Upward Mobility Program Can Be Improved

Following 1973 and 1974 studies that stessed the lack of skills surveys and the academic orientation of the Upward Mobility program, the Department of Agriculture has revised it Upward Mobility program to combine career opportunities, job opportunities, and skills training.

There is still a need to increase the use of employee skills information in support of Upward Mobility objectives. The Department has not issued guidance to its agencies concerning the use of skills surveys and, as a result, the agencies have conducted only limited surveys. While the College Study program has provided acadamic training to low-level Department employees, controls over the program are not effective. The Department has established selection and evaluation procedures for Upward Mobility participants, but these procedures have not been implemented in accordance with specific training requirements. A recent study recommending increased use of specific technician training has been generally ignored, even though several agencies have fallen short of their Upward Mobility position goals. Upward Mobility cost information submissions are generally unreliable.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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