The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2005

was expected of us, how to interact with members and staffers, how to prepare, and so forth. We even prac- ticed writing testimony and delivering it, which was excellent. We’ve also created a pilot two-day course on how to be an effective deputy assistant sec- retary (“The DAS as Leader”), as well as courses on crisis leadership and dealing with the media. And, of course, there’s the crown jewel of the senior program, a mandatory two-and-a-half- week Senior Executive Threshold Seminar for newly-pro- moted OCs [Officer-Counselors] and Senior Executive Service employees. The purpose of the SETS course is to imprint on seniors the fact that this is not just any promo- tion, and the skills that got them to the senior threshold will not necessarily make them successful leaders and managers once they cross it. So far we’ve been able to get everyone who’s been promoted into the Senior Executive Service or Senior Foreign Service through the training. FSJ: How does the School of Language Studies recruit, hire and evaluate instructors? One common criticism of FSI’s language courses is that the emphasis is on hiring native speakers rather than finding people who can teach. KP: We really try to hire folks who are not only native speakers but who have some teaching experience as well. We also do our own orientation for all new (and existing) teachers, including pedagogical train- ing to make sure that they understand effective teaching methods and what we’re trying to get across. And every other Wednesday afternoon, there is a wide-ranging pro- gram of in-service staff training and development. About half our language instructors are contractors, so that we can adjust staffing levels to match fluctuating F O C U S J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 0 5 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 45 “We’ve really encouraged creativity on the part of the individual schools in addressing these capacity issues.” SERVING THOSE WHO SERVE AMERICA S I NCE 1 9 7 1 2005 represents our 35 th year helping to maintain America’s fleet of vehicles throughout the world. All of us at D & M consider it an honor to have worked with all of you through these years. We are aware of the importance of your official and private vehicles, forklifts, generators, tools and equipment. We look forward to continuing this service in a professional manner. We are here to help, just ask! Gary Vlahov www.dmauto.com (516) 822-6662; FAX: (516) 822-5020; E-mail: info@dmauto.com