Financial management career program

One of the primary responsibilities of the Financial Management Career Program is to issue hiring certificates to fill jobs. I am pleased that over calendar year 2003 the timeliness of issuing certificates has steadily improved. In fact, as of this writing the average time to issue a certificate has dropped to approximately 34 days (time from receipt of the Request for Personnel Action (RPA) at AFPC to issuance of the certificate). Of course there are more steps involved in the process than just those accomplished by the career program. There is the up-front time--that time devoted to preparation of the RPA, classification, staffing and sending to the Personnel Center for action, and the time at the back-end--the time for the selecting official to make a selection, offer the job and actually bring the individual on board. Each of these steps also takes time. Metrics have now been developed for each part of the process and they are available on the AFPC web site. I encourage you to take a look at them. They can be found at: http://www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/dpc/time/timeliness.htm.

Recent Process Changes

A number of changes in the process of qualifying and ranking individuals for referral and preparation and issuance of hiring certificates were made in November 2003.

First, vacancy announcements are now posted to the web any day of the week for non-bargaining career program positions. The previous process was to post vacancy announcements every Friday. This change will potentially save two to five days in the process. Vacancy announcements will continue to be open for 14 calendar days to allow time the maximum time for interested individuals to apply. However, selecting officials may request an announcement be made for a shorter period (must be a minimum of seven calendar days) when circumstances warrant special handling. The request is made through the Civilian Personnel Office processing the RPA.

The second change is that declination penalties will no longer be assessed when an individual declines consideration or selection for a job. All declination penalties on the record have been waived effective 3 November 2003. This will eliminate a step in the qualification process allowing more individuals to compete.

Finally, the process for qualifying individuals for positions having positive education requirements, i.e. job series 510, 511 and 1515, will soon be changed to include a review of the qualifications before final selection for the position can be made. This will mean that an individual applying for a position in one of the above series will have to show they meet the educational requirements before they can be considered qualified for the position. Anyone applying for a position in those job series should ensure their college transcripts have been submitted to their civilian personnel office for coding into the system and be prepared to make the supporting documentation (transcripts, etc) available upon request.

More Change Is On The Horizon

As a new calendar year begins, there are changes looming on the horizon. Force development for civilians is under discussion as is the National Security Personnel System, or NSPS. Force development will address the way the civilian workforce is developed and trained. Technical, operating and enduring competencies are new terms that you will be hearing frequently. Deliberate planning of your career and deliberate thought about developmental opportunities, be they career broadening assignments, schools, university education or technical training, are areas to start thinking about now so you will have some ideas and an understanding of the terminology when the guidelines come your way.

NSPS promises to drastically change the way we traditionally think about civil service. The concept was approved in the Authorization Bill for FY04 and the implementing guidance is being written. Instead of GS grades, this new system is the means to implement pay bands and a pay for performance approach to business. Watch for information--it will affect all of us.

PALACE Acquire Intern Program

PALACE Acquire (PAQ) is the primary means of bringing in college graduates and training them to be Financial Managers. This three-year training process has been very successful for the FM field. This fiscal year, 43 new interns will be hired and placed in a training status in various commands and locations around the country. During their training, the interns will have opportunities not only to learn their technical trade, they will also be afforded the opportunity to attend the Air and Space Basic Course and Basic Financial Management Officers' Course to help them in understanding how the Air Force is structured and how it operates. The intern program continues to be a great opportunity to bring new talent to the FM workforce.

Long Term-Full Time Training and Career Broadening Beta Test

The Education, Training and Development Panel, an executive panel of the FM Career Program Policy Council, initiated a test program allowing individuals to complete their education by attending college on a full time basis and then expand on their skills by moving into a career broadening assignment. Two candidates were selected to participate in the test and they will begin their final year of college in early 2004. Please see the complete article on this subject, included in this issue, for all the details. It is a great opportunity for two top FM performers.

October 2003 Policy Council Meeting

The Financial Management Career Program Policy Council met 20-23 October 2003 in San Antonio TX. At this session, the five Executive Panels updated the Council regarding their activities. Additionally, the Director of the Workforce Management Directorate provided an overview of the SAF/FM vision and the plans for development of the FM workforce to meet that vision. The draft competency model was discussed and that information has been made available to all MAJCOM comptrollers. More information will be forthcoming as the details of this effort are finalized.

Additionally, the Council received an overview of personnel initiatives from the Office of the Director of Personnel Plans, AF/DPP, and some initial thoughts on the National Security Personnel System (NSPS) which was anticipated to be, and in fact was, approved as a part of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2004.

The Career Program continues to make information available on our web site, www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/cp/fmcp, as well as via the list server (sign up at http://www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/lists.htm). Be sure to make use of these sources of information to stay informed. Additionally, we will soon begin publishing a newsletter that will be sent to the MAJCOM Comptrollers for further dissemination to the installations--another means of keeping our public informed! Watch for the first one.

COPYRIGHT 2004 U.S. Air Force, Financial Management and Comptroller
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group