The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) offers professional development opportunities for all OAG employees through the Human Resources Employee Development team. Topics, which are varied, include software expertise, leadership, communication, and management effectiveness as well as others.
Agency-Funded External Education
The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) may authorize and fund discretionary and/or required training and educational opportunities conducted outside the agency. Funds must be available, and a direct benefit to the agency must exist.
Program Courses Offered by Institutions of Higher Education
In rare situations, the OAG may authorize the reimbursement or payment of some tuition expenses to employees who attend program courses, such as those credited towards a degree, that are offered by an institution of higher education as defined by section 61.003 of the Education Code. In order for a program course or courses to be eligible for reimbursement or payment, the following must all apply:
- Agency funds must be available.
- The program course(s) must represent a direct benefit to the agency.
- The employee must submit a written request for reimbursement or payment to his/her division management and the Human Resources Division prior to completing the course. The request must include the following:
- the name and location of the institution of higher education;
- the beginning and ending dates of the program course(s);
- the cost of the program course(s);
- the amount of funds the employee is requesting from the OAG;
- an explanation of how the program course(s) would benefit the OAG; and
- a signed attestation by the employee that the employee shall comply with Section 656.103 of the Texas Government Code.
- The request must be approved by the First Assistant Attorney General.
- The course must be completed successfully.
Other Training and Educational Opportunities
The agency may provide funds to agency employees to attend training and educational opportunities that are not program courses offered by an institution of higher education. These training and educational opportunities include courses not credited towards a degree, online trainings, job skills training, and continuing legal education.
Employees seeking to attend one of these types of trainings or educational opportunities should submit requests in writing to division management. If division funds are available and division management confirms that the training will represent a direct benefit to the agency, the division may submit a purchase request for the employee to attend the training or educational opportunity.
Additional Guidelines
The following guidelines apply to all forms of agency-funded external education set forth in this policy.
- Any coursework taken as part of Agency-Funded External Education must be related to the employee’s current position or prospective job duties within the agency, and/or have a direct benefit to the agency, as determined by the employee’s immediate supervisor and division chief.
- If Agency-Funded External Education requires an employee to be away from work duties for more than three (3) months, he/she must remain employed with the OAG for at least the same amount of time the employee participated in the Agency-Funded External Education; otherwise, the employee may be required to reimburse the OAG for all expenses incurred by the agency while the employee participated in the Agency-Funded External Education, including any amounts of the employee’s salary that were paid and that were not accounted for as paid vacation or compensatory leave. The First Assistant Attorney General may release the employee from the obligation to meet those requirements if the First Assistant Attorney General finds that such action is in the best interest of the OAG or is warranted because of an extreme personal hardship suffered by the employee.
- If the agency-funded training or educational opportunity lasts for more than five consecutive business days, the employee shall contact the Human Resources Division for guidance.
- This policy does not apply to certain training and educational programs, including no-cost in-house training or training that division management or Executive Administration expressly directs an employee to attend.
Withdrawal of Approval
Permission to engage in Agency-Funded External Education may be withdrawn if the OAG determines in its sole discretion that coursework negatively impacts the employee’s job duties or performance or is otherwise determined not to be in the best interest of the agency.