In an effort to meet current and pending requests for licensure, and to respond to questions from school administrators and individuals seeking information about the licensure status, the Department of Education Office of Professional Licensure is temporarily implementing adjusted office hours. The office staff has two major areas of responsibility, both of which are critical to the efficient operation of the Unit: Consultation by telephone or in person with school administrators and individuals with questions about licensure, the licensure process, and the status of a candidate’s licensure status; secondly, the review of documents, internal processing, and responding to written questions. For several months the consultation process has consumed an increasing amount of time for Department staff, thus processing of documents has lagged and become backlogged. In an effort to address both needs and hopefully increase the efficiency of the staff, the following schedule will be implemented on a temporary basis.
Beginning on Wednesday, March 13, 2002, from 12:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. each day, the entire staff will focus on consultation with school staffs and individuals via telephone or in person. From 8:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. staff will devote its entire attention to processing of documents. With a block of uninterrupted time to focus on the backlog of documents and anticipated new applications in the spring and early summer, it is hoped that response time for completing licensure will decrease.
In a very few days a new Web site will be opened that will allow school administrators the opportunity to check the status of a candidate’s licensure. Hopefully this will also speed up the employment process at the school/district level.
Please share this information with school/district staff who may need to contact the Professional Licensure Unit.