Army Management Staff College opens registration for FY10 classes

By Kyonna Withers and Jennifer EricksonSeptember 1, 2009

Working as a team
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT BELVOIR, Va. (Sept. 2, 2009) -- Army and other Department of Defense civilian leaders can now register for Civilian Education System programs to be taught this upcoming fiscal year at the Army Management Staff College.

For its resident courses, AMSC has posted the FY10 course schedule for first and second quarters for the basic, intermediate and advanced courses, which are now available at the AMSC Web site.

In addition to the CES leader-development course schedule, the entire FY10 schedule is posted for the Continuing Education for Senior Leaders program.

AMSC officials said the CES program is not only an investment in the students' future, their organization's and Army's future, but it is also centrally funded -- meaning it doesn't cost a dime for an Army organization to send its civilians if they are in permanent appointments. The program is also centrally funded for local nationals.

Military supervisors of civilians and other DOD civilians can also sign up for courses.

The course overviews, eligibility requirements and other requirements are as follows:

Foundation Course

For the newest civilian to the Army workforce, the Foundation Course teaches civilians how the Army runs. The course is entirely distributed learning (online) and takes about 57 hours to complete. Students learn about the structure of the Army and Army leadership and doctrine.

They learn how to organize daily activities, meet Army administrative requirements, build teams and practice group dynamics, apply effective communication skills, and will better comprehend career progression for Army civilians. The course is required for all Army interns, team leaders, supervisors, and managers employed after Sept. 30, 2006.

Basic Course

The Basic Course educates civilians on the basic foundations of leadership and management skills to facilitate mission accomplishment. In the course, students learn how to understand and apply basic leadership skills to lead and care for small teams, apply effective communication skills to build teams, demonstrate internal and external awareness, direct teams accordingly, and develop and mentor subordinates.

In the distributed learning portion, students must complete required reading assignments and an online test. In the resident portion, which is two weeks at the AMSC Fort Leavenworth, Kan., campus, students will work as teams on class assignments. The course is required for Army civilians in team leader, supervisory or managerial positions that do not have course equivalency credit. The course must be completed within one year of placement into the position.

Registration: The next class open for enrollment is Nov. 2-13, with an application deadline of Sept. 3.

The remaining class in 2009 is Dec. 7-18, with an application deadline of Oct. 8.

For 2010, the classes are Jan. 4-15 with an application deadline of Nov. 5; Jan. 25-Feb. 5, with an application deadline of Nov. 26; Feb. 22-March 5, with an application deadline of, Dec. 24, and March 15-16, with an application deadline of Jan. 14.

Intermediate Course

In the Intermediate Course, students learn how to lead people, develop cohesive and efficient organizations, manage resources and implement change while demonstrating effective thinking and communication skills.

Following a distributed learning portion of pre-work assignments, required readings, a 360-Degree Leadership Survey and Essay, and test, the students spend three weeks at Fort Belvoir in the classrooms working as teams on class assignments. Army civilians in permanent appointments to supervisory or managerial positions that have not been granted course credit must complete the course within two years of placement into those positions.

Registration: The next class open for registration is in Nov. 2-20, with an application deadline of Sept. 3. Other classes include Nov. 30-Dec. 18, with an application deadline of Oct. 1; Jan. 11-29, with an application deadline of Nov. 12; Feb. 8-Feb. 26, with an application deadline of Dec. 10; March 8-26; with an application deadline of Jan. 7.

Advanced Course

The Advanced Course enhances civilians' abilities to lead people in complex organizations and operate in an environment of integrated systems with a focus on the AMSC mission. The course is designed for leaders who exercise predominately indirect supervision, with an eligibility requirement of GS-13 and above or equivalent.

Students complete required readings and pre-work in the distributed learning phase, which is followed by four weeks of resident instruction at the AMSC Fort Belvoir, Va., campus. The Advanced Course is required for Army civilians in permanent appointments to supervisory or managerial positions that have not been granted course credit. They must complete the course within two years of placement into those positions.

Registration: The only class available in the first two quarters of FY10 is Feb. 1-26, with an application deadline of Dec. 3.

Continuing Education for Senior Leaders program

In addition to the suite of leader development courses, AMSC offers the Continuing Education for Senior Leaders program, which brings Army civilians (GS-14 and 15 or equivalent) and Soldiers (lieutenant colonels, sergeant majors, chief warrant officers 4 and above) together for a week at the AMSC Fort Belvoir campus to receive Army enterprise updates and to discuss current issues and challenges facing Army leaders.

Registration: The next class is Nov. 2-6, with an application deadline of Sept. 3. The remaining classes are Jan. 25-29, with an application deadline of Nov. 26; April 26-30, with an application deadline of Feb. 25; and Aug. 2-6, with an application deadline of June 3.

Other distributed Learning courses

In addition to these courses, AMSC offers three distributed learning classes for the development of the Army's action officers, supervisors and managers. The classes are Action Officers Development Course, Supervisors Development Course and Managers Development Course.

All of the courses provide the Army civilian corps, military supervisors of civilians and other Department of Defense civilians with the tools necessary to lead in the workplace.

AMSC's mission is to educate and prepare the Army civilian corps and military members for leadership and management responsibilities throughout the Army, and all of these courses, as well as its command program courses, aim to accomplish that mission.

Joseph Panteloglous, a graduate of the Continuing Education for Senior Leaders program, said, "CES gave me a new perspective on our current and future civilian workforce."

More than 4,000 people have graduated from the Civilian Education System program since its first pilot course in Fall 2006.

To apply and for more information, AMSC is currently redesigning its Web site. Visit the Web site for a guide on how to apply for CES courses via the Civilian Human Resources Training Application System.

Other resources to assist applicants include the CES policy, CES policy matrix that outlines course equivalencies and credits, AMSC catalog, AMSC graduate testimonial videos, printable course schedule and a CES flyer.

Related Links:

Civilian Education System FY10 course schedule

Registration for Action Officers Development Course, Supervisors Development Course, Managers Development Course

Registration for Civilian Education System classes