The Office of Personnel Management has issued final regulations allowing certain job-related experience acquired in a structured work-study program or active duty military service to be credited under the Student Career Experience Program.
The change will allow agencies to credit a student’s job-related work-study experience toward the program’s minimum requirement of 640 hours for conversion to a permanent appointment under the program, according to the April 11 Federal Register.
The original proposal issued last year would also allow agencies to waive up to one-half of the required SCEP hours for students who have exceptional job performance and academic excellence while enrolled in the program — or equivalent.
To be creditable, work experience must be in a field or functional area that is related to the student’s target position or career field and must be acquired either under a Student Educational Employment Program appointment, any previous federal appointment, or while the student worked in, but not for, a federal agency, pursuant to a formal work-study agreement between the agency and an accredited academic institution, including some volunteer activity.
The final rule also defined the terms under which military service is creditable in the SCEP program. It said a “member in good standing” means someone who “served as an active duty member of the armed forces of the United States – including the National Guard and Reserves – as defined in 5 U.S.C. 2101, and has been discharged or released from active duty in the armed forces under honorable conditions.”
Further, the rule said active duty service performed while the individual is in school or prior to enrollment is creditable toward the 640-hour requirement provided the military service is in a field or functional area that is related to the student’s target position or career field.