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By: FEDweek StaffOPM has issued interim rules to carry out a new “Post-Secondary Students hiring authority” for agencies to hire such students into time-limited positions in the competitive service at GS-11 and below with the option of later converting them into permanent positions non-competitively.
Rules issued Wednesday (August 18) carry out authority—separate from the similar preexisting Pathways Program—in the 2019 DoD authorization law that also created a special authority for hiring college graduates; OPM said it will issue separate rules to carry out that authority.
They allow agencies to make temporary appointments for up to one year or term appointments for between one and four years “to coincide with the individual’s academic curriculum and calendar,” which can be extended within limits. Agencies may select any eligible individual who meets the minimum qualification standards without regard to the application of veterans’ preference, although they must follow merit system principles, OPM said.
When using the authority agencies must provide public notice, the rules say, but are not required to post on usajobs.gov. However, agencies still may wish to use that site in order to collect demographic information and should ensure that they advertise in a manner that provides for “diverse and qualified applicants.”
“An agency may convert a post-secondary student to a permanent appointment in the competitive service, within that same agency, without further competition if the student has completed the course of study leading to a baccalaureate or graduate degree and meets the qualification standards for the position to which converted,” the rules say.
The rules also cover numerous other details, including promotions, limits on numbers of such appointments, reporting requirements, and more.
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