3 FAH-1 H-2790
PROCEDURES FOR THE FUNCTIONAL SPECIALIZATION PROGRAM
(FSp)
(CT:POH-222; 06-26-2019)
(Office of Origin: HR/CDA)
3 FAH-1 H-2791 purpose
(CT:POH-169; 07-29-2015)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
a. The Functional Specialization program (FSP) is a
career mobility program that provides tenured FP-06 to FP-03 Foreign Service
Specialists the opportunity to change their primary skill code to one of four
functional specialties: Financial Management, General Services, Human
Resources, or Information Management.
b. Successful applicants participate in an 11-month
Washington, DC based training program that includes classroom instruction,
rotational assignments, and briefings in relevant offices. Participants then
proceed to one directed overseas assignment in the new specialty. Following
certification of successful performance in the new specialty, the employee
receives a permanent primary skill code change.
3 FAH-1 H-2792 APPLICATION PROCESS
(CT:POH-222; 06-26-2019)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
a. Employees may apply for the Functional
Specialization Program (FSP) in only one (1) specialty. The FSP application
open season is announced annually early each calendar year by cable and
Department Notice.
b. All applicants must submit the following application
materials:
(1) Application for Employment: The applicant should
indicate the desired specialty (Financial Management, General Services, Human
Resources, or Information Management) in question 8;
(2) Most recent updated copy of U.S. Department of
State Employee Profile;
(3) Autobiography (not to exceed two (2) pages,
double-spaced). In narrative form, applicants should write about their life,
emphasizing those events that contributed most to their personal and
professional development;
(4) Essay (not to exceed one (1) page,
double-spaced). Applicants should describe their motivation to become a
financial management officer (FMO), general services officer (GSO), human
resources officer (HRO), or information management specialist (IMS), as
appropriate. Applicants must address the skills and talents that, in their
opinion, qualify them for conversion to another skill code, and detail the actions
they have taken to prepare for this skill code change; and
(5) A signed and dated acknowledgement as provided
below:
I am applying to participate in the Functional
Specialization Program (FSP). I hereby acknowledge that if I am selected
and I do not successfully complete the program (both the 11-month training
period and the directed tour of duty abroad), I will be returned to my prior
skill code.
Signature: ____________________________ Date:
_________________
c. Additional requirements for Financial Management
Officer applicants: Higher education in the financial management field and/or
specific experience in financial management or accounting. The education and
experience required will be specified in the annual cable and Department Notice
announcing the FSP open season.
d. Additional requirements for Information Management
Specialist applicants: Higher education in an information technology-related
field and/or specific experience in information technology. The education and/or
experience required will be specified in the annual cable and Department Notice
announcing the FSP open season. Applicants must submit certificates of
completion with their application.
e. Application materials may be scanned and submitted
electronically to HR/CDA/EL FSP Coordinator. The FSP Acknowledgement shown
in subparagraph b(5) of this section must be submitted with a signature.
3 FAH-1 H-2793 APPLICATION procedures
(CT:POH-169; 07-29-2015)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
a. The Functional Specialization Program, the specific
functional training, and the number of positions for training will be announced
annually.
b. Applications should be forwarded to the Bureau of
Human Resources, Office of Career Development and Assignments, Entry Level
Division (HR/CDA/EL) within the time frame with the information specified in
the announcement.
3 FAH-1 H-2794 SELECTION PROCESS
(CT:POH-169; 07-29-2015)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
a. Qualifications Evaluation Panels (QEPs), composed of
Foreign Service specialists and generalists who have experience in each
specialty under review, evaluate applications and review applicants Official
Personnel Folders (OPFs). A separate QEP convenes for each specialty.
Applicants are notified of their QEP score in May/June of the same year.
b. Applicants who earn a QEP score of 75 or above are
invited to schedule a Specialist Oral Assessment (OA) with the Foreign Service
Board of Examiners (HR/REE/BEX). The OA consists of a structured interview and
a writing exercise. Applicants must take the OA by the September date
specified in the annual announcement of the same year in which they qualify.
All applicants are notified of their OA score after the assessment.
c. No official funds are available for applicants
travel to Washington, DC, for the Oral Assessment.
d. Applicants who pass the OA are placed in rank order
on functional specialty specific registers based on their OA scores.
HR/REE/REG maintains the registers.
e. The maximum number of Functional Specialization
Program (FSP) participants per year is nine total. The number of participants
for each specialty will be announced annually.
f. Applicants selected for participation in the FSP
are notified in October of each year.
g. Qualified applicants who are not selected from the
registers may opt to retain their name and score on the register for
consideration the following year. Candidates may have two scores on a register
in a given year, one retained from the previous year and one obtained from
testing in that year. The higher of the two scores will be considered when
selecting applicants. A score from an oral assessment may be carried over for
one year only.
h. FSP offers cannot be deferred to the following
year. If an applicant declines an FSP offer, that applicant may elect to carry
over his or her score to the following year, if he or she has not yet done so,
and compete for another slot. A deferred score from an oral assessment may be
carried over for one year only.
i. Applicants may apply for participation in the FSP a
maximum of four (4) times. Retaining a score from a previous year as described
above does not count against this limit. If a candidate withdraws an active
application before taking the oral assessment, then that application will not
count against the maximum limit.
3 FAH-1 H-2795 FSP TRAINING PROGRAM
3 FAH-1 H-2795.1 General
Information
(CT:POH-169; 07-29-2015)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
a. The Functional Specialization Program (FSP) Training
Program begins in late August or early September of the year following
selection. It consists of functional training, rotational assignments, and
briefings for a maximum of 11 months.
b. If necessary, HR/CDA/EL adjusts FSP participants
current tours of duty to ensure that the employees will be available for the
full training program.
c. A tandem employee will not be curtailed solely for
the purpose of accompanying an FSP participant to Washington, DC, for the
training period.
d. While in FSP training, program participants may opt
to be assigned to Washington, DC, or to their onward assignment. The latter
option puts participants in a temporary duty (TDY) status while they are in
training. A participant who is currently assigned to Washington does not have
the option of choosing TDY status. When both members of a tandem couple are
returning to Washington for long-term training, both members of the couple must
be in the same status: TDY status or assignment to Washington. If one member
of the tandem is assigned to Washington, the other member does not have the
option of choosing TDY status.
3 FAH-1 H-2795.2 Functional
Training
(CT:POH-169; 07-29-2015)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
The FSP Coordinator enrolls Functional Specialization
Program (FSP) participants in training courses in their new functional
specialty, as well as leadership and management courses and language
instruction, as appropriate.
3 FAH-1 H-2795.3 Rotational
Assignments
(CT:POH-169; 07-29-2015)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
a. Functional Specialization Program (FSP) participants
serve in a number of rotational assignments within the Department in order to
gain practical experience in their new functional specialty.
b. For rotational assignments longer than two weeks,
the hosting supervisor will prepare a Work Requirements Statement and a
Memorandum of Performance for the FSP participants. This information is
incorporated into a final training evaluation report the FSP Coordinator prepares
at the conclusion of the training period.
3 FAH-1 H-2795.4 Annual Leave
during Training
(CT:POH-169; 07-29-2015)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
Approximately two (2) weeks in late December are available
for annual leave during the training year. Consideration of additional
requests for annual leave will be dependent on Functional Specialization
Program (FSP) participants specific training schedules.
3 FAH-1 H-2795.5 Training
Evaluation
(CT:POH-169; 07-29-2015)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
The Functional Specialization Program (FSP) Coordinator
prepares a Form DS-1106, Training Evaluation Report, (comprehensive) on each
FSP participant at the conclusion of the training period. This report is
placed in the FSP participants Official Personnel Folder (OPF).
3 FAH-1 H-2795.6 Unsatisfactory
Performance
(CT:POH-169; 07-29-2015)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
Functional Specialization Program (FSP) participants may
be removed from the program at any time prior to the skill code change if
issues of performance, poor judgment, or improper behavior arise, which, in the
judgment of the Director General (DG), can reasonably be expected to interfere
with or prevent effective performance in the new specialty.
3 FAH-1 H-2796 ONWARD ASSIGNMENTS
(CT:POH-169; 07-29-2015)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
a. The Bureau of Human Resources, Office of Career
Development and Assignments, Entry Level Division directs Functional
Specialization Program (FSP) participants to their first assignment abroad.
This assignment is for two years; an extension is not allowed.
b. FSP participants are notified of their initial
assignment abroad prior to reporting to Washington, DC, for training.
c. HR/CDA/EL attempts to coordinate same-post
assignments for FSP participants who are part of a tandem couple. Joint
assignments may not be possible in all cases.
3 FAH-1 H-2797 SKILL CODE CHANGE
(CT:POH-169; 07-29-2015)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
a. After one year of satisfactory performance abroad in
the new skill code assignment certified by the employees supervisor at post to
the Functional Specialization Program (FSP) Coordinator, the employee receives
a permanent primary skill code change. Tenure in the new skill code is not
required.
b. The FSP Coordinator initiates required
administrative action to facilitate a skill-code change.
c. Following skill-code change, FSP participants are
subject to selection out for relative performance and time-in-class (TIC)
provisions of the Foreign Service Act of 1980, as amended in their new
specialty (see 3
FAM 6213).
d. If a skill-code change is not granted after one year
in accordance with paragraph a of this section, the Director of the Entry-Level
Division in the Office of Career Development and Assignments (HR/CDA/EL)
reviews the FSP participants file, conducts a counseling session with the FSP
participant, and determines whether an additional year of participation in the
program may be granted. If an additional year in the program is granted, the
FSP participant is evaluated at the end of the additional year using the same
procedure as noted in paragraph a of this section.
e. FSP participants who are not granted a skill-code
change retain their original skill code and revert back to their functional
position (FP) class in that skill code plus any otherwise applicable
within-class step increases they would have received if they had not been
participating in the FSP. They are reassigned expeditiously to a position in
their original skill code.
3 FAH-1 H-2798 EVALUATION AND
PROMOTION
(CT:POH-207; 07-03-2018)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
a. During their directed assignment abroad, Functional
Specialization Program (FSP) participants are evaluated using the Foreign
Service Employee Evaluation Report on the regular Department schedule (see 3 FAH-1
H-2814.1). FSP participants also receive two interim evaluations during
their first six months at post.
b. FSP participants who enter the program at the class
of FP-06 are promoted administratively to FP-05 following the satisfactory
completion of 12 months in the program. The
program begins the day participants report for duty in HR/CDA/EL for FSP
orientation. Program participants are promoted administratively to FP-04 after
an additional 18 months of satisfactory performance (see 3 FAM 2329.3-2,
subparagraph (3).
c. FSP participants who enter the program at the class
of FP-05 are promoted administratively to FP-04 following the satisfactory
completion of 18 months in the program (see 3 FAM 2329.3-2,
subparagraph (4). The program begins the day participants report for duty in
HR/CDA/EL for FSP orientation.
d. FP-04 and FP-03 FSP participants are not promoted
administratively (see 3 FAM 2329.3-2).
e. FSP participants receive credit in calculating
required time-in-class for periods of service in their current class while
assigned to a position with the primary skill code of the new occupational
category (see 3
FAM 2329.3-2, subparagraph (5).
f. Promotions to FP-03 and beyond are competitive.
Once FSP participants have received a skill code change and have met the
necessary time in class requirements of the Procedural Precepts, they are
eligible for promotion consideration by their new functional specialty board.
g. FSP participants continue to be considered for
competitive promotion in their original skill code between the time they enter
the FSP program and the time their skill code is changed.
h. Successful FSP participants are no longer eligible
for promotion consideration by their former functional specialty selection
board after their skill code is changed.
i. FSP participants whose skill codes are changed
retain all administrative promotions they may have received during the FSP
program.
3 FAH-1 H-2799 Unassigned