Rememered Variables, cmi.suspend_data and multiple sessions

I have a question about the cmi.suspend_data variable and CourseMill.

The last schematic layout of the database I saw, it looks like suspend data goes into the sco table. Does anybody know if that suspend data is session specific? (It appears to be, but I wasn't sure.)

The back story:

We track a series of courses as part of a certification every year with different sessions. Our dream is to have a newly hired employee complete the courses the first time. Every year thereafter, we would like them to have the opportunity to take a pretest. If they pass the pretest, then they can skip the course and are automatically passed for that year.

I can create a "remembered variable" to track whether or not it is the first time they are being presented with the course. This will help the course determine if they should complete the whole thing, or be directed to the pretest. I'm just not certain if that variable will be remembered beyond the session for that year, or not.

Anybody experiment, or do something similar to this in CourseMill before?