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HANDBOOK3 TEACH HANDBOOK WELCOME TO TEACH! TAKE US WITH YOU ON YOUR EDUCATIONAL JOURNEY Congratulations on receiving a TEACH scholarship – your journey is about to begin! We look forward to supporting you as you advance your education in the early childhood field. Whether you’re a student or program director who’s sponsoring a student, you’ll find this handbook will help you get acclimated. It is designed to be a resource throughout your TEACH experience. In it, you’ll find: • A checklist to keep you organized • Tips for success • Information you need to know about the scholarship program • Forms and other resources You can count on the support of TEACH, and if you work in a group program, the support of your employer, to help you succeed. Most significant is financial support for tuition and other educational expenses, but you and your program are investing as well. However, it takes more than this to succeed. Together with your sponsoring program, we also invest in your success by offering some paid time off to help you to manage school, work and personal life, serving as a listening ear, and awarding bonuses and/or a raise each time you complete a scholarship contract. Your TEACH counselor is critical – essentially your own personal coach for success! As your coursework begins, you may have questions. As you progress, you may need help balancing work, school, and family commitments. For these needs and more, reach out to your counselor via email, phone, or “chat” on the TEACH section of WECA’s website. In the meantime, start working on your checklist, a critical first step that’s available in this handbook, along with other valuable information and resources. If you are the director of a center sponsoring TEACH recipients , you are positively affecting your child care program in many ways. As your staff become more skilled, the quality of your program improves. Staff retention can grow as staff complete a post-contract commitment period. Compensation improves as TEACH scholars get completion bonuses and may become eligible for REWARD stipends. Perhaps most importantly, as a sponsor, you’re supporting the educational aspirations of your staff. Staff morale and loyalty often grow. We also know accommodating a TEACH scholar while addressing the demands of the day-to-day operation of your program can be challenging. The TEACH counselor assigned to your employee is available to you as well by phone, email and online chat. Contact them anytime you have questions, need advice, or want to provide feedback. There also is a sponsor’s checklist in this handbook to support you in addition to many valuable resources and information. Please read it through as you support your staff. We wish you and your staff every success! Sincerely, Mary Erickson Gerbig Director, TEACH Early Childhood® WisconsinTEACH HANDBOOK 4 A RECIPIENT’S CHECKLIST FOR TEACH SUCCESS Read your contract and personal responsibilities agreement (PRA) thoroughly before you sign it, and review it with your director or supervisor. Once you and your director have signed the contract, you will receive a copy of the signed contract and PRA via email. Download or print a copy of each document for your own records. If you have any questions about any part of the contract and PRA, please contact your counselor. They are here to help you! No payments will be approved until your contract and personal responsibilities agreement are both signed . Create a folder, either electronic or paper, to keep your TEACH contract and PRA, your reimbursement forms, grades, and copies of forms and receipts sent to TEACH Your reimbursement forms are emailed to you at the time of scholarship award – you can download and save to your computer, or download and print as a hard copy. Save those forms, you can use them each semester. If you do need additional copies, contact your counselor. Use the Deadline Reminder document and mark all deadlines on your calendar, to make sure your forms are turned in on time, and you notify your counselor of your classes each semester. Save that document in a prominent place so it is always available. You will also receive a checklist you can use each semester you are on scholarship. Make sure to review it throughout each semester, and check off each step as you complete them. Once course schedules are available choose your classes carefully. Make sure you can balance your course schedule with your work, home and personal life, and tell your counselor what you’ve chosen. Your counselor will send a Direct Billing Authorization (DBA) to the school, who will invoice TEACH. TEACH will pay the tuition for the classes you’ve chosen, and invoice you and your center for your shares at the end of each semester. Because schools must bill us for courses within the semester they are taken, pay attention to the deadlines for requesting a DBA (see page 25) . Without a DBA you may be paying your own tuition and requesting reimbursement. DBA is easier! Register for your classes at a Wisconsin school of your choice. Typically this is done online through the school’s website. To explore schools, go to TEACH Resources at www.wisconsinearlychildhood.org/programs/t-e-a-c-h/resourcesfaqs/ to find a map of colleges and universities, a directory with web links and information for each school. Talk to your counselor if you need help . Contact your counselor every time you register for a course, drop a course or add a course. It is important that TEACH knows of changes to your schedule in order to ensure accurate billing from the college. Your college will not inform TEACH if you change your schedule! Notify your counselor as soon as possible if you have a name change, address or phone number change, email change, or a change in your employment or school status. If you are pursuing a Credential scholarship, go to the Wisconsin Registry website (wiregistry.org) and download the Portfolio Guide for your specific credential. This guide prepares you for the commission process, which occurs at the end of your credential coursework. Talk with your supervisor to schedule your release time; be flexible if you can. 15 hours of release time is allowed per semester and will be reimbursed to your program at the rate of $15.00 per hour . Send us the following reimbursement request forms on or before their deadline: • Learning Materials Stipend form. • Form C for release time. • Form D for Student Access Stipend.5 TEACH HANDBOOK • Technology Stipend Purchase or Reimbursement form (must be claimed within the first semester of contract). Reimbursement forms must be received by the following deadlines in order to be reimbursed: • February 1 – reimbursement requests for previous fall semester • June 1 – reimbursement requests for previous spring semester • September 1 – reimbursement requests for previous summer semester At the end of the semester, fax or email a copy of your grades as soon as they are released by your school; unofficial transcripts are accepted. Bonuses are not processed until we receive your grades. If you have completed a credential on scholarship, fax or email a copy of the certificate you received in the mail from The Wisconsin Registry, congratulating you on being awarded the credential. This is not the certificate that reflects your Registry level and available online. The credential certificate is mailed to you and cannot be downloaded from your Registry account. Celebrate the end of a successful semester, you did it! If you are interested in continuing coursework, talk with your counselor. TIPS FOR TEACH SUCCESS Get to know your educational partners As a TEACH scholar, you will be interacting with TEACH Early Childhood® Wisconsin, your preferred college and/or university, and The Wisconsin Registry. Here’s a brief overview of each: • TEACH Early Childhood ® Wisconsin is the scholarship program that pays for expenses related to the completion of an educational path. TEACH also provides you with career, academic and/or personal counseling services. • Colleges and Universities are the institutions that provide the coursework and award credits, and when sufficient credits are earned, degrees – either an Associate, Bachelor’s, or Masters degree. Colleges and universities schedule when and where courses take place, and determine if enrollment numbers are sufficient to run a course. You will need to apply to and register for your courses with the college; TEACH cannot do that for you. • The Wisconsin Registry is the agency that awards credentials based on credits earned through coursework which culminates in a Registry Commission review process. The Wisconsin Registry also awards professional recognition certificates based on educational advancements and professional contributions. You will likely interact with all three entities on your educational path. If you have questions or get confused, feel free to contact your TEACH counselor for clarification. Maintain a balance of work, school & family This will undoubtedly be your biggest challenge. If you are struggling, you are not alone! • Your Scholarship Counselor is here to help you. Talk to your counselor when things get tough. She or he may have some specific ideas to support you, to guide decision-making, or to give you just the encouragement you need. • Talk to your instructors; they want you to succeed, too. They may be able to connect you to support services on campus or offer other options. • There are resources available to help you. A few can be found in the resource section of this handbook. TEACH HANDBOOK 6 Stay in touch Check out TEACH Talk and Semester Preview online newsletters. Each provides reminders, important notices and other useful information regarding the scholarship program. Visit our website for up-to-date information on early childhood education and TEACH news. This is where you can also find our TEACH live chat feature. Finally, make sure we always have a current e-mail address and phone number for you; if they change, please let us know. If your employment or student status changes, let us know that, too. A SPONSOR’S CHECKLIST FOR TEACH SUCCESS Adjust your budget to meet your financial responsibility to TEACH, especially if you have multiple recipients on contract. Read the entire contact carefully before you sign it. We recommend that you review it together with your scholarship recipient. Sign the contract you received electronically via email. Once you have signed, you will receive a copy for the center records. We recommend you download the contract and keep in either a hard copy or electronic file for each recipient you sponsor on scholarship. The contract is not valid and no payments will be approved until the contract and the Personal Responsibilities Agreement are signed by all parties. Use the Deadlines Document you received from your employee’s counselor; mark the deadline dates in your calendar. Save the document in a prominent place so it is always available. You will also be sent a checklist for each of your sponsored employees to use throughout their contract. Make sure to review it throughout each semester, and check off each step as you complete it. Negotiate a plan for providing release time that meets your needs and that of the TEACH scholar. As required by the contract, you are responsible for providing 15 hours of release time per semester, all of which will be reimbursed by TEACH Additional information about release time is found in this handbook. Establish a routine for checking in regularly with the scholarship recipient(s) that you sponsor. Meet with him/her before the semester starts to plan for balancing work and school demands. Check in with your staff every so often to see how they’re progressing. Take an interest in their education. Notice when new ideas are tried out in the classroom. Encouragement and a pat on the back for the extra effort are almost always welcomed. Our experience has taught us that your support can make all the difference in a student’s success! Stay in contact with TEACH. If you have questions, or need information, call the Scholarship Counselor assigned to you and your employee, or contact our general information number and your call will be forwarded to the most appropriate person. As the representative of the program, it’s very important to keep TEACH informed about such things as an employee’s change of hours, if an employee has quit or been terminated, or any other changes that may affect the scholarship contract. Provide the bonus or raise, as agreed upon in the contract, no later than the end of the recipient’s commitment period. As in all professions, advancement in education deserves advancement in compensation. TEACH will provide a bonus upon completion of the contract and receipt of grades. You have discretion to determine when you will provide enhanced compensation: you may pay at the same time we do, or at intervals during the commitment period, or upon completion of the commitment period. Celebrate your employee’s accomplishment! Discuss opportunities for contract renewal.7 TEACH HANDBOOK GETTING THE BEST FROM TEACH FOR YOUR PROGRAM Carefully plan for the appropriate number of scholarship participants your program can financially manage per fiscal year. • The TEACH Cost Calculator helps you estimate your scholarship expenses; average expenses are updated annually. If you have questions after trying the calculator, please feel free to contact us. ( www.wisconsinearlychildhood.org/programs/t-e-a-c-h/cost-calculator-tools/ ) • Consider how you will manage the release time you are required to provide each semester. • Determine when, within your employee’s commitment period, the raise or bonus will be awarded to each recipient. It is helpful to budget now so that money is available to the recipient at that time. • Decide if every employee who is interested can participate in TEACH this year, or if your program can only support a limited number. Consider carefully whom you want to invest in and how staff can participate in your decision-making process. • If you are concerned about managing expenses, consider capping the number of credits an employee can take per contract and/or advise employees to choose their college carefully as costs can vary widely from one college to another. Balance participation in short- and long-term scholarship models. • Credential scholarships are either 3- or 4-semester contracts that may be extended by one semester if needed. All other scholarships are one year contracts. • Earning an associate, bachelor’s, or master’s degree will involve multiple TEACH contracts, via a contract renewal process, with a bonus or raise given after each contract. Each contract renewal provides an opportunity for you to reassess your program’s ability to continue support. If applicable, make a plan to establish or amend existing wage scales to provide raises by or no later than then end of one’s commitment period. Approaches program directors have used include: • Setting a wage scale in coordination with Registry levels; or • Setting wage increase increments on number of credits completed per year. • Alternate using the raise or bonus options. Some programs prefer this; others use the same option for every contract. Note: The 3-8 Limited Option scholarship option may be a good starting point for sponsorship; you can choose to sponsor as few as 3 credits, and no bonus or raise is required. Amend or establish personnel policies, procedures and/or union contracts to address educational expenses and release time. This requires adequate budgeting of professional development funds allocated to staff each year to pay for TEACH expenses. Take note of what you gain in return for your engagement with TEACH: • Quality improvements depend on knowledgeable staff who have higher levels of education. • Greater staff retention and program stability are results of the commitment period TEACH scholars make to your program. • Cost savings from reduced staff turnover are typical in programs participating in TEACH. • Leadership emerges. Your TEACH scholars serve as leaders when they mentor or serve as a role model for their colleagues, try out innovative ideas, and implement new practices. • Market appeal of your program grows. You can capitalize on the link between your staff’s growing educational qualifications and the boost in your program’s quality.TEACH HANDBOOK 8 Inform parents about your TEACH participation. Whenever you place ads regarding enrollment openings, enhance your ad to say that you invest in the education of your staff. You might include: “We support staff on TEACH scholarships,” in the list of benefits you provide. Send press releases when your staff have completed educational milestones. YOUR SCHOLARSHIP CONTRACT AND PERSONAL RESPONSIBLITIES AGREEMENT You should have received both your contract and Personal Responsibilities Agreement (PRA) via email from an electronic signature platform called Sign Well. Those two documents spell out everything that you, your center and TEACH are committing to as part of your scholarship, as well as the dates that your scholarship will be active. If you work in a group child care center, your program director or administrator signs the contract as well. Please read both documents carefully and review the contract with your director to verify your agreement and commitment to this program. A signed contract indicates that you agree with the terms and responsibilities as outlined. If you have any questions about either document, contact your counselor for further clarification before you sign and return it. Your scholarship contract is between you, your sponsoring center and TEACH. It cannot be transferred to another employer. We recommend you download copies of both the contract and PRA and save either as a printed hard copy or on your computer in a file specifically for your TEACH forms. SCHOLARSHIP COUNSELOR You will be working with your scholarship counselor throughout your time on scholarship. They are here to support you through every step of the scholarship and are available by phone or email. Your counselor is your resource when you have questions about your scholarship, need help finding classes, need additional reimbursement forms, need support around school or work issues, etc. You will need to contact your counselor every time you are going to register for courses, so billing arrangements with the college can be made. You will also submit your reimbursement forms and grades to your counselor every semester. Do not hesitate to reach out to your counselor to check in and share how things are going, or if you have questions. They are here for you! HOW PAYMENT WORKS Tuition TEACH supports tuition at the in-state undergraduate level for all scholarship models, including Masters degree. If you are attending a private college, TEACH caps tuition at $135/credit for Associate degree course work and $335/credit for Bachelor’s degree courses. Scholarship recipients are responsible for any tuition remaining due to the college. There are two ways in which tuition can be paid. In most circumstances, the TEACH scholar arranges with her/his counselor for TEACH to pay the full tuition directly to the college or university. This is done through a process called “Direct Billing Authorization” (DBA). Once you know what courses you will be taking each semester, you need to contact your counselor with that information. The TEACH program sends notification to the school that we will pay the tuition on behalf of the scholarship recipient. The school then invoices us for payment. TEACH pays the school directly, then will invoice the recipient and sponsoring center at the end of the semester for any balances due.9 TEACH HANDBOOK Because TEACH must receive a bill from the school for courses within the semester in which the coursework takes place, TEACH scholars must let their counselor know as soon as possible which courses they are taking, preferably before classes begin. Make note of the following deadlines to report coursework in order to get a DBA: • For fall semester activity – October 1 • For spring semester activity – March 1 • For summer semester activity – June 1 If direct billing has not been arranged with the counselor before the deadline date shared above, the student should immediately contact the counselor to discuss the possibility of paying the tuition and requesting reimbursement from TEACH, or waiting until the class is offered again. TEACH does not pay the college or reimburse students for late fees or payment plan fees. Additional Note: Submitting a DBA for a student is contingent upon receipt of grades for previous coursework taken while on TEACH contract. If grades from two semesters prior have not been submitted to TEACH, direct billings will no longer be authorized. Learning Materials Stipend You are eligible for a Learning Materials Stipend each semester you are enrolled in courses. The amount of the stipend is determined by the scholarship model you have been awarded. In order to access the stipend, you will need to complete the stipend form provided to you at the time of your scholarship award, along with proof of enrollment. The stipend can be used toward the materials needed to be successful in your courses, including text books, access to online learning tools, resource materials, software, etc. Release Time You are eligible for 15 hours of release time each semester you are enrolled in courses. Release time is intended to help you balance the demands of work, school and home. The scholarship recipient is paid at their regular rate of pay as typical working hours. TEACH then reimburses the program for those hours. Release time hours are tracked on Form C. Once 15 hours have been taken, the form is submitted to your scholarship counselor for reimbursement. If you are a family child care provider, you are also eligible for 15 hours of release time per semester. Reimbursement for those hours is paid directly to you. More detailed information on Release Time, including tips on how to schedule release time hours can be found beginning on page 17. Student Access Stipend The student access stipend (formerly called the travel stipend) is a set amount of money – currently $100 per semester. The stipend is the same for all scholarship models regardless of your actual expenses. It is an additional support to offset your share of tuition, as well as support you in other expenses you may incur as a student. The student access stipend is paid when TEACH processes the tuition invoice from the college or reimburses you for tuition you paid out of pocket, and is applied to your share of tuition. If the stipend exceeds the amount of tuition you owe, you may receive a check for the remainder. If it does not, you will receive an invoice with the amount of the student access stipend deducted from what you owe. You must submit a Form D each semester to claim your stipend. That form is emailed to you at the time of scholarship award. If you need additional copies of the form, please contact your counselorNext >