Human Resources

Forward Integrated Support Teams (FIST)

Overview

The DoDEA Human Resources (HR) Division has responsibility for managing the Human Capital programs and policies affecting the civilian employees of the Department of Defense Education Activity and its field elements, the Department of Defense Dependents Schools (Pacific and Europe) and the Department of Defense Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools (Americas). The mission of the DoDEA HR Division is to support the agency in providing a quality education for the children of our military and eligible civilian personnel stationed around the world. DoDEA HR Division’s responsibilities include overseeing recruitment and staffing, educator certification and recertification, classification and compensation, human capital record keeping, labor management relations, and data integrity. A leader in the use of technology, we have developed and implemented automated systems to enhance our educator recruitment process, track the timeliness and accuracy of our personnel action processing, process travel orders and entitlements, and track the timeliness and accuracy of pay related inquiries and grievances.

The Pacific East District’s Human Resources maintains recruitment and staffing for our 20 schools to ensure they are properly staffed based on enrollment and the DoDEA staffing standards. HR provides advisory services pertaining to travel orders, overseas allowances, employment, benefits, and overseas tours. HR provides new guidance and procedures and offers training district wide to streamline HR practices. DoDEA’s HR Department partners with the Civilian Human Resources Agency (CHRA) who handles recruitment of support staff and educators, and the processing of allowances and orders.

Connected Cognia Standards

Leadership Capacity Standards

1.1

1.7

1.2

1.8

1.3

1.9

1.6

1.11

Learning Capacity Standards

2.1

2.7

2.2

2.8

2.3

2.9

2.6

Resource Capacity Standards

3.3

3.7

3.4

3.8

3.5

3.6

Impact Statement

The Pacific East District Human Resources has had a positive impact on the functioning of the district as evidenced by:

- Establishing an office in mainland Japan to help with immediate support to the superintendent and schools
- Providing in person and virtual visits to 20 schools with over 175 participants to address issues raised by schools and their employees
- Providing HR training to 28 support staff quarterly

Timeline

SY 2016-2017

In the 2016-2017 school year, the HR was located at a regional office in Okinawa.

SY 2017-2018

In the 2017-2018 school year, the Pacific East District established its HR office. During this year, the office established standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the district regarding HR staffing, orders, allowances to provide guidance to the superintendent and employees. The office maintained recruitment and staffing for substitutes and school support staff for each school to ensure they are properly staffed based on enrollment and the DoDEA staffing standards. The office provided on-boarding for new employees upon arrival to make sure they get all overseas allowances, housing, benefits set up, and make sure their personnel actions were processed to avoid payroll issues.

SY 2018-2019

In the 2018-2019 school year, the Pacific East District continued to strengthen the work of its HR office. During this year, the office continued to implement standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the district regarding HR staffing, orders, allowances to provide guidance to the superintendent and employees. The office maintained recruitment and staffing for substitutes and school support staff for each school to ensure they are properly staffed based on enrollment and the DoDEA staffing standards. The office provided on-boarding for new employees upon arrival to make sure they get all overseas allowances, housing, benefits set up, and make sure their personnel actions were processed to avoid payroll issues. To continue their work, the HR office established training for Secretaries and Administrative Officers on HR topics and HR systems needed for their position. The HR office also provided retirement briefings to employees.

SY 2019-2020

During the 2019-2020 school year, the Pacific East District HR office maintained recruitment and staffing for substitutes and school support staff for each school to ensure they are properly staffed based on enrollment and the DoDEA staffing standards. The HR team also conducted in school and virtual school visits to address any employee concerns or issues. To further onboard and develop employees, the HR office provided training to secretaries, administrative officers (AO), and administrators on HR topics and HR systems needed for their positions. The HR department also provided guidance to employees regarding allowances, orders and employment so that changes in employee statuses, and transitioning in and out of the district went smoothly and did not interrupt the school mission.

SY 2020-2021

During the 2020-2021 school year, the Pacific East District HR office maintained recruitment and staffing for substitutes and school support staff for each school to ensure they are properly staffed based on enrollment and the DoDEA staffing standards. The HR office also created the Substitute Academy so that substitutes are trained and have lesson plans ready to go when teachers are out. The HR department coordinated requests to Civilian Human Resources Agency (CHRA) and DoDEA Headquarters regarding living quarter allowance waivers, eligibility determinations, and pay and personnel issues so the employees could focus on their mission as educators. The HR office continued to provide training to secretaries, administrative officers (AO), and administrators on HR topics and HR systems needed for their positions. The HR office began to provide fingerprinting services to expedite the security process and get applicants on board faster

Impact Evidence at a Glance

The Human Resources Department improved the substitute hiring process from manually collecting paper applications and processing them all offline to shifting to online announcements on USAJobs and using the electronic system to onboard. This transition improved hiring processes and helped expedite the process to have substitutes in place in schools in a timely manner.

Supporting Documents

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