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Career Development

Career Development Guidelines

In general, OPP supports career development courses for employees under the following conditions:

  • the employee is currently meeting acceptable standards of performance in his/her current job,
  • the career development opportunity is in an OPP career area,
  • the career development interest is identified on the employee’s TNAP, and
  • there are sufficient financial and staffing resources available to support the career development.

In the OPP Training Plan, career development is defined as training that is not part of current job
responsibilities but meets potential organizational needs. It meets the employee’s career aspirations
and provides long-term improvement to the University (OPP).

Organizational Support for Career Development

In general, paying for career development and providing time for career development opportunities
are a shared responsibility between OPP and the employee. For example, the costs of the career
development course may be split between OPP and the employee and the course is taken on the
employee’s own time. There are many other options for how the “costs” can be shared between the
employee and the organization. The decision about who pays for what and the time the course is
taken is to be addressed on a case-by-case basis by the supervisor and manager of the employee
requesting the course.

University/Union Contract Language

The exception to the above guidance is for correspondence courses and vo-tech courses for technical
service employees. Those two specific types of courses for technical service employees are guided
by language in Article XVIII, Additional Agreement 26 of the University/Union contract. The
language says that OPP will pay for 100% of correspondence courses and 50% of tuition for a
vocational-technical classroom courses up to an annual maximum. The current maximum is $350
per employee per fiscal year. Career development courses taken under this language must be on the
employee’s TNAP, approved in advance, and successfully completed. Employees who do not
successfully complete these courses must reimburse OPP for payment made for the course.
For the purposes of this agreement, correspondence courses are considered to be courses taken
outside a classroom setting with textbooks designed to instruct on a particular topic and have
assessment of learning built into the course (practices guides and exams). Correspondence courses
from Education Direct and study guides for the pesticide exams fall into the category of
correspondences courses.

Requesting Career Development

Career development courses are documented on an employee’s TNAP. Requests for specific career
development training are made on the Training/Travel Request Form. Whatever arrangements have
been made to share costs for the training should be noted on the form or attached to the form.
The exception to this is for career development correspondence or vo-tech courses requested under
the University/Union contract by technical service employees. Requests for training under the
University/Union contract language are made by using the Career Development Training Request
form that can be found in Vol. 1/Everyone/OHRforms.

Licensing Exam Fees

Payments for licensing exams and fees are addressed under a separate guideline.

Vol 1/smr/HR processes and policies/career development guidelines
Issued 3/21/05

Career Development for OPP Technical Service Employees

Two specific types of career development courses for technical service employees are
guided by language in Article XVIII, Additional Agreement 26 of the
University/Union contract. The language says that OPP will pay for 100% of
correspondence courses and 50% of tuition for a vocational-technical classroom
courses up to an annual maximum. The current annual maximum is $350 per
employee per fiscal year. Career development courses taken under this language
must be on the employee’s TNAP, approved in advance, and successfully completed.
Employees who do not successfully complete these courses must reimburse OPP for
payment made for the course.

For the purposes of this agreement, correspondence courses are considered to be
courses taken outside a classroom setting with textbooks designed to instruct on a
particular topic and have assessment of learning built into the course (practices guides
and exams). Correspondence courses from Education Direct and study guides for the
pesticide exams fall into the category of correspondences courses.

vol1/smr/training issues/ts career development guideline