[Federal Register: November 26, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 228)]
[Notices]               
[Page 70776]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr26no02-88]                         

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OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

 
Department of Agriculture; Alternative Personnel System; 
Demonstration Project

AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

ACTION: Notice of amendment of the Department of Agriculture 
demonstration project plan.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Agriculture, with the approval of OPM, is 
requesting to modify its demonstration project coverage. This action 
provides for changes in the final project plan published March 9, 1990, 
to include temporary appointments along with its current coverage of 
permanent and term appointments. By amending the project plan to 
include temporary appointments, the need to have two separate examining 
systems will be eliminated, thus avoiding administrative inefficiencies 
and ineffectiveness as well as meeting the President's Management 
Agenda of being more citizen-centered by reducing confusion among 
applicants.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This modification is effective upon publication of this 
notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Agriculture: Mary Ann Jenkins, 
Department of Agriculture, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW., 
Washington, DC 20250, (202-720-0515); OPM: Rhonda L. Taylor, Office of 
Personnel Management, 1900 E Street, NW., Washington, DC 20415, (202) 
606-1526.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On March 9, 1990, the Office of Personnel Management published a 
notice to demonstrate an alternative personnel management system at the 
Department of Agriculture. The project was originally conceived to test 
an alternative to the traditional recruiting and hiring system in an 
anticipated tight labor market. On March 8, 1996, a Federal Register 
notice was published to modify the list of experimental sites to 
include comparison sites. On September 18, 1996, a Federal Register 
notice was published to expand the demonstration project coverage to 
include term appointments. On October 21, 1998, the Department of 
Agriculture demonstration project was made permanent through Public Law 
105-277. The proposed modification will not be a part of the permanent 
demonstration project authority, since it was not part of the 
demonstration project that Congress continued indefinitely. Rather this 
modification adheres to the regulations under 5 CFR part 470 and will 
have a time limit of 5 years.
    One of the project innovations is to test a candidate assessment 
method which uses categorical groupings instead of numeric scores. The 
demonstration authority replaces the traditional system of examining 
applicants and ranking candidates. Instead, the candidates will be 
assigned to one of two groups--quality or eligible--based on job-
related evaluation criteria. To be placed in the quality group, a 
candidate's background must show: Above average educational 
achievement; or, quality experience which is defined as experience 
clearly above and beyond the qualification standard requirements, and 
which is directly related to the work of the position to be filled; or, 
evidence of having ability to do the work of the position. Candidates 
who do not meet the quality group criteria but who meet basic 
qualification requirements will be assigned to the eligible group. 
Within each group, preference eligibles will be listed ahead of 
nonpreference eligibles. In addition, for positions other than 
scientific and professional at GS-9 and above, preference eligibles 
with a compensable service-connected disability of 10 percent or more 
who meet basic eligibility requirements will be listed at the top of 
the quality group.
    Selection will be made from among candidates in the quality group. 
When there is an inadequate number of candidates in the quality group 
all qualified candidates will be listed as a single group.

Office of Personnel Management.
Kay Coles James,
Director.

Project Plan Modification

    This project plan which appeared in the Federal Register on March 
9, 1990 (55 FR 9062) is hereby modified to include using the candidate 
assessment method for temporary appointments for the Agricultural 
Research Service and Forest Service.

[FR Doc. 02-29929 Filed 11-25-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6325-43-P