News Release

OPM Expands GOLEARN.GOV; Will save $1.19 billion over ten years; Adds Department of Homeland Security's Law Enforcement Training Center as Major Partner

Washington, D.C. -- The U.S. Office of Personnel Management's e-Training initiative expanded and matured today with almost 3,000 additional online courses being made available to federal employees, at a taxpayer-savings of $1.19 billion over the next ten years.

In addition, OPM announced a major, new e-Training partner, the Department of Homeland Security's Law Enforcement Training Center.

OPM Director Kay Coles James, who launched the e-Training GOLEARN.gov web site last July, heralded the site's rapid growth, attributing it to the convenience and popularity of course offerings. GOLEARN.gov (www.golearn.gov) debuted with nearly 40 fee-free courses. Most of the new courses are fee-based.

"While the maturation of GOLEARN.gov is best illustrated by the expanded course availability, it has been nourished by the 38,000 employees who have registered for courses, as well as from the number of courses that have been completed," said James.

During today's press briefing at OPM headquarters, officials noted that, to date, more than 10,000 courses have been completed through GOLEARN.gov. They expect that number to rise dramatically with the site enhancement.

Said James: "This is a great day for employees, who have access to a larger number of convenient, educational job aides. This is a great day for managers, who rely on their employees staying on the cutting-edge in their jobs. This is a great day for agency finance officers, whose training dollars are stretched as a result of significant economies of scale that e-Training brings. And, this is a wonderful day for taxpayers, who benefit by the huge $1.19 Billion savings; smarter, more productive employees; and a results-oriented government. e-Training is a win-win for everyone."

Mark Forman, Associate Director of E-Government and Information Technology at the Office of Management and Budget said, "Today's launch of additional virtual courses through the GOLEARN.gov web site is an important next step in providing e-Training services to government employees around the world. I congratulate the many agencies that are working cooperatively for the benefit of every federal employee and for the benefit of the American taxpayer, to whom we are proving that government can mean efficiency and effectiveness."

• e-Government is a hallmark of President Bush's efforts to bring services closer to the end-user and drive down the cost of providing service. The President has earmarked five of 25 e-Government initiatives for management by OPM. In addition to e-training, OPM manages:
• Recruitment One-Stop, a collaborative effort between OPM and federal agencies that builds on the success of USAJOBS to help applicants find employment with the federal government
• e-Clearance, which consolidates and increases access through the use of technology to improve the efficiency and speed of granting or locating security clearances or investigations
• Enterprise Human Resource Integration (EHRI), which will enable the electronic transfer of HR data throughout the government, eliminating the need for paper employee records
• e-Payroll, which replaces 22 current providers of payroll and related services with four providers and saves $1.2 billion over 10 years

OPM also announced today that the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Glynco, Georgia, has become its newest e-Training partner. FLETC, part of the Department of Homeland Security and provider of basic and advanced federal law enforcement training, will use the GOLEARN.gov site as its primary online training provider, where appropriate. The partnership will expedite the skills development of law enforcement personnel to meet their mission-critical needs.

"One of the most important things employees can do for their careers is to stay current in their fields and regularly update their skills," said James. "Time well-spent devoted to career development will make employees more valuable in their offices, and more desirable candidates for advancement, within and outside their agencies."

e-Government is an integral part of the President's Management Agenda to make it easier for citizens and businesses to interact with the government, save taxpayer dollars and streamline citizen-to-government transactions. A copy of the President's e-Government strategy, which includes information on each of the e-Government initiatives, is available on the OMB web site at www.omb.gov.

Statement of Director Kay Coles James

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OPM oversees the federal work force and provides the American public with up-to-date employment information. OPM also supports U.S. agencies with personnel services and policy leadership including staffing tools, guidance on labor-management relations and programs to improve work force performance.

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