OAR 839-011-0084: Apprenticeship and Training Committees — Approval of New Programs and Standards

(1) Additional committees or standards in an area already served by an existing committee in the same trade, craft or occupation shall be established in the same manner as any other local committee. (2) All employers and their qualified employees shall be afforded the opportunity to participate, on a non-discriminatory basis, in existing programs. (3) The Council and the Apprenticeship and Training Division of the Bureau of Labor and Industries will approve the creation of a new local committee or new standards for an existing committee only if the applicant for the new program or new standards can first demonstrate to the Council and the Division, by a preponderance of evidence, that the application is in conformity with the following requirements: (a) The applicant shall submit documentation showing committee composition pursuant to ORS chapter 660.135, .145. (b) The applicant shall submit standards in a format approved by the Council that meet or exceed any existing statewide minimum guideline standards for the occupation. Where no state guideline standards exist, proposed standards shall meet or exceed national guideline standards approved by the federal Office of Apprenticeship. Where no state or national guideline standards exist, standards will be approved at the discretion of the Council and the Division when the proposed occupation is clearly identified and commonly recognized throughout an industry. (A) The term of apprenticeship for an individual apprentice may be measured through the completion of the industry standard for on-the-job learning (at least two thousand hours) (time-based approach), the attainment of competency (competency-based approach), or a blend of the time-based and competency-based approaches (hybrid approach). (B) A statement of the number of hours to be spent by the apprentice in work and the number of hours to be spent in related/supplemental instruction. For competency based and hybrid models, the program standards must specifically address how on-the-job learning will be integrated into the program, describe competencies and how such competencies will be measured, and identify an appropriate means of testing and evaluation for such competencies. (C) The time-based approach measures skill acquisition through the individual apprentice's completion of at least two thousand hours of on-the-job learning as described in a work process schedule. (D) The competency-based approach measures skill acquisition through the individual apprentice's successful demonstration of acquired skills and knowledge, as verified by the program. Programs utilizing this approach must still require apprentices to complete an on-the-job learning component of registered apprenticeship. The program standards must address how on-the-job learning will be integrated into the program, describe competencies, and identify an appropriate means of testing and evaluation for such competencies. (E) The hybrid approach measures the individual apprentice's skill acquisition through a combination of specified minimum number of hours of on-the-job learning and the successful demonstration of competency as described in a work process schedule. (c) The applicant shall submit an administration plan that includes: (A) Written designation of the program administrator; (B) Documented assurances that the committee will be adequately funded to support its administration and the presentation of related instruction; (C) A written statement that details all costs to apprentices (including instruction, books, tuition); and (D) Assurances that training agents and prospective training agents will be provided with a written statement of costs for program participation. (d) The applicant must demonstrate the ability to track required on-the-job training, related and supplemental training and affirmative action information (i.e., work progress reports, apprentice/trainee rotation system, employer's apprentice/trainee evaluation forms, grading sheets, applicant logs) and provide the Council with copies of the forms and documents that will be used to track such information. (e) The applicant shall submit a plan detailing how the committee will ensure that participating employers will provide work in all areas covered by the program standards (ORS chapter 660.137(5)), including: (A) Training in all counties listed in proposed geographical area; (B) Training in all work processes set forth in the standards; (C) Committee expectations of supervising journey workers and a plan for the supervision of apprentices/trainees in the ratio set forth in the standards (ORS chapter 660.126(1)(c), (f)); (D) Training agent qualifications and duties (ORS Chapter 660.137(5)); and (E) A plan for training participating employers on their duties and responsibilities. (f) The applicant shall submit a complete related training curriculum, including instructor qualifications, class outlines and expected competencies, grading procedures and completion criteria. This submission shall include: (A) An explanation of the curriculum delivery method and a description of the related training facilities; (B) Certification of the curriculum and instructional delivery plan by either a state education certifying authority or nationally recognized industry association (ORS Chapter 660.137(2)(c), .126(1)(j), .157); and (C) Assurances that classroom and related instruction can be delivered throughout the geographic area. The applicant must submit a contract or other documentation demonstrating that actual instructional resources are in place. The committee's geographic area must be one that can be reasonably served by the committee with respect to employers and the location of the related training services (ORS Chapter 660.126(1)(a)). (D) Assurances that instructors meet the Oregon Department of Education or Office of Community Colleges and Workforce Development requirements for vocational-technical instructors or are subject matter experts, defined as an individual, such as a journey worker, who is recognized within an industry as having expertise in a specific occupation. If the instructor is a subject matter expert, the submission must include assurances that the instructor has or will have had training in teaching techniques and adult learning styles, which may occur before or within nine (9) months after the apprenticeship instructor has started to provide the related technical instruction. (g) The applicant must submit operating policies and procedures and assurances that the program will be operated in accordance with the same; and (h) The applicant shall submit a plan to recruit, evaluate and select apprentice/trainee applicants throughout the proposed geographic area, including an application form that meets Council requirements. (4) All objections to the approval of a new committee or new standards shall be submitted to the Council in writing at the meeting where the application is being considered for approval, specifically detailing any objections to the application. Council may rule on the application and objections thereto at that time or grant the applicant 30 days after the Council meeting to submit a written rebuttal to the objections to the Director. Council shall direct the Director to investigate and evaluate the objections and rebuttal and to provide a report to Council within 45 days of receipt of the rebuttal statement. At the next Council meeting after the initial submission, Council shall either approve or deny the application and provide a specific written explanation for its actions. (5) All new programs shall serve a probationary period of three (3) years after Council approval. Failure to clearly demonstrate the ability to operate a satisfactory program during the probationary period, based upon periodic program reviews conducted by the Division, shall result in deregistration of the program by the Division in consultation with the Council. (6) Compliance reviews will be conducted during the probationary period pursuant to OAR 839-011-0145 unless the Council directs the Division to conduct reviews more frequently. Should the Council find operating deficiencies in the course of any such review, the program shall immediately take action to correct the deficiencies and submit a report to the Council explaining corrective measures taken within 90 days of the Council initial finding of deficiencies. If the committee has not corrected the deficiencies within the 90 day period, the Division in consultation with the Council shall deregister the program at the next scheduled Council meeting.