Thursday, April 20, 2000

IT Employees Question a Columbia U. Policy Limiting Tuition-Free Courses By FLORENCE OLSEN In New York's highly competitive market for information-technology workers, every little perk counts. But some I.T. workers at Columbia University say their employer is being chintzy where the perks count most: They can take almost any Columbia course free -- except for a series of practical, hands-on I.T. courses offered through the university's continuing-education program. Eric Joseph Santiago, a technical assistant in the Columbia Business School, has petitioned administrators for changes in the university's tuition-exemption policy. The current policy covers all computer-science undergraduate and graduate courses that can be taken for credit or as part of a degree program. But Mr. Santiago and other university employees and their families aren't exempt from tuition if they take the noncredit, certificate courses in information technology and information systems offered only through Columbia's continuing-education program. On a World Wide Web site that Mr. Santiago set up to express his views, he says that his employer undermines its own recruiting efforts by not permitting staff members free access to the courses. Colleen Crooker, Columbia's vice president of human resources, says the university is reviewing its tuition-exemption program to see whether it meets current needs of campus employees and managers. The university, she says, is responding to Mr. Santiago's concerns by re-evaluating whether continuing-education courses can or should be part of the tuition-exemption benefit. Many departments, she says, have training budgets that managers can use to pay for employees to take the job-specific training courses that are offered through the continuing-education program. As part of their review, Ms. Crooker says, university officials also are considering whether to offer I.T. employees free courses in a multimedia-learning center operated by the university's human-resources department. Those courses rely on computer-based instruction, rather than on live faculty members. "We're looking at ways we perhaps can provide more sophisticated courses that may be of interest to the I.T. group," she says. No fees or credit requirements would restrict access to such courses. "It's clear," Ms. Crooker says, "that training and development are critical in being able to hire and keep I.T. professionals." Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

President to promote major expansion in educational exchanges, Riley says Researchers reportedly used cadavers in crash tests without telling families Virginia higher-education council chooses a leader known for consensus-building Yale professor wins prize for young researchers Clinton to address graduates at 3 institutions Spring commencement speakers are announced by 15 colleges I.T. employees question a Columbia U. policy limiting tuition-free courses Challenging commercial vendors, George Washington U. enters courseware market