§ 2522.220 What are the required terms of service for AmeriCorps participants?

(a) Term of Service. A term of service may be defined as: (1) Full-time service. 1,700 hours of service during a period of not more than one year. (2) Part-time service. 900 hours of service during a period of not more than two years. (3) Reduced part-time term of service. AmeriCorps may reduce the number of hours required to be served in order to receive an educational award for certain part-time participants serving in approved AmeriCorps positions. In such cases, the educational award will be reduced in direct proportion to the reduction in required hours of service. These reductions may be made for summer programs, for categories of participants in certain approved AmeriCorps programs and on a case-by-case, individual basis as determined by AmeriCorps. (4) Summer programs. A summer program, in which less than 1700 hours of service are performed, are part-time programs. (b) Eligibility for subsequent term. A participant will only be eligible to serve a subsequent term of service if that individual has received a satisfactory performance review for any previous term of service in an approved AmeriCorps position, in accordance with the requirements of paragraph (d) of this section and § 2525.15. Mere eligibility for a second or further term of service in no way guarantees a participant selection or placement. (c) Participant evaluation. For the purposes of determining a participant's eligibility for an educational award as described in § 2522.240(a) and eligibility to serve a second or additional term of service as described in paragraph (c) of this section, each AmeriCorps grantee is responsible for conducting a mid-term and end-of-term evaluation. A mid-term evaluation is not required for a participant who is released early from a term of service or in other circumstances as approved by AmeriCorps. The end-of-term evaluation should consist of: (1) A determination of whether the participant: (i) Successfully completed the required term of service described in paragraph (a) of this section, making the participant eligible for an educational award as described in § 2522.240(a); (ii) Was released from service for compelling personal circumstances, making the participant eligible for a pro-rated educational award as described in § 2522.230(a)(2); or (iii) Was released from service for cause, making the participant ineligible to receive an educational award for that term of service as described in § 2522.230(b)(3); and (2) A participant performance and conduct review to determine whether the participant's service was satisfactory, which will assess whether the participant: (i) Has satisfactorily completed assignments, tasks, or projects, or, for those participants released from service early, whether the participant made a satisfactory effort to complete those assignments, tasks, or projects that the participant could reasonably have addressed in the time the participant served; and (ii) Has met any other criteria which had been clearly communicated both orally and in writing at the beginning of the term of service. (d) Limitation. AmeriCorps may set a minimum or maximum percentage of hours of a full-time, part-time, or reduced term of service described in paragraphs (a)(1),(a)(2), and (a)(3) of this section that a participant may engage in training, education, or other similar approved activities (e) Grievance procedure. Any AmeriCorps participant wishing to contest a program's ruling of unsatisfactory performance may file a grievance according to the procedures set forth in part 2540 of this chapter. If that grievance procedure or subsequent binding arbitration procedure finds that the participant did in fact satisfactorily complete a term of service, then that individual will be eligible to receive an educational award and/or be eligible to serve a second term of service. (f) Extension of term for disaster purposes. If approved by AmeriCorps, a program may permit an AmeriCorps participant performing service directly related to disaster relief efforts to continue in a term of service for a period of up to 90 days beyond the period otherwise specified. A period of service performed by an AmeriCorps participant in an originally agreed-upon term of service and service performed under this paragraph shall constitute a single term of service for the purposes of § 2525.50(a) of this chapter.