STAP Administration

An employee planning to take a training or development activity required because of the employee's current assignment must follow IRS guidelines and discuss their development and performance objectives with their supervisor before registering for a course or program. Decisions regarding training applicability, course costs, and release time issues should be made at this time.

• Courses taken through the Stanford Continuing Studies Program (CSP) are subject to supervisor approval if release time is required. Any release time must be discussed with the supervisor before signing up for the course.
• When the university reimburses an employee for training costs through STAP before the activity is completed, the employee assumes an obligation to complete the supported training in a satisfactory manner. An employee who does not complete university-reimbursed training is responsible for repaying the university the reimbursement amount.
• Employees utilizing STAP funds for specific job training must provide the supervisor with evidence of satisfactory completion of such training as soon as possible.
• If the employee’s STAP funds are insufficient to cover the cost of the course, any requests for departmental funds must be obtained before course registration. Reimbursement using departmental funds is at the sole discretion of the department to partially or fully reimburse the course.
• Training may be a formal course for academic credit by an accredited college, university, technical/vocational school or institute, special skills school, or adult education school. 
• Seminars, workshops, or special emphasis short-duration programs presented by an approved provider or training obtained at a conference or professional organization are also eligible for STAP.

If an employee uses STAP funds for career development, the employee may be granted a maximum of 24 hours per month of release time without pay for the approved training if no comparable course is offered during non-work hours. Any discussions relating to time off to attend such activities must be reviewed in advance with the supervisor in accordance with the Admin Guide. There is no university-wide application form for such a request; departmental rules must be followed.

• When the training costs exceed the current STAP limit, the employee's department may partially or fully reimburse the excess cost. Reimbursement using departmental funds is at the sole discretion of the department and should be discussed prior to such training.
• Eligible employees may be granted a maximum of 24 hours per month of release time without pay for an approved training for career development purposes if no comparable course is offered during non-work hours. Time off for eligible part-time staff should be pro-rated based on the percentage of time worked. 

Discussions relating to any time off to attend such activities must be reviewed in advance with the supervisor in accordance with the Admin Guide. There is no university-wide application form for such a request; department rules must be followed.

• For departmental PCard verifiers for STAP: A completed request must change the PTA (Project, Task, Award) from the department PTA to the STAP PTAE. The STAP PTAE is 1089542-8-AAPAA-51891
• Submitted reimbursement requests should be charged against available STAP funds based on the course's start date, not the registration date. For example, if the employee registers for a course in August and the course has a start date in October, funds will be taken from the employee’s STAP fund balance in the following fiscal year. When employees are reimbursed in advance of course completion, the employee assumes the responsibility to provide evidence of satisfactory completion to the supervisor.
• The employee must submit all reimbursement requests to the university with all necessary receipts within 20 days of incurring the expense but no later than 60 days after incurring the expense. Any expenses submitted more than 60 days after they were incurred will be reported as additional income to the individual in accordance with IRS guidelines.

• The first step for a departmental administrator who is administering a course is to send the full course description to the STAP office.
• The STAP office will review the course in accordance with STAP criteria (in Admin Guide 2.1.12 (a) Job-related training (b) Career development training).
• STAP-eligible courses cannot be included in STARS without STAP office approval.
• Authorized departmental STARS administrators responsible for recording department training or STAP-eligible conferences must create a complete ijournal, including the list of participants. Such ijournals must be submitted for approval within 10 days of the completion of all sessions or modules of the course. iJournals is an Oracle Financials system that allows users to transfer money or expenses from one account to another or across expenditure types or object codes.
• ijournals that are rejected must be corrected before resubmission.

• STAP balances are available and updated in Axess. Employees needing information about their STAP balances can log into the Employee Center in Axess and find them at the top of the page.
• All reimbursement requests must be submitted promptly as incurred. Expenses submitted more than 60 days after they were incurred will be reported as additional income to the individual in accordance with IRS guidelines.
• Complete and correct reimbursements may take approximately 10 business days for STAP office approval. An employee’s STAP balance will be updated upon approval of the reimbursement.

No new requests for training or development activities will be accepted after employment with the university or SLAC ends.

If employment with the university or SLAC ends before a request for reimbursement of covered expenses has been submitted, an employee may submit a manual request for reimbursement if the reason for termination is for any of the following reasons:

• Layoff
• Layoff to Retirement
• Retirement
• Military Service
• Transfer from the university to SLAC
• Transfer from SLAC to the university

If employment with the university or SLAC ended for other reasons (e.g., resignation), an employee will not be eligible to request or receive reimbursement for expenses after the date employment ends.