[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 40 (Wednesday, March 1, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 11017-11018]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-4918]



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 Rules and Regulations
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  Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 40 / Wednesday, March 1, 1995 / Rules 
and Regulations  

[[Page 11017]]

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

5 CFR Part 362
RIN 3206-AG17

Presidential Management Intern Program

AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management.

ACTION: Interim rule with request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing interim 
regulations governing selection and employment procedures for 
Presidential Management Intern positions as part of the implementation 
of Federal Personnel Manual (FPM) sunset. The regulations incorporate 
certain requirements that existed in the provisionally retained FPM and 
were abolished on December 31, 1994.

DATES: Effective Date: March 1, 1995. Comments on the interim 
regulations must be received on or before May 1, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Send or deliver written comments to Assistant Director, 
Office of Training Operations, HRDG, Suite 800, 1400 Wilson Boulevard, 
Arlington, VA 22209.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ardrey Harris at 703-807-0321.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: These regulations affect selection and 
appointment to Presidential Management Intern positions. One of the 
recommendations of the September 1993 Report of the National 
Performance Review was that the Federal Personnel Manual (FPM) should 
be ``sunset.'' Following consultation with agencies and other 
interested parties, the Director of the OPM issued a memorandum 
abolishing the FPM as of December 31, 1993. Portions of the FPM and FPM 
supplements, however, were provisionally retained until December 31, 
1994. Decisions on what to include in the regulations were based on 
whether the requirement or authority was necessary to assure uniformity 
in Presidential Management Intern Program (PMIP) operations, and/or to 
protect employee rights.
    Under section 553(b)(3)(B) of title 5 of the United States Code, 
the Director finds that good cause exists for waiving the general 
notice of proposed rulemaking. The notice is being waived because the 
regulations continue certain requirements and authorities that are 
currently in the provisionally retained FPM material and that went out 
of existence as of December 31, 1994, because they are not specified in 
existing regulations or law. No new requirements would be imposed on 
agencies under the regulations.
Executive Order 12866, Regulatory Review
    This rule has been reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget 
in accordance with Executive Order 12866.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
    I certify that this regulation will not have a significant economic 
impact on a substantial number of small entities because it affects 
only certain Federal employees.
List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 362
    Administrative practice and procedure, Government employees.

U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
Lorraine A. Green,
Deputy Director.

    Accordingly, OPM is adding part 362 of title 5, Code of Federal 
Regulations as follows:
PART 362--PRESIDENTIAL MANAGEMENT INTERN PROGRAM

Subpart A--Purpose, Definitions

Sec.
362.101  Purpose.
362.102  Definitions.

Subpart B--Program Administration

Sec.
362.201  Appointment.
362.202  Eligibility.
362.203  Extensions and Conversions of Presidential Management 
Internships.
362.204  Termination.
362.205  Resignation.
362.206  Movement of interns between Agencies.
362.207  Career development.
362.208  Agency duties.

    Authority: E.O. 12364

Subpart A--Purpose, Definitions


Sec. 362.101  Purpose.

    The Presidential Management Intern Program (PMIP), established by 
Executive Order 12008 on August 25, 1977, and reconstituted by 
Executive Order 12346 on May 24, 1982, is designed to attract to 
Federal service outstanding men and women from a variety of academic 
disciplines who have a clear interest in, and commitment to, a career 
in the analysis and management of public policies and programs.


Sec. 362.102  Definitions.

    Presidential Management Interns are individuals appointed in the 
excepted service, under Sec. 213.3102(ii) of this chapter, in an 
executive agency or department. Such an individual must be a United 
States citizen who has completed a graduate course of study at a 
qualifying college or university, received the nomination of the dean 
or academic program director, passed on OPM-administered screening 
process, and been selected by an agency for a 2-year Presidential 
Management Internship.
    Qualifying colleges or universities are accredited United States 
academic institutions with a graduate program applicable to the 
management or analysis of public programs and policies.

Subpart B--Program Administration


Sec. 362.201  Appointment.

    (a) The appointment authority for Presidential Management Interns 
is Sec. 213.3102(ii) of this chapter. Appointments under this authority 
cannot exceed 2 years unless extended by the Federal department or 
agency, with the concurrence of the U.S. Office of Personnel 
Management, for up to one additional year.
    (b) Agencies need to assure that all graduate degree requirements 
have been met at the time of appointment. Interns may not be appointed 
prior to the completion of all graduate degree requirements. Exceptions 
may be made on an individual basis, but in no case will an intern be 
allowed to remain in the program if all degree requirements are not 
completed by August 31 of the year in which interns were selected as 
finalists. [[Page 11018]] 
    (c) Finalists in the PMIP may be appointed following official 
announcement of their selection as finalists. Appointments must be made 
no later than December 31 of the year in which the terms were selected 
as finalists. Exceptions may be granted on a case by case basis upon 
request to the PMIP office no later than December 15.
    (d) Initial appointments must be made at the grade GS-9, Step 1 
level of the General Schedule. If an intern has had prior higher level 
Federal Government experience, that individual may be placed at higher 
step within grade GS-9 of the General Schedule. The appointment 
authority, Sec. 213.3102(ii) of this chapter, authorizes Presidential 
Management Intern positions only at grades GS-9 and GS-11 of the 
General Schedule. Therefore, promotions above grade GS-11 can occur 
only on or after the date of conversion of the competitive service.


Sec. 362.202  Eligibility.

    (a) General. Those eligible to be nominated for the Program are 
United States citizens completing or expecting to complete an advanced 
degree focusing on or applicable to the analysis or management of 
public policies and programs from an accredited United States college 
or university during the current academic year.
    (b) Nomination procedure. (1) Students must be nominated by their 
school deans or academic program directors. Individuals who wish to be 
nominated must be rated by their schools as either qualified or not 
qualified for nomination and should be notified of their status by 
their schools. The school is obligated to devise a competitive 
nomination process which ensures that selection is determined on the 
basis of relative ability, knowledge and skills after fair and open 
competition which assures that all receive equal opportunity. All 
honorably discharged veterans with Federal veterans' preference 
entitlement who are in the qualified group must be nominated. Schools 
will need to determine which of the qualified individuals have Federal 
veterans' preference entitlement in order to ensure their nomination. 
These individuals must submit verification of their Federal veterans' 
preference entitlement along with their application to the PMIP Review 
Committee. Veterans who believe they meet their school's qualification 
requirements, but who are not nominated, have the right to appeal their 
non-nomination to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
    (2) Selection of Program finalists is made by the Presidential 
Management Intern Selection Committee based on selection process 
results.


Sec. 362.203  Extensions and Conversions of Presidential Management 
Internships.

    (a) Federal agencies may request OPM approval for an extension of 
an internship for up to a 3rd and final year. The primary reason for 
extending an internship is to provide the intern with additional 
training and developmental activities.
    (b) A written request to extend an internship should be submitted 
to the PMIP, no later than 60 days prior to the end of the initial 2-
year period. This request must be sent to: U.S. Office of Personnel 
Management; Presidential Management Intern Program; 1400 Wilson 
Boulevard; Suite 1200, Arlington, VA 22209.
    (c) Eligibility for conversion. Employees who have completed 
Presidential Management Internships are to be converted non-
competitively to a career or career-conditional appointment for which 
they are qualified if all the following criteria are met:
    (1) The employee has successfully competed a Presidential 
Management Internship at the time of conversion;
    (2) The employee is recommended for conversion at least 90 calendar 
days before the completion of the internship. The agency decides 
whether or not to convert the employee. No recommendation is made to 
OPM. Agencies are asked to inform the PMIP, U.S. Office of Personnel 
Management, when an individual will not be converted.
    (d) Effective date. Conversions will be effective on the date when 
the 2-year service requirement is met unless the internship is extended 
by the Federal department or agency, with the concurrence of the U.S. 
Office of Personnel Management, for up to one additional year.
    (e)(1) Tenure acquired. Upon conversion, the employee becomes a 
career employee if the service requirements in Sec. 315.708 of this 
chapter are met; otherwise, the employee becomes a career-conditional 
employee.
    (2) The time-after-competitive-appointment restriction. This 
restriction, Sec. 330.501 of this chapter, does not apply to 
conversions under Executive Order 12364.
    (f) Probationary period. Employees converted under this section do 
not have to serve a probationary period. Successful completion of the 
Presidential Management Internship is regarded as completion of the 
probationary period.


Sec. 362.204  Termination.

    The appointment of a Presidential Management Intern under 
Sec. 213.3102(ii) of this chapter expires at the end of the 2-year 
internship period. At that time, the employing agency may, with no 
break in service, convert the intern to the competitive service or 
extend the internship with prior approval from OPM. If neither of those 
actions is taken, the Presidential Management Intern appointment 
terminates.


Sec. 362.205  Resignation.

    Interns who resign during their internship do not have 
reinstatement eligibility for competitive service positions and cannot 
be reinstated to the PMIP.


Sec. 362.206  Movement of interns between agencies.

    If an intern wishes to change his or her employing agency during 
the internship, it is necessary to resign from the current agency and 
be rehired by the new employing agency under the PMIP appointment 
authority without a break in service.


Sec. 362.207  Career development.

    (a) The U.S. Office of Personnel Management will provide career 
development and training programs for interns during the 2-year 
internship. The career development component of the PMIP includes an 
initial orientation seminar, conferences, seminars, periodic 
opportunities for special briefings and workshops, and a program at the 
end of the internship.
    (b) Interns must participate fully in the PMIP orientation and 
educational programs, as well as seminars, workshops, and other 
programs throughout the 2-year internship.


Sec. 362.208  Agency duties.

    Agencies must provide--
    (1) An orientation for interns which includes discussion of the 
agency's plans for interns, provides specific information on the 
functions and mission of the agency, and makes explicit the agency's 
expectations of interns;
    (2) Individual development planning to ensure the intern gains 
professional and technical skills to qualify for a target upon 
conversion;
    (3) A series of core assignments targeted to a functional area into 
which the intern is most likely to be converted.

[FR Doc. 95-4918 Filed 2-28-95;8:45am]
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