The National Training Spending Plan Initiatives

The National Training Spending Plan was established as the foundation for developing and delivering administrative and operational training to Judiciary employees. In FY 2007, initiatives focused on building partnerships in the Judiciary and with other agencies to maximize technology and minimize costs in training delivery.

Judiciary Online University (JOU). This year the Federal Judicial Center (FJC) joined three other judicial entities, the Office of Defender Services (ODS), Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the AO's Personnel Division, in uniting with JOU. Combining resources has resulted in a reduction of costs from $74 to $53 per license, at the same time increasing service offerings with the addition of several professional online libraries through the program, Books 24/7. More than 4,000 employees now use JOU. Since JOU's inception in August 2005, court staff have accessed more than 14,000 courses, completed 6,554 online courses, and used JOU as a resource for job aids, skill briefs, and course summaries a total of 54,289 times.

National Court Budget Management Training Program. In 2007, Administrative Office staff and 15 court faculty delivered court budget management training to almost all court unit executives, budget analysts, and other budget managers in the First, Second, Seventh, Eighth, Eleventh, and DC circuits. In two-and-a-half day sessions, attendees were schooled in practical aspects of day-to-day management of the local court budget with emphasis on small-group resolution of a complex budget case study that mirrors court budget issues and practices. Entering its third year, the program will train court unit executives and budget managers in the Fifth, Sixth, and Ninth Circuits as well as court unit executives new to the Judiciary.

CourtsLearn. Two Judiciary-specific courses were added to the online CourtsLearn this year: Managing the Courts Budget and Contracting Officers' Technical Representative (COTR) Certification Program. Fifty-nine Judiciary employees completed Managing the Court Budget, and 50 employees have been certified as Judiciary COTRs.

Employment Dispute Resolution. Court unit executives in six of the 13 judicial circuits were trained in EDR this fiscal year.

	Judiciary online University JOU has provided cost-effective online training at user convenience since 2005. More than 4,000 employees have used the program. Courses were accessed 14,000 times. JOU has been a resource for job aids, skill briefs, and course summaries 54,289 times.