Professional Development

Professional growth is important at OPPAGA. Each year we offer a variety of opportunities for staff to expand their job knowledge through mentoring, on-site classes, and webinars.

New analysts are assigned two mentors, a social mentor and skills mentor. The social mentor is available during the first two weeks to answer new employee questions, help the new analyst meet other staff, and generally assist the new employee in acclimating to the office. The skills mentor is available for a longer period of time. The role of the skills mentor is to answer questions about the work of OPPAGA and coach the new employee throughout the first project, especially focusing on work-paper development, information gathering, and report documentation. Several in-house classes are specifically geared to new employees and focus on OPPAGA protocols including report writing and legislative presentations.

Staff may continue their education through the tuition waiver program established by the Florida Legislature. Staff may enroll on a space available basis in up to six credit hours of tuition-free classes at a state university or community college each semester. Several OPPAGA employees have completed advanced degrees through this educational opportunity.