Operating Manual

Qualification Standards for General Schedule Positions

GENERAL POLICIES AND INSTRUCTIONS

Part E.4.(g) - E.5

(g)Interpreting minimum educational requirements Title 5 U.S.C. 3308 permits the establishment of minimum educational requirements only when OPM has determined that the work cannot be performed by persons who do not possess the prescribed minimum education. This includes instances where it would not be cost-effective for an individual to acquire, through on-the-job training, the KSA's necessary for successful performance of the critical duties within a reasonable period of time. In addition, education is sometimes required by law for a position because of the impact on public health and safety or national security.

The same minimum educational requirements apply to all applicants and employees, including employees detailed to an occupational series with minimum educational requirements.

It is important to recognize that on rare occasions there may be applicants who may not meet exactly the educational requirements for a particular series, but who, in fact, may be demonstrably well qualified to perform the work in that series because of exceptional experience or a combination of education and experience. In such instances, a more comprehensive evaluation must be made of the applicant's entire background, with full consideration given to both education and experience. To be considered qualified, the applicant's work experience must reflect significant full performance-level accomplishment directly applicable to the position to be filled, and be verified by a panel of at least two persons who have professional standing in the field. Such verification is necessary to insure that the applicant's background is compared to the appropriate duties and responsibilities required at the full performance level in the occupation. It is important that the comparison be based on a correctly classified position description or on OPM position classification standards or grade level criteria.

The following are examples of such situations:

• An applicant with a Ph.D. in mathematics applies for a GS-1701, Educational Research Specialist position at the GS-13 grade level. Since the qualification standard for GS-1701 requires courses in education or in a field appropriate to the work of the position, it might appear that this person is not qualified for the GS-1701 position because the applicant's Ph.D. is in mathematics. However, a review of the applicant's 20 years of experience shows that previous positions held include the post of dean of academic affairs at a large university, as well as several years' experience in educational research comparable to the work of the position being filled. In this example, the applicant should be rated qualified, since it is obvious that the lack of the specific educational requirement is more than offset by the long history of successful, high-level, directly applicable experience.

• An applicant concluded his formal education at the end of the first semester of his senior year to pursue a research opportunity in his major field with a private company. The research led to advancement of the state of the art in his field. The applicant became a permanent employee with the company and worked there for 6 years, advancing to a senior position. During this time, the applicant took continuing education courses in his field.

  The basic educational requirement specified in a standard is considered to be met if the applicant has (1) successfully demonstrated the ability to perform work at the full performance level in the appropriate professional field, and (2) demonstrated a good knowledge of the specialty field of the position to be filled and the related and underlying discipline comparable to at least a bachelor's degree.

• The qualification standard for the Microbiology Series, GS-403, requires 20 semester hours of microbiology plus 20 semester hours in the physical and mathematical sciences. An applicant has 23 semester hours in microbiology and 17 semester hours in the physical and mathematical sciences.

  Since the applicant meets the 20-semester-hour requirement in microbiology, the primary requirement, the 3 hours in excess of 20 can be used to meet the 20-semester-hour requirement in the physical and mathematical sciences.

Applicants may be considered to have satisfied the minimum qualification requirements for a position if they can present evidence that clearly justifies a high evaluation of their competence, such as one of the following:

1. Registration as a professional engineer or architect; or

2. A substantial record of experience, achievement, and publications that demonstrates eminence in the appropriate professional/scientific field.

5. Crediting Combinations of Education and Experience

Education and experience can be combined to meet the minimum qualification requirements, as allowed in the applicable standard. To combine education and experience, determine the applicant's total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level. Then determine the applicant's education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level. Finally, add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify an applicant for that grade level. The group coverage standards in Section IV-A contain examples of how to combine education and experience. Note that only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level can be combined with the appropriate level of experience to qualify applicants for positions at grades GS-9 and GS-11. For example, if a school's requirement for 1 year of graduate study is 18 semester hours, only graduate education beyond the first 18 semester hours or 27 quarter hours can be combined with GS-7 level experience to qualify for a GS-9 level position. Thus, 9 semester hours of graduate education and 6 months of GS-7 level experience cannot be combined to qualify for a GS-9 position.

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