13 FAH-1 H-120

ATTENDANCE AND CREDITING POLICIES

(CT:FSIH-10; 06-18-2013)
(Office of Origin: FSI)

13 FAH-1 H-121 nO-sHOW AND iNCOMPLETE TRAINING

13 FAH-1 H-121.1 Policy

(CT:FSIH-01; 12-20-2007)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service and Civil Service Employees)

a. In order for the Department to avoid waste and ensure sound return on its investment in training resources, the Under Secretary for Management has implemented a policy through which bureaus/posts whose employees fail to attend or complete (Foreign Service Institute) FSI classes are charged penalties. The goal is not to augment FSI funds at the expense of other bureaus/posts, but to maximize training resources.

b. A no-show penalty equal to the course tuition cost will be charged to State bureaus/posts when an employee assigned to them fails to attend an FSI course in which he or she is enrolled, or when the employee fails to cancel his or her enrollment at least five (5) working days before the class start date via written e-mail, online form DS-755, or hard copy document faxed to the FSI Office of the Registrar (FSI/EX/REG). A qualified substitute may replace the original enrollee to avoid the penalty when there is insufficient time to cancel; however, it is the responsibility of the enrollee canceling and/or his or her bureau/post to identify a replacement and have the replacement submit appropriate enrollment application. Certain emergencies (e.g., death in the family, accidents) can be excused, but the employee, his or her supervisor, or his or her training officer should send a written e-mail explanation as soon as they become aware of the situation preventing training attendance (see 13 FAH-1 H-121.2-2).

c. An incomplete penalty equal to one-half the course tuition cost will be charged to State bureaus/posts when an employee assigned to them fails to attend at least 80% of a course.

13 FAH-1 H-121.2 Procedure

13 FAH-1 H-121.2-1 Quarterly Report

(CT:FSIH-10; 06-18-2013)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service and Civil Service Employees)

a. FSI prepares, on a quarterly basis, a report of no-shows and incompletes by bureau/post.

b. An incomplete determination is made based on class sign-in sheets. It is ultimately the responsibility of each participant to follow class procedures and sign in. (Usually, participants are required to sign an attendance roster for both morning and afternoon sessions.)

c. This report is sent to bureaus/posts (normally to the executive director of a bureau) for review. Bureaus/posts are given an allotted period of time to question any no-show or incomplete incidents reported to them and, if the facts warrant, request a waiver of the penalty (see 13 FAH-1 H-121.2-2 below).

d. After the allotted review time has passed, FSI submits a final report to the Bureau of Budget and Planning (BP). BP takes action to transfer penalty funds from the responsible bureau to FSI.

13 FAH-1 H-121.2-2 Waiver of Penalties

(CT:FSIH-10; 06-18-2013)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service and Civil Service Employees)

a. FSI understands that unforeseen and last-minute exigencies of business and personal emergencies can impact training plans. If a bureau feels that a situation was sufficiently unforeseen and unavoidable, it may provide information to the FSI Registrar explaining the circumstances surrounding the incident and request a waiver of a no-show or incomplete penalty.

b. No-show and incomplete penalties are assessed against bureaus/posts, not employees. Waiver requests must come from the bureau/post office the report was sent to, not from the individual employee. Normally, the bureau training officer submits waiver requests for his or her bureau. Requests can be submitted via e-mail to the FSI Registrar.

c. FSI will review each waiver request submitted in a timely manner and relay its decision to the submitting bureaus training officer. The FSI registrar serves as the primary decision official.

d. If a waiver is granted, the applicable quarterly report will be amended prior to submission to BP.

e. While the specific facts and circumstances of any case are what will be considered in determining a waiver request, the following are examples of reasons for which a waiver would not be granted:

(1) Poor work planning (e.g., there was too much work at the office to let the employee go to training);

(2) Forgotten training dates (while FSI strives to keep enrollees informed of the status of their training applications and enrollments, it is ultimately the responsibility of the enrollee to ensure and keep track of training in which he or she is enrolled);

(3) An employee registered for FSI training but subsequently left a bureau or the Department prior to the training and without canceling enrollment. (It is the responsibility of bureaus training officers to ensure that an employee departing his or her bureau follows appropriate administrative check-out processes, including reviewing the employees record for any pending training. In the case of an employee who changes bureaus and is a no-show, the bureau to which the employee was assigned when he or she enrolledi.e., who approved the training requestis the liable bureau.); and

(4) Neglecting to sign in on a class attendance sheet.

13 FAH-1 H-122 Attendance and course credit

13 FAH-1 H-122.1 Policy

(CT:FSIH-01; 12-20-2007)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service and Civil Service Employees)

a. FSI courses are designed to impart a certain level of knowledge or skill to course participants. In line with this goal, and the effective utilization of resources in keeping with sound management controls, it is FSIs expectation that students should be in attendance at its training courses 100% of class time.

b. For tradecraft and orientation courses, credit for completing a course will only be given when a student has been in attendance 100% of class time. For this purpose, tradecraft and orientation courses are defined as those courses offered by FSIs School of Applied Information Technology and the School of Professional and Area Studies.

c. For all other non-tradecraft and orientation courses offered by FSI, while the expectation of 100% attendance remains, credit for completing a course should usually be given when a student has been in attendance a minimum of 80% of class time.

d. If an FSI course has, as a requirement for completion of a course, an end-of-training test, course credit will be granted only when such test has been satisfactorily passed, regardless of paragraphs 13 FAH-1 H-122.1 (b) or (c) above.

13 FAH-1 H-122.2 Procedure

13 FAH-1 H-122.2-1 Determination of Course Completion

(CT:FSIH-01; 12-20-2007)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service and Civil Service Employees)

a. Each FSI training office prepares, after the end of a course session, a course completion roster that records participants attendance percentage and whether or not course completion credit is granted.

b. Attendance is based on class sign-in sheets. It is ultimately the responsibility of each participant to follow class procedures and sign in. (Usually, participants are required to sign an attendance roster for both morning and afternoon sessions.)

c. Only courses deemed completed are recorded in employees official training records.

13 FAH-1 H-122.2-2 Exceptions

(CT:FSIH-01; 12-20-2007)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service and Civil Service Employees)

Exceptions to the 100% attendance policy for tradecraft and orientation courses can be granted only on a case-by-case basis by the Deans of FSIs School of Applied Information Technology and School of Professional and Area Studies for courses in their respective Schools.

13 FAH-1 H-123 THROUGH H-129 UNASSIGNED