the tuition waiver with
respect to each enrollment incident to each educational program.
b. Tuition
waivers shall not be afforded to a student with respect to more than one
educational program at any one time.
c. Tuition
waivers shall not be afforded to a student with respect to simultaneous
enrollment at two or more constituent institutions unless each simultaneous
enrollment is incident to one educational program.
10. Reapplication. Following enrollment with tuition waiver
under any provision of N.C.G.S. Chapter 115B, a student shall reapply for
tuition waiver:
a. Incident
to enrollment for any succeeding academic year under the same educational program;
b. After
any break in enrollment for successive regular-term academic semesters; or,
c. Incident
to initial enrollment in any subsequent educational program, irrespective of
when in the academic year that program will commence.
11. Crime of misrepresentation.
Before a person is accorded tuition waiver pursuant to this policy, that
person shall be informed by the constituent institution to which he or she has
applied, of the criminal penalties authorized by N.C.G.S. § 115B-6 with respect
to conviction for (a) willfully misrepresenting eligibility for tuition
benefits provided under this policy or (b) knowingly aiding or abetting an
applicant to misrepresent his or her eligibility; namely, that guilt of such
acts constitutes a misdemeanor for which the offender, upon conviction thereof,
may be fined or imprisoned for not more than 30 days, or both.
12. Supplemental guidance.
The President is authorized to issue such additional guidelines and regulations,
not inconsistent with this policy, as the President may deem appropriate to
assist the institutions to implement N.C.G.S. Chapter 115B.
13. Repealed.
14. Repealed.