3 FAM 2250
FOREIGN SERVICE SPECIALIST CAREER CANDIDATE PROGRAM
(CT:PER-858; 07-06-2017)
(Office of Origin: HR/PE)
3 FAM 2251 GENERAL PROVISIONS
3 FAM 2251.1 Authority
(CT:PER-858; 07-06-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
The authority for this policy is found in sections 301,
303, 306, 309, 404, 502, 601, 602, 603, 605, 610, 612, 2102, and 2106 of the Foreign Service Act
of 1980.
3 FAM 2251.2 Purpose
(CT:PER-858; 07-06-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
The Foreign Service Specialist Candidate Program is a
comprehensive program of appropriate training, assignment, evaluation,
counseling, and review to permit candidates for career status as Foreign
Service specialists to demonstrate through on-the-job experience and in the
shortest time practicable, that they have the requisite skills, abilities,
fitness, and aptitude to perform in their occupational category over a normal Foreign Service career span.
3 FAM 2251.3 Applicability
(CT:PER-858; 07-06-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
These policies apply to all individuals
who have been appointed as Foreign Service
specialist career candidates under the authority of 3 FAM 2218.
Such appointments shall be limited to four years, but may be extended for up to
one additional year if such extension is in the public interest.
3 FAM 2252 PROCEDURES AND GUIDELINES
(TL:PER-393; 01-31-2001)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
Procedures and guidelines which implement these
regulations are published in 3 FAH-1 H-2250.
3 FAM 2253 PREPARATION OF SPECIALIST
CANDIDATE EVALUATION REPORTS
3 FAM 2253.1 Rating and Reviewing
Officers
(CT:PER-858; 07-06-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
a. Normally the specialist candidate's immediate
supervisor will prepare the rating officer portion of the Employee Evaluation
Report Form (EER). Specialist candidates who serve in regional positions
abroad are evaluated by individuals in the field or in the Department who
supervise and/or are most knowledgeable of the mission, assignments, and actual
work performance of these employees (see 3 FAM 2810 and 3 FAH-1 H-2810
for guidance of regional personnel).
b. In the event that an untenured specialist is
supervised by another untenured specialist or
generalist, the Principal Officer or DCM (or in Washington the
appropriate Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) or officer of equivalent rank)
will at the beginning of the rating period name a tenured specialist or generalist in the line of
authority as the rating officer.
c. If, in unusual circumstances, the specialist
candidate is simultaneously supervised by more than one individual, the management officer (or in
Washington, the bureau executive officer) will designate one of them as the
rating officer and may authorize any other supervisors to contribute comments
for inclusion by the rating officer as appropriate in the report.
Additionally, the management officer or bureau executive officer will assure that the reviewing officer
designated for each specialist candidate is directly in the chain of command
and has full knowledge of the job requirements of the candidate's position, and
takes a personal interest in the development and performance of the specialist
candidate. Any exception in the designation of rating or reviewing officers
may be made only in exceptional circumstances and with the concurrence of
HR/PE.
3 FAM 2253.2 Rating Periods
(CT:PER-858; 07-06-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
Normal Foreign Service rating periods and requirements
apply to all specialist candidates (see 3 FAM 2810 and 3 FAH-1 H-2810).
If HR/PE determines that the personnel
file of a specialist candidate pending review by the Specialist Commissioning and Tenuring Board does not contain
sufficient documentation, HR/PE may request an interim performance
appraisal for any period in excess of 120 days.
3 FAM 2254 CAREER STATUS TENURING
BOARD REVIEW
3 FAM 2254.1 Policy
(CT:PER-858; 07-06-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
a. The decision to offer a specialist candidate a
career appointment will be based on the recommendation made by a Specialist Commissioning and Tenuring Board.
The sole criterion for a positive tenuring decision will be the specialist
candidates demonstrated ability to perform satisfactorily in the occupational
category in which the candidate is serving and the potential, assuming normal
growth and career development, to serve effectively in the Foreign Service at
higher levels with greater responsibilities in the specialists occupational
category. This criterion is expanded on in
Precepts provided by HR/PE for the Board's guidance.
b. No numerical limit is
placed on the number of positive tenuring decisions since specialist
candidates are recruited in response to defined Service needs. Candidates'
records are reviewed on their merits, not in comparison or competition with one
another.
c. Specialist candidates not granted tenure will be
separated from the Service at the expiration of their limited appointment or at
an earlier date if recommended by the Tenuring Board.
3 FAM 2254.2 Eligibility for
Tenuring Board Review
(TL:PER-858; 07-06-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
To be eligible for Tenuring Board review for career
status, a specialist candidate must:
(1) Have a minimum of two years' experience in the
Service from the date of appointment as a specialist candidate, except for
specialist candidates in the medical occupation categories (physicians, medical
technologists, nurse practitioners, and psychiatrists), who must have three
years' experience in the Service. (This requirement is waived for specialists
who have changed skill codes and were
previously tenured as specialists); and
(2) If appointed below the FS-4 level, have been
previously promoted to the candidate's highest possible level under the
administrative promotion procedures outlined in 3 FAM 2320 and 3 FAH-1 H-2320.
3 FAM 2254.3 Number of Tenuring
Board Reviews
(CT:PER-858; 07-06-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
a. A specialist candidate will normally be reviewed
twice by the Tenuring Board according to the schedule set forth in 3 FAH-1
H-2255.3, to determine whether or not the candidate should be given career
status in the Foreign Service. Under circumstances described in 3 FAH-1
H-2255.3(b), a candidate may be offered a third Tenuring Board review.
b. In unusual circumstances, such as unavoidable
absence of an evaluation report, recent assumption of new duties, or other
conditions which would make Board review at the scheduled time inequitable, the
candidate may request, or the Department may recommend, that review be deferred
until a succeeding session of the Board, rather than proceed with review on
schedule with the possibility of denial of tenure and lengthy delay before the
next scheduled review. Such deferral may take place only with the concurrence
of the Department and the candidate. Any subsequent
Board reviews will date from the time of actual Board review (rather than the earlier scheduled time), but in
no case will deferral itself lead to the extension of a candidate's limited
appointment.
c. Successful specialist candidates recommended for
tenure by the Tenuring Board will be given career appointments under section
303 of the Act, to take effect within one month of the Tenuring Board decision,
unless a candidate is temporarily or permanently
removed from the tenuring list in accordance with 3 FAH-1 H-2256.
Career appointments in the Foreign Service will make specialists subject to the
time-in-service/time-in-class (TIS/TIC) mandatory retirement provisions.
Security Technician and Medical Technology skill groups are not subject to
TIS/TIC.
d. Unsuccessful conversion
candidates who were tenured members of the Foreign Service immediately
prior to the current career candidate specialist appointment will have the
right to revert to their former career category at the grade they held (plus
any within-grade increases that would have accrued) at the time of their new
specialist appointment.
3 FAM 2255 ACTION BY THE DIRECTOR
GENERAL
(CT:PER-858; 07-06-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
a. Upon receipt of the Tenuring Board's
recommendations, the Director General will initiate necessary administrative
action to grant tenure to employees so recommended and to notify and provide
for separation of specialist candidates not recommended for tenure after the
last review.
b. The Director General may order the temporary
exclusion of the name of any specialist candidate from a tenure list if, in the
Director General's opinion, such tenuring would be inconsistent with the
national interest or the efficiency of the Service. Such reasons must be based
upon either:
(1) Issues of loyalty, security, misconduct,
suitability, or malfeasance; or
(2) Indications that documentation available to the
Tenuring Board regarding an employees performance may have been significantly
inaccurate or incomplete.
c. The procedures
governing temporary removals from a specialist tenure list are found at 3 FAH-1 H-2256.
3 FAM 2256 SEPARATION OF SPECIALIST
CANDIDATES FOR UNSATISFACTORY PERFORMANCE
(CT:PER-858; 07-06-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
The purpose of the Specialist Candidate Program is to
permit an on-the-job evaluation of the candidate's fitness and aptitude for
effective service across a normal career span. That judgment will normally be
made by the Tenuring Board as described in section 3 FAM 2254.
However, in exceptional cases a specialist candidate may, prior to Board
review, prove unable to perform assigned duties satisfactorily, including the
satisfactory completion of the basic training course for the specialty being
pursued, or may fail to meet the standards of the specialty as assessed through
basic training. In such circumstances, it serves neither the interest of the
Service nor the individual to retain the specialist candidate for the full
trial period originally intended. In such instances, the Director General will
terminate the specialist career candidate limited
appointment without delay, as authorized by section 612 of the Foreign Service Act.
3 FAM 2257 THROUGH 2259 UNASSIGNED