I am writing to provide you with an updated schedule for the 2008 Plum Book activities. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has the primary responsibility for gathering and delivering data on over 7,000 Federal civil service leadership and support positions in the legislative and executive branches of the Federal Government that may be subject to noncompetitive appointment. This publication is commonly known as the “Plum Book.” I know your staff has been working diligently on updates and corrections to your Agency’s information in the Executive Service and Schedule C (ESCS) System. Before July 22, 2008, OPM will be performing a transfer of agency data, using June 30, 2008, as the cutoff, to the Plum Book modules of the ESCS System. Agencies will then be granted access to the Plum Book modules in order to review and approve their information for inclusion in the Plum Book. You should confirm your agency’s Executive Resources staff has provided the necessary information to OPM to be granted access to the Plum Book modules.
In the next several days, you will receive passwords and instructions for accessing your agency’s Plum Book data. Beginning July 22, 2008, through August 29, 2008, agencies will have the opportunity to review their data for accuracy, and ensure it is in appropriate Plum Book format. It is important you ensure your ESCS and Plum Book staff access and familiarize themselves with the data screens and system capabilities of the Plum Book modules. A copy of the 2004 Plum Book Users Guide is attached for your use.
Within the next ten days, we will announce training opportunities to assist agencies in providing the most current and accurate information available. We will be offering training for the Plum Book at two levels of expertise for agency users. The first level will be an open forum and overview briefing held in the OPM Auditorium. OPM’s IT and Executive Resources staff will be available for questions and discussion, and there will also be opportunity for audience participation in demonstrating the system during some of the examples presented. The target audience for this training is current or past users of the ESCS System who are in need of updating their skill.
The second level of training will be a one-on-one hands training class delivered in OPM’s training center. We anticipate delivering this training at least twice, and will consider more, if needed. PLEASE NOTE SEATING FOR THIS TRAINING IS EXTREMELY LIMITED. The target audience for this training is non-users or beginners with minimal knowledge of the ESCS System.
All three of these training sessions will be scheduled for 3 hours in order to allow for participant needs, but may end earlier.
If you have any questions, contact Mary A. Lamary, Acting Manager, Executive Resources Services Group at (202) 606-1255 or by email at mary.lamary@opm.gov.
Note: The Draft User Manual for the Plum Book System is availble upon request from OPM's Executive Resources Services Group.