3 FAM 2250
FOREIGN SERVICE SPECIALIST CAREER CANDIDATE PROGRAM
(CT:PER-988; 05-13-2020)
(Office of Origin: GTM/PE)
3 FAM 2251 GENERAL PROVISIONS
3 FAM 2251.1 Authority
(CT:PER-858; 07-06-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
The authority for this policy is found in sections 301, 303, 306, 309, 404, 502, 601, 602, 603, 605, 610, 612, 2102, and 2106 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980.
3 FAM 2251.2 Purpose
(CT:PER-858; 07-06-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
The Foreign Service Specialist Candidate Program is a comprehensive program of appropriate training, assignment, evaluation, counseling, and review to permit candidates for career status as Foreign Service specialists to demonstrate through on-the-job experience and in the shortest time practicable, that they have the requisite skills, abilities, fitness, and aptitude to perform in their occupational category over a normal Foreign Service career span.
3 FAM 2251.3 Applicability
(CT:PER-858; 07-06-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
These policies apply to all individuals who have been appointed as Foreign Service specialist career candidates under the authority of 3 FAM 2218. Such appointments shall be limited to four years, but may be extended for up to one additional year if such extension is in the public interest.
3 FAM 2252 PROCEDURES AND GUIDELINES
(TL:PER-393; 01-31-2001)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
Procedures and guidelines which implement these regulations are published in 3 FAH-1 H-2250.
3 FAM 2253 PREPARATION OF SPECIALIST CANDIDATE EVALUATION REPORTS
3 FAM 2253.1 Rating and Reviewing Officers
(CT:PER-988; 05-13-2020)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
a. Normally the specialist candidate's immediate supervisor will prepare the rating officer portion of the Employee Evaluation Report Form (EER). Specialist candidates who serve in regional positions abroad are evaluated by individuals in the field or in the Department who supervise and/or are most knowledgeable of the mission, assignments, and actual work performance of these employees (see 3 FAM 2810 and 3 FAH-1 H-2810 for guidance of regional personnel).
b. In the event that an untenured specialist is supervised by another untenured specialist or generalist, the Principal Officer or DCM (or in Washington the appropriate Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) or officer of equivalent rank) will at the beginning of the rating period name a tenured specialist or generalist in the line of authority as the rating officer.
c. If, in unusual circumstances, the specialist candidate is simultaneously supervised by more than one individual, the management officer (or in Washington, the bureau executive officer) will designate one of them as the rating officer and may authorize any other supervisors to contribute comments for inclusion by the rating officer as appropriate in the report. Additionally, the management officer or bureau executive officer will assure that the reviewing officer designated for each specialist candidate is directly in the chain of command and has full knowledge of the job requirements of the candidate's position, and takes a personal interest in the development and performance of the specialist candidate. Any exception in the designation of rating or reviewing officers may be made only in exceptional circumstances and with the concurrence of GTM/PE.
3 FAM 2253.2 Rating Periods
(CT:PER-988; 05-13-2020)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
Normal Foreign Service rating periods and requirements apply to all specialist candidates (see 3 FAM 2810 and 3 FAH-1 H-2810). If GTM/PE determines that the personnel file of a specialist candidate pending review by the Specialist Commissioning and Tenuring Board does not contain sufficient documentation, GTM/PE may request an interim performance appraisal for any period in excess of 120 days.
3 FAM 2254 CAREER STATUS TENURING BOARD REVIEW
3 FAM 2254.1 Policy
(CT:PER-988; 05-13-2020)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
a. The decision to offer a specialist candidate a career appointment will be based on the recommendation made by a Specialist Commissioning and Tenuring Board. The sole criterion for a positive tenuring decision will be the specialist candidate’s demonstrated ability to perform satisfactorily in the occupational category in which the candidate is serving and the potential, assuming normal growth and career development, to serve effectively in the Foreign Service at higher levels with greater responsibilities in the specialist’s occupational category. This criterion is expanded on in Precepts provided by GTM/PE for the Board's guidance.
b. No numerical limit is placed on the number of positive tenuring decisions since specialist candidates are recruited in response to defined Service needs. Candidates' records are reviewed on their merits, not in comparison or competition with one another.
c. Specialist candidates not granted tenure will be separated from the Service at the expiration of their limited appointment or at an earlier date if recommended by the Tenuring Board.
3 FAM 2254.2 Eligibility for Tenuring Board Review
(TL:PER-858; 07-06-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
To be eligible for Tenuring Board review for career status, a specialist candidate must:
(1) Have a minimum of two years' experience in the Service from the date of appointment as a specialist candidate, except for specialist candidates in the medical occupation categories (physicians, medical technologists, nurse practitioners, and psychiatrists), who must have three years' experience in the Service. (This requirement is waived for specialists who have changed skill codes and were previously tenured as specialists); and
(2) If appointed below the FS-4 level, have been previously promoted to the candidate's highest possible level under the administrative promotion procedures outlined in 3 FAM 2320 and 3 FAH-1 H-2320.
3 FAM 2254.3 Number of Tenuring Board Reviews
(CT:PER-858; 07-06-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
a. A specialist candidate will normally be reviewed twice by the Tenuring Board according to the schedule set forth in 3 FAH-1 H-2255.3, to determine whether or not the candidate should be given career status in the Foreign Service. Under circumstances described in 3 FAH-1 H-2255.3(b), a candidate may be offered a third Tenuring Board review.
b. In unusual circumstances, such as unavoidable absence of an evaluation report, recent assumption of new duties, or other conditions which would make Board review at the scheduled time inequitable, the candidate may request, or the Department may recommend, that review be deferred until a succeeding session of the Board, rather than proceed with review on schedule with the possibility of denial of tenure and lengthy delay before the next scheduled review. Such deferral may take place only with the concurrence of the Department and the candidate. Any subsequent Board reviews will date from the time of actual Board review (rather than the earlier scheduled time), but in no case will deferral itself lead to the extension of a candidate's limited appointment.
c. Successful specialist candidates recommended for tenure by the Tenuring Board will be given career appointments under section 303 of the Act, to take effect within one month of the Tenuring Board decision, unless a candidate is temporarily or permanently removed from the tenuring list in accordance with 3 FAH-1 H-2256. Career appointments in the Foreign Service will make specialists subject to the time-in-service/time-in-class (TIS/TIC) mandatory retirement provisions. Security Technician and Medical Technology skill groups are not subject to TIS/TIC.
d. Unsuccessful conversion candidates who were tenured members of the Foreign Service immediately prior to the current career candidate specialist appointment will have the right to revert to their former career category at the grade they held (plus any within-grade increases that would have accrued) at the time of their new specialist appointment.
3 FAM 2255 ACTION BY THE DIRECTOR GENERAL
(CT:PER-858; 07-06-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
a. Upon receipt of the Tenuring Board's recommendations, the Director General will initiate necessary administrative action to grant tenure to employees so recommended and to notify and provide for separation of specialist candidates not recommended for tenure after the last review.
b. The Director General may order the temporary exclusion of the name of any specialist candidate from a tenure list if, in the Director General's opinion, such tenuring would be inconsistent with the national interest or the efficiency of the Service. Such reasons must be based upon either:
(1) Issues of loyalty, security, misconduct, suitability, or malfeasance; or
(2) Indications that documentation available to the Tenuring Board regarding an employee’s performance may have been significantly inaccurate or incomplete.
c. The procedures governing temporary removals from a specialist tenure list are found at 3 FAH-1 H-2256.
3 FAM 2256 SEPARATION OF SPECIALIST CANDIDATES FOR UNSATISFACTORY PERFORMANCE
(CT:PER-858; 07-06-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Only)
The purpose of the Specialist Candidate Program is to permit an on-the-job evaluation of the candidate's fitness and aptitude for effective service across a normal career span. That judgment will normally be made by the Tenuring Board as described in section 3 FAM 2254. However, in exceptional cases a specialist candidate may, prior to Board review, prove unable to perform assigned duties satisfactorily, including the satisfactory completion of the basic training course for the specialty being pursued, or may fail to meet the standards of the specialty as assessed through basic training. In such circumstances, it serves neither the interest of the Service nor the individual to retain the specialist candidate for the full trial period originally intended. In such instances, the Director General will terminate the specialist career candidate limited appointment without delay, as authorized by section 612 of the Foreign Service Act.
3 FAM 2257 THROUGH 2259 UNASSIGNED