Government Operations - Opm Needs to Provide Better Guidance to Agencies for Approving Government-Funded College Courses for Employees: Fpcd-8 (Paperback)

In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed government expenditures for its employees to attend college courses as well as expenditures on organizational dues which are a part of training expenses. Federal agencies pay for a wide range of college courses. Agencies vary in their judgments of the types of training-related costs they will pay, whether college courses can be taken during duty time, and restrictions on the number and types of courses which employees may take. In the four activities which GAO visited, most employees and supervisors interviewed believed that the college courses which the employees took were necessary for performing agency functions; however, GAO did not see how some of the courses taken by employees related to their official duties. Although the Government Employees Training Act requires government-financed college courses to be related to employees' official duties, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) definition of official duties is not specific. Additional guidance is needed, particularly as the act relates to future duties. None of the activities visited had systematic procedures to determine whether the agencies are benefiting from paying for employees to attend courses. At the four activities, employees' leaving their agencies soon after completing courses did not appear to be a problem. Three of the four activities visited had also paid organizational dues during fiscal year (FY) 1980. Although most of the memberships were purchased in the names of the activities, one activity purchased two memberships for individuals. At the four activities, memberships in the Toastmasters clubs were not purchased during FY 1980.