5. Flag Billet Review: The Flag Officers Review Board will be meeting in the next couple of months to review the Flag billets. This review is important because it offers the OPDIVs the opportunity to review the positions that are rated at the Flag level.
6. Statement of Earnings & Deductions: Next month the Division of Commissioned Personnel (DCP) Compensation Branch will be changing the format of the monthly Statement of Earnings & Deductions from the carbon copy payroll slip to a regular 8-1/2 x 11 letter-size mailing. The reason for the change is to allow more room on the monthly statement for the distribution of other information from DCP. So, be on the lookout for the new format.
7. Commissioned Officer Leave Tracking System (COLTS): DCP is working on a centralized leave tracking system for all PHS Commissioned Officers, to be referred to as COLTS. The system will be beta-tested over the next several months in the D.C. area, but will probably not be fully implemented nationwide for another couple of years.
8. Commissioned Corps Personnel Manual (CCPM): DCP is also in the process of doing a complete review of the CCPM. If anyone has any comments or questions about any particular CCPM issuance, they should submit their comments and/or questions to DCP, or to the OCE.
9.
Awards for PAC Activities: There is a mechanism
in place now where the Chief Professional Officers/PAC Chairs can recognize
Commissioned Officers for their service on the PAC. This awards process is independent of the normal agency awards
process. There have been several awards
already issued through this process.
10. Engineer’s
Regalement: There are plans to have an Engineer’s Regalement in the
Washington D.C. area soon. The date and
location are still being sorted out.
More information will be forthcoming.
11. Promotion
Counseling: This is the first year that DCP is not providing career counseling
to those officers who were not promoted.
For Engineers, this service is now being provided by the OCE. Four or five officers have already received
this counseling from the OCE, and it has gone exceedingly well. Those who are interested should contact CAPT
Rodenbeck at 404-639-0648, or at svr1@cdc.gov.
EPAC Chair: CAPT
Kinney reported the following:
I am very impressed by the work that has been accomplished
by EPAC in the last few months. I am
especially impressed with the new Engineers web page (www.usphsengineers.org) and the work
by the Information Subcommittee in putting that together. The Career Development Subcommittee has also
been hard at work planning for the Engineer
Leadership Development Seminar, which will be discussed later in this
meeting. Also, there has been a lot of
work by the Mentoring Subcommittee in getting the mentoring program off the
ground. Thanks to everyone for the hard
work.
Division of
Commissioned Personnel (DCP) Liaison: No report was given this meeting.
Commissioned Officers
Association (COA) Liaison: No report was given this meeting.
Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) Liaison: CDR West reported the following for LT Scharen:
In the latter part of June, CDR West
was contacted by SAME concerning PHS officers to serve on a new committee
called the Knowledge Management Committee.
The SAME defines Knowledge Management as “selecting information and
packaging it so it becomes a useful decision making tool. Knowledge Management goes beyond data. When human minds have the kind of
unstructured information that comes with experience and imagination and turn it
into a strategy and best practices, Knowledge Management becomes a business
asset.” CDR West made a commitment to
the committee Chair that the PHS would have a full-time representative
designated by August 18.
Junior
Engineer Report: LT Boyd reported the following:
The Junior Officer Ad
Hoc Advisory Group (JOAHAG) received its charge from RADM Blackwell on July 5,
2000. This charge was to provide
feedback on the interests and concerns of Junior Commissioned Corps Officers to
the Office of the Surgeon General (OSG).
Specific functions included providing information on general
professional issues, career development, training and utilization issues,
staffing and recruitment issues, awards and recognition systems, and
communication. The words “ad hoc”
denote the fact that this group will be a test group for a period of one year,
during which the feedback and output of this advisory group will be evaluated
to determine whether new information is being brought to the OSG that does not
replicate the efforts of the standing PACs and advisory groups. After one year's time, a decision will be
made whether to make the JOAHAG a standing committee. The JOAHAG will participate in the CPO/PAC meetings to provide
feedback to the OSG.
A second meeting was
held on July 21st to prepare the JOAHAG charter, which will be finalized in the
coming month. At this time, LT Boyd
requested that an announcement be sent via email to all PHS engineers to
identify an engineer alternate to the JOAHAG, and to identify Junior Engineers
interested in participating in the effort.
Also, an announcement will be made at the upcoming Chief Engineer's
Junior Officer conference call that an engineer alternate is being sought for
the JOAHAG and that Junior Engineers interested in participating in the JOAHAG
should contact LT Boyd. EPAC
Subcommittee Chairpersons should provide LT Boyd lists of Junior Engineers
participating on the subcommittees for potential JOAHAG contacts.
Job Vacancies:
Known vacancies are now posted or linked on the PHS Engineers web site (www.usphsengineers.org/vacancy.htm).
OLD BUSINESS
There were no Old Business items discussed.
NEW BUSINESS
PHS Engineer Disaster Response Selection Guide: CAPT
Rodenbeck, Chairperson of the Emergency Preparedness Subcommittee, was not available
for the meeting. CAPT Kinney reviewed
the working draft of the PHS Engineering Capabilities During Disaster
Responses. This document has gone to
the Office of Emergency Preparedness as a working draft. CAPT Kinney suggested that EPAC vote to endorse
the concept of this document, offer suggestions for the final draft, and then
vote for final approval at the September EPAC meeting. The motion to endorse the concept was made,
and was unanimously approved.
Engineer Leadership Development Seminar: Ms. Hayes,
Chairperson of the Career Development Subcommittee, gave the following report.
The Career Development
Subcommittee has drafted an agenda for the planned Engineer Leadership
Development Seminar. Tentatively, the
seminar will be held March 26-29, 2001, in San Antonio, Texas, depending on the
availability of space. A task order has
been prepared for a conference planner to identify space, but we haven't heard
anything yet. Now the Career
Development Subcommittee really needs help from the rest of EPAC. Please provide your comments on the draft
agenda and the appropriateness of the topics suggested. Also, any ideas for speakers would be
greatly appreciated. Now is a good time to begin telling all the engineers that
you work with and their supervisors about this upcoming seminar and encourage
them to attend.
SUBCOMMITTEE
REPORTS
1. Awards: CDR
West reported the following.
OPDIV, PHS, and NSPE Federal Engineer
of the Year Award: The application deadline for the OPDIV Engineer of the Year
Award is October 16th. Each
OPDIV has the option of nominating one Civil Servant and one Commissioned
Officer as their OPDIV Engineer of the Year.
Nominations are to be submitted to the OPDIV Awards Coordinator, who
will then forward those nominees to the OCE.
The OCE will then submit those OPDIV candidates to NSPE for the NSPE
Federal Engineer of the Year Award, provided they meet the criteria for that
award. The new application deadline for
the NSPE award is November 1st.
In addition, the Awards Subcommittee will evaluate and select the PHS
Engineer of the Year from the same pool of OPDIV Award nominees. The Awards Subcommittee will be contacting
each OPDIV Awards Coordinator soon to discuss the process and the new
deadlines. The nomination forms will also
be distributed to the EPAC, and will be made available via the Engineers web
page.
PHS Engineering Literary Awards: The
Awards Subcommittee will be sending out a call for papers soon for the 7th
annual USPHS Engineering Literary Award.
Papers will be due by November 1st.
SAME Awards: The Subcommittee
continues to work on the proposal for the engineering achievement awards that
are commensurate with the other engineering service members. The current goal of the Subcommittee is to
have a draft proposal to the EPAC members for comment by August 21st. The target date for submitting a draft to
the SAME awards subcommittee is the end of August.
Engineer Leadership Award: The OCE has
requested that the Awards Subcommittee develop a proposal for an Engineering
Leadership Award. The concept is to
develop an award that can be given to an individual or a group, and would
consider the broad range of services that each OPDIV provides. The Awards Subcommittee is developing a
timeline and criteria for this award.
2. Building Design
& Construction: CDR Martinez reported the following.
As announced earlier in the call, the Healthy Building Initiative is undergoing a final draft review by Deputy Surgeon General RADM Moritsugu before being forwarded to the Surgeon General for approval. The Subcommittee is trying to enlist the support of NIOSH in this initiative. The Federal Facilities Council and GSA have expressed support and interest in the report. The Subcommittee is also looking for new membership to help continue the work in this area.
3. Career Development: Ms. Hayes reported
the following.
Welcome packages have
been sent to the engineers who started work in the first quarter and second
quarter of fiscal year 2000. LT Sean Boyd,
who has been maintaining the welcome program, will soon be sending an email
asking EPAC members to make welcome calls to these engineers. Please make these calls and any other
outstanding ones as soon as you can and report back to Sean on how the call
went. The welcome letters from the
Chief Engineer to the new civil service engineers who started in the third
quarter of fiscal year 2000 will soon be sent.
Sean needs a new contact in DCP to get the names of the new commissioned
officers. We have discovered that some
of the new engineers never show up on any of our lists, so to ensure that we
get information out to as many folks as possible we ask you to help us. When a new engineer starts to work in your
OPDIV or other work group that you are familiar with, please send an email to
LT Boyd at SBB@CDRH.FDA.GOV.
Include in the email Title (rank for COs; Mr./Ms. for CS), Grade (this
is for use in our new engineer database), First and Last Name, OPDIV, Mailing
address, Hire Date, Phone, Fax and Email Address. Thanks for your help.
4. Emergency Preparedness: CDR West reported the following.
The Emergency Preparedness Subcommittee met on June 1 and July 6. The subcommittee is finalizing the
"Public Health Service Engineering Capabilities During Disaster Responses:
Handbook for Deploying the Appropriate Public Health Service Engineer"
(discussed under new business). The Commissioned Corps Readiness Force (CCRF),
Office of Emergency Preparedness, has reviewed previous drafts of this document
and has indicated that the document will be very useful. The Subcommittee is also continuing its
efforts to develop CCRF training materials for PHS engineers. The normally scheduled August meeting of the
Subcommittee was canceled so that some of the members could attend the EPAC
meeting. The next meeting of the
Emergency Preparedness Subcommittee will be on September 7, 3:00-4:30 p.m. EDT.
The information people need to connect into the conference call is as follows:
Conference telephone bridge number for Federal participants: 404-639-3277;
Conference telephone bridge number for Non-Federal participants:
1-800-311-3437; and the Conference code: 542409.
5. Information: CAPT Sullenger, Chairperson of the Information
Subcommittee, reported the following.
Newsletter: The Subcommittee will
discus the issue of the Engineer’s Newsletter at its next meeting.
Picture Book: It was decided that all
scanning and cataloging of current photographs will be done in-house at
ATSDR. The EPAC will have all images in
electronic format and the originals will be sent to the Historian. The final electronic set of images will be
kept with the Office of the Chief Engineer.
Web Page: The new Engineers web page
was launched in July (www.usphsengineers.org). The Subcommittee would appreciate any
feedback on the new format. LCDR Mike
Coene (“the web master”) deserves credit for most of the work that went into
creating the new platform. The Subcommittee
is still working out some of the details involved in giving access to certain
individuals and groups. The
Subcommittee will make several recommendations in writing and will distribute
them to the EPAC for comment. The issue
of what material should or should not be posted on the web site was brought up
in the general discussion. It was
agreed that the OCE will draft a disclaimer for the web site stating that the
information presented does not necessarily represent the views of the OCE or
the PHS.
Engineer Database: The Subcommittee
will soon take up the issue soon with updating the Engineer database. CAPT Bedick has agreed to continue
maintaining the database.
6. Mentoring: Mr. Mitch Williams, Chairperson of the
Mentoring Subcommittee, reported the following.
The Mentoring Subcommittee now has its first two mentoring pairs. The Subcommittee is anxious to get more pairs identified and established. There has been much interest in the mentoring program; however, progress has been slow in getting people to take the time to apply. The Subcommittee is looking to EPAC to set the example and to help spread the word about this program. More information is available on the Engineers web site. The Subcommittee is also working on refining its presentation for the Engineering Leadership Development Seminar next year. CDR Mickelsen has taken the lead role on this. The Subcommittee’s next meeting will be on September 12 at 11:00 a.m. EDT.
7. Recruiting and
Retention: CDR Crump, Chairperson of the Recruiting and Retention
Subcommittee, reported the following.
The Subcommittee is working on the
text portion of the revised Engineer Career Opportunities in the PHS
booklet. The Subcommittee expects to
have a draft ready for EPAC review by the next meeting.
The Subcommittee had an extended
conversation with CDR Marylouise Ganaway of DCP about recruitment of engineers
into the Commissioned Corps. CDR
Ganaway would like to see the Subcommittee assist DCP in establishing contact
with many of the engineer applicants to the Corps. The Subcommittee is looking for additional members to assist in
this program, especially from OPDIVs such as NIH, ATSDR, and CDC.
The Subcommittee is also looking into
resurrecting the Associate Recruiter Program.
There has been some discussion with DCP about it, but CDR Ganaway has
recommended that the Subcommittee wait until the dust settles in the wake of
DCP’s restructuring. RADM Williams
asked that he be kept informed if and when the Subcommittee decides to pursue
this program. It may be possible that
DCP could use the Engineers as a model for the other categories.
8. Rules: CAPT
Chadwick, Chairperson of the Rules Subcommittee, reported the following.
The Subcommittee is waiting for OPDIV approval
for those who submitted self-nominations for EPAC membership, beginning January
2001. There will be two NIH openings
starting next year; however, no NIH applicants have yet applied.
Elections for the EPAC Chair-elect for
2001 will be held during the next EPAC meeting in September. The Subcommittee has talked to each member
of EPAC who is eligible. Any eligible
member who is interested must submit a current resume to CAPT Chadwick one
month before the next meeting.
The Subcommittee plans to discuss
revisions to the Charter and Bylaws in October.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting
was adjourned at approximately 3:00 p.m. MDT.
EPAC MEETING
PARTICIPATION:
Participants: (Members in bold, with alternates attending
matched by number to the members absent):
CAPT Thomas Bedick
(NIH), Mr. Adam Bjornstedt (IHS), LT Sean Boyd (FDA), CAPT Kevin Chadwick (IHS), CAPT Terry Christensen (NIH), LCDR Michael
Coene (FDA), CDR Eric Crump (EPA), CAPT Jose Cuzme (IHS), Ms. Jill Dyken
(ATSDR), LCDR Scott Earnest (CDC, Alternate #1), CDR Jo Ann Griffith (EPA), Ms. Lisa Hayes (ATSDR), CAPT Cris Kinney
(IHS), LCDR Louis Lightner (HRSA), CDR Jim Magnuson (IHS), CDR Kenneth Martinez (CDC), CDR David
McDonnell (IHS, ex-officio), CDR Daniel
McLaughlin (IHS), CAPT Jeff Nolte (IHS), LCDR David Shoultz (IHS), CDR Roger
Slape (IHS), LCDR Zack Stanley (IHS), CAPT
Gene Sullenger (FDA), LT Charles Weir (ATSDR), CDR Maurice West (ATSDR), Mr. Mitchell Williams (NIH), RADM Robert
Williams (ATSDR, ex-officio), LCDR Colleen Yazzie (IHS).
Members Absent:
CAPT Joseph Cocalis
(CDC), LTJG Alan Fogarty (IHS), Mr.
Tony Iannacchione (CDC), CDR Leroy Mickelsen (CDC, #1), CDR Kathy Poneleit (FDA), CAPT Sven
Rodenbeck (ATSDR), LT Hilda Scharen (DCP/PSC, ex-officio).
Authorization
I have recorded the above EPAC meeting minutes:
CDR David I. McDonnell, P.E. Date
Executive Secretary, EPAC
I have read the above minutes which accurately describe this
meeting, and on behalf of the EPAC approve their distribution:
CAPT E. Crispin Kinney, P.E. Date
Chairperson, EPAC
I authorize distribution of these minutes:
RADM Robert C. Williams, P.E. Date
Chief Engineer, USPHS