To obtain the lowest tuition rate, the adult members (combined) of the family must sign up for, complete, and log at least TWO Community Duty "points" per term. Community Duties are designed to spread the workload of running a large community so that overhead costs can be controlled. Two points of community duty is roughly equal to 10 hours of work per term. Some duties, called "Community Duty Plus" tasks earn you Community Duty points PLUS extra benefits such as barter credits and/or priority registration. Some duties earn one point, others earn two points.
Signing up for Community Duties is easy. We recommend that you sign-up at the time that you register by following the prompt at the end of the checkout process. You can access the menu for Community Duty at any time from your "User Menu" after you login to your family account. You must select your Community Duty jobs by the end of the add/drop period, or at the time you pay, which ever is later. If you have not selected a job or jobs worth two points by that time, you will be expected to pay for the difference in tuition between the Community Duty rate and the Member rate. If, at the end of the term, you have not completed the duties you signed up for, you will be billed for the difference in tuition.
To earn your points, you have to (1) sign up for 2 points worth of duty (2) do the duty, and (3) record that the duty is completed in the office on the day you complete it. Community Duty is organized into three subsets:
Weekly Tasks:These are community duties that occur weekly during the term. Each week after you complete your duty, you record that you completed your duty in the office the same day. Over the course of a 10-week term, you are allowed one excused absence from your job. If you miss your job more than once, you forfeit your community duty tuition rate for that term, unless you can find other points to earn before the end of the term. (Exceptions may be made in case of emergency.)
Events / Clean-Ups / Etc: These are community duties that occur at one time. The days and times vary, depending on the duty. In every case with these duties, you earn the allocated points only if you work for the entire time. Partial points are not awarded. These jobs have a set number of available slots; you must sign-up, not just show-up to earn a point. Although you can feel free to show-up to help anytime! Required reporting times are noted in the descriptions.
Community Duty Plus Tasks: These are community duties that have points PLUS they carry an additional benefit of a barter credit (equal to tuition for a one-hour class), or priority registration for the following Fall term, or both. These duties may require you to apply, and may have particular skill requirements. See duty listings for details. You have to do this duty for the entire academic year prior in order to qualify for priority registration the following Fall.
If you commit to Community Duty and do not complete and record your TWO Points of Community Duty by the end of the term, you will be billed for the difference in tuition between the Community Duty rate and the Member rate. Community duty hours cannot be accrued from one term to another and Village Home cannot guarantee available community duties at any given time. In order to get credit for Community Duty hours, you must record your attendance on the community duty log in the office when you complete your duty assignment. There are plenty of jobs you can do with the kids in tow, but jobs are designed to be completed by the adult members of the family (exceptions are made in certain cases). Partial points are not awarded for a partially completed duty.