PDS Policies

PDS policies are outlined in the course catalog and include:

Course Notifications
Attendance Policy
Participant Cancellations

Enrollment information

Register for PDS courses by completing a course registration form, obtaining the appropriate signatures, and submitting the signed form to your agency's Training Liaison. Each agency will approve or deny training requests. Your training liaison will then enroll you for the course(s) and notify you with a confirmation notice or a class cancellation notice.

PDS courses are available to other organizations, such as county and city government, which may not have a training liaison. If your organization does not have a training liaison, you may fax your registration form to 515-242-6450.

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 minimum of two (2) weeks before the course date. In the event of a course cancellation, PDS will contact Training Liaisons or course enrollees.

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

Attendance Policy: Employees receiving course confirmations are expected to attend the entire course and to complete a course evaluation form. 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.

Participant cancellations

Courses Costing $99.00 or Less: Participant cancellations must be received by PDS at least five (5) working days in advance of the course date. Enrollees may be excused for personal or job emergencies or illness when these are communicated BY THEIR SUPERVISORS to PDS prior to, or during, the course for which they are enrolled. Departments can also send replacements to avoid being billed for a cancellation, but please make sure that the information is communicated to PDS for proper billing.

Courses Costing $100.00 or More: ANY enrollment cancellation received after the course has been confirmed will be billed to your department. Courses are generally confirmed a minimum of two weeks prior to the course date. Departments can also send a replacement to avoid being billed for a cancellation, but once again, please make sure that information is communicated to PDS for proper billing.