Enrollment information
State of Iowa Employees should enroll online for PDS courses through the Learning Management System (LMS). Login to your account, search for the course you would like to attend and click enroll. If the course requires manager approval, your manager will receive notification of your enrollment and approve or deny your registration. Once approved, you will receive an email registration confirmation and the course will appear in the "My Task" area of your User Dashboard. If you have have questions contact your agency's Training Liaison. If for any reason the class is rescheduled or cancelled you will receive that notice as an email item as well. Please contact PDS Training if you have any special needs or accommodations.
PDS courses are available to other organizations, such as county and city government, and the public which may not have a training liaison. If your organization does not have a training liaison, you may contact PDS at 515-281-5456 or e-mail your question or request to pds@iowa.gov.
Course notifications
Confirmation and Cancellation Notifications: Course notifications including the course title, instructor, date(s), starting and ending times, location, and any required pre-work will be forwarded to department Training Liaisons for distribution a maximum of two (2) weeks before the course date. In the event of a course cancellation, PDS will contact Training Liaisons and/or course enrollees, depending on how soon or how late we are aware of the cancellation.
Cancellations Due to Low Enrollment: PDS reserves the right to cancel a course when the minimum number of enrollees is not met or if an emergency arises that prevents the training session from running.
Cancellations Due to Weather Conditions: For your safety and convenience, if you are traveling to attend a training session and the weather forecast or road conditions seem questionable, please call your Training Liaison or PDS at (515) 281-5456 to ensure the course has not been cancelled.
Attendance policy
Employees receiving course confirmations are expected to attend the entire course and to complete a course evaluation form.
Class Time
Participants absent more than 30 minutes in a training session will not receive credit for course attendance. This will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
Cancellations
When a state employee enrolls in a PDS course, the agency purchases a "seat" in the course. If the employee becomes unable to participate in the class, the agency must notify PDS at least fourteen (14) calendar days in advance of the course date to withdraw from the course. Failure to provide the required (14) days' notice will result in the agency being charged for the seat in the course. Agencies may, in the alternative of proper notice, send a substitute to the course to fill the purchased seat. This is encouraged. The agency must inform PDS of the change in employee participation for proper billing. This policy also applies to non-state employee participants.
- In cases in which an enrolled employee is severed from state employment before the course date, agencies are encouraged to fill the purchased seat with another employee if the agency is not able to comply with the (14) day notice requirement. If the purchased seat is unfilled the agency will still be charged.
- To provide proper notice of withdrawal, participants need to contact the agency's Training Liaison, who will then inform PDS. PDS will review the date of the withdrawal request and compare it to the date of confirmation to determine if the agency will be billed.
- The agency will not be charged when the employee is unable to participate due to approved leave other than vacation.
Severe Weather Policy
Scheduled PDS Courses may be cancelled if there is a severe weather situation, such as a blizzard or ice storm, in which travel to the course location may risk the individual health and safety of course participant(s) or instructor(s). PDS course cancellations will be determined by the program manager. If a course is cancelled due to weather PDS will post the cancellation notice on our website. PDS will also add a pre-recorded message to our main line voicemail which is (515)281-5456.
Exceptions may be made for individuals traveling into the Des Moines area from a field location. Exception requests must be communicated by the agency’s Training Liaison to PDS prior to, or during, the course for which the individual is enrolled.
In the event of a cancellation, individuals need to follow their own department/agency policy for reporting to work. Information about rescheduling the course will be distributed as soon as alternate arrangements are made.