The following words and terms, when used in this subchapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

1. (1) Assistance--Financial aid provided by the department to its employees for education expenses.
2. (2) Department--The Texas Department of Transportation.
3. (3) District--One of 25 geographical areas, managed by a district engineer, in which the department conducts its primary work activities.
4. (4) District engineer--The chief administrative officer in charge of a district of the department.
5. (5) Division director--The chief administrative officer of a division of the department.
6. (6) Employee--An individual employed with the department in either a full-time or part-time position, not including contract employees.
7. (7) Executive director--The executive director of the department.
8. (8) Hardship--A serious or catastrophic illness, family emergency, or extenuating circumstances beyond the control of the student which preclude the student from being reasonably expected to comply with the terms of an education assistance agreement.
9. (9) Office director--The chief administrative officer of a specialized organizational unit of the department which is headquartered in Austin.
10. (10) Part-time position--An individual employed with the department and working between 20 and 39 hours per week.
11. (11) Professional development requirement--Education and/or technical training required for an employee to progress higher in that employee's career ladder, or meet increased skill demands of the employee's job assignment.
12. (12) Program Selection Committee--The committee, approved by the executive director, that selects the employees who will participate in the department-sponsored full-time master's program.
13. (13) Prospective duty assignment--A department job assignment that may, with reasonable probability, become available in the foreseeable future to an employee.
14. (14) Training--Activities designed to improve employee job performance and job-related skills by achieving specific, measurable, predetermined learning objectives.

Source Note:The provisions of this §4.61 adopted to be effective December 16, 1996, 21 TexReg 11824; amended to be effective October 18, 1998, 23 TexReg 10499.