13 FAM 700
External training
13 FAM 701
EXTERNAL TRAINING
13 FAM 701.1
External training programs
(CT:TPD-1; 09-18-2019)
(Office of Origin: FSI)
13 FAM 701.1-1 general Scope
(CT:TPD-1; 09-18-2019)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service and Civil Service Employees)
a. To encourage employees to enhance their professional
qualifications, the Department may pay tuition (subject to the availability of
funding and within prescribed limits) for approved after-hours study in the United
States and abroad, and fund participation in approved training programs,
including academic degree training per 5 U.S.C. 4107 (as long as the training meets an identified
agency training need), correspondence courses and distance learning, conducted
by other U.S. Government agencies or by non-U.S. Government organizations.
b. To facilitate this training, the Department, through
the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), operates the External Training Program.
c. Depending on the type and cost of training, tuition
can either be funded centrally from the External Training Program or from an
employees bureau of assignment.
13 FAM 701.1-2 General
Limitations
(CT:TPD-1; 09-18-2019)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service and Civil Service Employees)
a. Training is subject to the availability of funds.
b. Students are required to pay the cost of the
training if they:
(1) Withdraw from an external training program for
other than officially-approved reasons;
(2) Fail to complete training satisfactorily; or
(3) Voluntarily terminate their employment before
completing training.
c. All training must be approved and funded prior to
enrollment. Reimbursement will not be made for training costs after training
has begun or been completed.
d. Fees for extension of time in correspondence distance-learning
courses are the employees responsibility.
e. Tuition costs must not be split, (i.e., tuition
costs cannot be split between the employee and FSI, or the employee and their
bureau, or the bureau and FSI).
f. The External Training Program does not fund
conferences, seminars or workshops, although bureaus and/or posts may. Such
requests must be submitted through the External Training Program.
g. Requests for external training will not be approved
if similar training is available at FSI. Exception will be made for Department
employees permanently stationed outside of Washington, DC who apply for
external training available in their local area.
h. The U.S. Government does not fund training to obtain
an academic degree except for certain shortage occupations, or if the degree is
merely an incidental byproduct of the training.
i. The Department has the authority to require
employees to agree to continue in service for specified periods of time as a
condition of authorized training.
13 FAM 701.1-3 Limitations on
After-Hours Study
(CT:TPD-1; 09-18-2019)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service and Civil Service Employees)
a. Courses offered for credit must be taken for credit,
and noncredit courses are approved only in exceptional cases.
b. FSIs External Training Program only funds tuition
and does not pay for books, registration, or activity fees, etc. Bureaus,
however, may decide to fund these costs separately out of their own budgets or
require the student to pay for them.
c. After-hours language study may be authorized in
cases when extraordinary justification exists to provide language training at
local educational institutions.
13 FAM 701.1-4 Information about
Programs and Procedures
(CT:TPD-1; 09-18-2019)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service and Civil Service Employees)
Procedural guidance and instructions on external training
can be found in 13
FAH-1 H-700. Information regarding long-term training for Civil Service
employees can be found on the HR Career Development and Training Division
(HR/CSHRM/CD) website. Foreign Service employees should visit the HR
Professional Development Units (HR/CDA/PDU) website.