Problem
Sam has worked for a family friend for the last few summers. He recently left that job to accept a position with a larger company. Sam likes his new job and tries hard to make a good impression, motivated by the great healthcare benefits, high pay, and overtime available in his new role as well as his friendly coworkers.
The company has a generous tuition reimbursement policy. Typically, employees have to be with the company for three years to be eligible, but Sam's hard work impresses his supervisor, so an exception is made. After nine months, Sam is granted reduced working hours and a stipend to allow him to enroll in school for the upcoming semester. He is also assured that upon successful completion of his coursework, he will be fully reimbursed for the cost of his tuition, books, and supplies at the end of each semester.
Although Sam currently has enough money in savings to enroll in classes as he promised he would, he had originally been saving that money for a down payment on a new truck. His paychecks are impressive enough for him to qualify for a bank loan for the expensive truck, but because Sam doesn't have much credit nor a cosigner, he still needs to put money down for his financing to be approved. If he uses the money for school, the truck will have to wait for several months until he gets reimbursed.
Sam is uncertain what to do. Although his boss went to a lot of trouble to make this arrangement for him and he did promise his boss that he would take the classes, technically Sam hasn't filled anything out in writing yet that obligates him to follow through. At nearly twenty-one, Sam feels like he has plenty of time for education later. Plus, now he has a longer commute to get to work and he would like a newer vehicle to replace the reliable but ancient Corolla with faulty air conditioning that he has been driving since his senior year of high school. He works hard and seldom splurges on himself and believes he deserves the right to reward himself just a little...
a) If you were Sam, what would you do? Why?
b) What reason(s) might Sam's employer have for reimbursing employees' tuition costs?
c) Professionalism is more than going to work and doing what is expected of you. Or is it? Explain.