OPM Needs To Provide Better Guidance to Agencies for Approving Government-Funded College Courses for Employees
FPCD-82-61
Published: Sep 20, 1982. Publicly Released: Oct 15, 1982.
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Highlights
In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed government expenditures for its employees to attend college courses as well as expenditures on organizational dues which are a part of training expenses.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected Sort descending | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Office of Personnel Management | The Director, OPM, should develop more specific guidance for federal agencies to use in determining the kinds of college courses they may approve and pay for, particularly those courses that relate to future duties employees may assume. Agencies should be required to have an established target position for trainees which can be reached within a specific time. The Director should emphasize to agencies the importance of establishing and implementing a system to evaluate and assess the effect that college training has on participants' performance and to ensure that skills acquired from college training are being used. OPM should assist agencies in developing their evaluation methodology. |
Closed – Implemented
In July 1986, OPM gave agencies an advance copy of a new FPM Supplement 410-2, "Establishing Policies for Managing Training to Effect Organizational Improvement", which provided further general guidance to agencies on about 30 training topics. Training relevance and training evaluation generally address aspects of this recommendation but they do not describe when to approve and pay for courses.
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Topics
Education or training costsFederal employeesFeesHigher educationPersonnel managementTraining utilizationGovernment employeesMilitary forcesStudentsFederal agencies