Guarantee for Job Competency

Richland College makes certain guarantees to its students who earn its Associate in Applied Sciences degree or who complete a certificate program. If an Associate in Applied Science or Certificate Program graduate is judged by his/her employer to be lacking in technical job skills identified as exit competencies for his/her specific degree or certificate program, the graduate will be provided up to nine tuition-free hours of additional skill training by the college under the conditions of the guarantee policy.

Special conditions, which apply to the guarantee, are as follows:

• The graduate must have earned the Associate in Applied Science Degree or completed the certificate program beginning May 1992, or thereafter in a Technical program identified in the college catalog.
• The graduate must have completed this degree or certificate program in the DCCCD (with a majority of the credits being earned at the college) and must have completed the degree or certificate within a four-year time span.
• Graduates must be employed full-time in an area directly related to the area of program concentration as certified by the Vice President of Instruction.
• Employment must commence within 12 months of graduation.
• The employer must certify in writing that the employee is lacking entry-level skills identified by the college as the employee's program competencies and must specify the areas of deficiency within 90 days of the graduate's initial employment.
• The employer, graduate, division dean, job placement counselor, and appropriate faculty member will develop a written educational plan for retraining.
• Retraining will be limited to nine credit hours related to the identified skill deficiency and to those classes regularly scheduled during the period covered by the retraining plan.
• All retraining must be completed within a calendar year from the time the educational plan is agreed upon.
• The graduate and/or employer is responsible for the cost of books, insurance, uniforms, and other course-related expenses.
• The guarantee does not imply that the graduate will pass any licensing or qualifying examination for a particular career.
• The student's sole remedy against the college and its employees for skill deficiencies shall be limited to nine credit hours of tuition-free education under conditions described above.
• The program can be initiated through written contact with the office of the college president.