Experts and Consultants:
An ‘Expert or Consultant Appointment’ is a nonpermanent excepted appointment of a person who provides a high level of technical, administrative, or professional advice or expertise for a specific purpose (contact your human resources office for specific parameters for using this authority). An appointment under this authority does not require a competitive selection process and may be on a part-time, intermittent, or full time basis. In effecting these appointments, some issues to consider include:
- Full time appointments are limited to 1 year with a 1-year extension;
- Part-time and intermittent appointments (i.e., those without a set work schedule) may continue indefinitely as long as the individual is not paid for more than 130 days or 1040 hours in a service year;
- Non-citizens may be hired under this authority if approved in advance;
- Appointees may serve with or without compensation;
- Normally, appointees are paid up to the limit for a GS-15, step 10. However, in some cases an expert or consultant may be compensated up to Executive Level IV, due to a provision of the Space Act, which also allows NASA to compensate non-citizen experts and consultants.
Professional/Industry Exchange Appointments
Professional/Industry Exchange appointments are intended to provide cross-fertilization between the Agency and the private sector to foster mutual understanding, exchange ideas, or bring experienced practitioners to the agency. Appointments may be made for up to 4 years to a General Schedule (GS) or Senior Level (SL) position. In using this authority, Centers must be aware of the following issues:
- NASA and/or the non-Federal organization must define how the authority will be used, including criteria for participation and other relevant provisions.
- Customary methods of announcing positions normally would not be used, but Centers must document how they intend to identify program participants.
- Should more than one candidate be identified, mandatory “rating and ranking” procedures must be applied, including application of veterans preference.
- Appointee salary may not be supplemented by the non-Federal organization.
- The non-Federal organization may not share in the cost of the appointee unless the Center is able to structure a Space Act agreement to support the cost arrangement.
- Appointees may work on a full-time or part-time basis.
- The approval process for appointments under this program must include concurrence by the Center’s Office of General Counsel.
- This authority does not allow for the assignment of Federal employees to Industry.
Internship or Fellowship Programs
These programs are intended to provide developmental or professional experiences to individuals who have completed their formal education. The issues described under professional/industry exchange appointments are also applicable to selections made under this program.
The National Security Education Program (NSEP) is an example of a fellowship program developed under this authority. This program was established to increase U.S. citizens’ understanding of different world cultures, to strengthen U.S. economic competitiveness, and to enhance international cooperation and security. NSEP funds hundreds of outstanding U.S. students from diverse academic disciplines to support their study of critical world regions and less-commonly-studied languages. These undergraduate scholars and graduate fellows are selected through a rigorous national merit-based competition, and are required to work in the Federal government as a condition of their program. The NSEP program should be viewed not only as a model for a fellowship program, but also as a non-permanent hiring source. Resumes of NSEP graduates with outstanding credentials are available on line through NASA’s SMART site.
Other Excepted Appointment Options Include:
- NASA Excepted appointments. The Space Act authorizes NASA to hire up to 425 scientific, engineering, and administrative personnel. Appointments under this authority are not subject to competitive procedures and the Classification Act (traditional job-grading). They require the approval of the Center Director or in some cases, the Administrator. “NEX” appointments are authorized for short-term or project-related needs.
- Student Temporary and Career Programs. The Student Temporary Employment Program is solely a temporary employment program, whereas the Student Educational Employment Program is an ongoing Cooperative Education Program that may lead to permanent NASA employment. The “co-op” program is designed to integrate the students’ educational studies with a wide range of clerical, administrative, professional, and technical experiences that support NASA.
- Presidential Management Interns (PMIs). This is a 2-year program for individuals who have earned a graduate degree in public policy or administration. The degree should emphasize general analysis or management of public policies and programs. While a degree may have a concentration in a particular specialty (such as health administration or urban planning), it must also include courses in a generic approach to public policy analysis or general management with a public sector focus. Participants are selected through a Governmentwide competitive process, and participate in a variety of rotational assignments once employed by an agency. PMI’s are hired at the GS-9 level. Upon successful completion of a 2-year program, they may be converted to a permanent appointment.
- Federal Career Interns participate in a 2-year program for a variety of entry-level occupations. Interns receive valuable on-the-job experience as well as formal classroom training. After successful completion of the program, interns may be converted to permanent NASA positions.
- College Faculty may be appointed to positions of a scientific, professional, or analytical nature for which they have special qualifications. Employment under this provision shall not exceed 130 working days a year.
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