a. Coverage. Heads of bureaus and equivalent organizations will determine which positions are appropriate for the Federal Career Intern Program based on their recruitment needs in specific occupational series, grades, and geographical areas. Covered positions must be those for which at least two years of formal training is appropriate. Initial appointments shall be made at GS-5, 7, or 9 (and equivalent) levels. Positions may be filled at other trainee levels appropriate to the Program only with prior OPM approval. Bureau requests to cover additional grades to meet unique or specialized needs must be submitted through PPM to OPM.

b. Appointment Procedures. Participants in this program will be recruited and selected in accordance with the regulations established in Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 302, Employment in the Excepted Service and Appendix A to this Plan. Heads of bureaus and equivalent organizations are responsible for ensuring that selections are made in accordance with merit principles.

c. Examining Applicants. If using the Federal Career Intern Program to fill positions covered under the Luevano consent decree, the appropriate Administrative Careers with America (ACWA) examination or rating schedule must be used. Note, the Outstanding Scholar Authority, normally a companion appointing authority to the Luevano consent decree assessment process, may not be used when filling Career Intern Program positions. The Outstanding Scholar Authority can only be used to supplement competitive examining for Luevano covered positions.

d. Training and Development. In all cases, employees appointed to the Federal Career Intern Program must have a formal training and development plan established in writing that covers the entire developmental period. Supervisors are responsible for ensuring a training plan is developed. This plan will outline the type and duration of the participant's training and assignments. Guidance for developing training plans is at Appendix B.

e. Promotions. Participants may be promoted to the next higher level provided they meet all qualification and eligibility requirements necessary for promotion, have successfully completed applicable training requirements and are recommended for promotion by their supervisor. Time-in-grade restrictions, extended to excepted service positions by 370 DM 300, Subchapter 6, do not apply to Federal Career Intern Program positions.

f. Extensions. Heads of bureaus or equivalent organizations may approve requests for extending 2-year internships for up to an additional 120 days to cover rare or unusual circumstances. Extensions may be granted when, due to unforeseen developments, a permanent position is not immediately available, or when the intern is not fully prepared for conversion to a permanent appointment, and there is an expectation that these circumstances will abate within 120 days. The approval, with specific reasons for the extension, must be documented in writing and retained with the placement and formal training file. Extensions beyond 120 days must be approved by OPM.

g. Conversions. Except as provided below, service as an intern shall confer no rights to further federal employment in either the competitive or excepted service upon expiration of the internship period.

(1) Competitive civil service status may be granted to career interns who successfully complete their internships and meet all qualification, suitability, and performance requirements. These noncompetitive conversions will be effective on the date the 2-year service requirement is met, or at the end of the extended period, as applicable.

(2) For the purpose of placing participants who fail to complete the Federal Career Intern Program, for reasons unrelated to misconduct or suitability, bureaus and equivalent organizations will be considered separate agencies. Accordingly, Department of the Interior employees, who move from one bureau or equivalent organization to another to accept a position in the Federal Career Intern Program, will not have placement entitlements to another position in the employing bureau if they fail to successfully complete the Program. Likewise, an intern selected from another federal agency will not have a placement entitlement.

(3) An employee who held a career or career-conditional appointment in a DOI bureau or equivalent organization immediately before entering the Federal Career Intern Program in that same bureau or equivalent organization, and who fails to complete the Federal Career Intern Program, for reasons unrelated to misconduct or suitability, will be placed in a career or career-conditional position in his/her current bureau or equivalent organization at no lower grade or pay than the one he/she left to accept the position in the Federal Career Intern Program.

(4) Bureaus and equivalent organizations may exercise their delegated authority and provide placement for an employee, eligible for reinstatement in the competitive service, who successfully completes the program but cannot be placed for reasons unrelated to misconduct or suitability, and does not have a placement entitlement under paragraph g(3), above. Further, the employing bureau or equivalent organization may request the Office of Personnel Policy's assistance in locating a position, Department-wide, to place an intern in such a situation. In such cases, the Office of Personnel Policy must be notified as early as possible that placement assistance is needed. An intern who is not converted must be terminated as described in paragraph h, below, unless a longer extension is granted by the Office of Personnel Management.

(5) Individuals selected for a Federal Career Intern Program position must sign a statement acknowledging they understand the specific action to be taken if they fail to successfully complete the program for reasons unrelated to misconduct or suitability. A sample statement is at Appendix C.

h. Terminations. Unless converted to a competitive service appointment, an intern must be terminated from federal service or returned to a position at the same grade and pay as previously held in the bureau or equivalent organization, as appropriate, not later than 2 years from the date he/she was appointed to the intern position, or at the end of an extended period, as applicable. Supervisors will notify their servicing Human Resources Management Office as soon as it is anticipated an intern may be terminated.