Draft Minutes of the Meeting of the

· The CCRF is being activated to fill an emergency position at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in the Washington, D.C. area. They are looking for someone with knowledge in safety and health, industrial hygiene or safety officer type activities. An Engineer or Environmental Health Officer is preferred.

· The CPO and PAC Chairs Subcommittee on Recruitment and Retention has decided to hold off another month on finalizing their report. One of the reasons for this is so they can review the very thorough comments they received from the EPAC Recruiting and Retention (R&R) Subcommittee. They were quite impressed and a little overwhelmed by the level of effort by the EPAC R&R Subcommittee in the review of their draft report.

2. Literary Awards: Submissions for the 2001 PHS Engineer Literary Awards, sponsored by the Office of the Chief Engineer (OCE) and the EPAC, are due on November 1, 2000. The awards acknowledge contributions to the PHS by both Civil Service and Commissioned Corps Engineers and Architects. Awards are presented in each of five categories: management, research, regulations, engineering application, and engineering publications. More details about the awards can be found on the Engineer’s web site and the October 2000 edition of the OCE’s Newsletter.

3. SAME Awards: The Awards Subcommittee needs suggestions for naming three of the new Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) PHS awards. The awards will be given out at the national SAME meeting next Spring to PHS Engineers and Architects only. One of the suggestions thus far has been to name an award after RADM Mark D. Hollis who was the first Director of CDC and who was a former PHS Chief Engineer. (See the attached nomination as an example.) RADM Williams encourages any and all members to submit their nomination to the Awards Subcommittee.

4. DCP Appointment Boards: The OCE is looking for officers to be nominated to serve as members of the DCP Commissioned Corps Appointment Boards for 2001. DCP will make the selections from our nominees. The Boards are responsible for recommending to the Director of DCP those applicants who can be appointed as Engineer Officers. To be eligible you must be at least an 04 in rank, and be available in the DC area at least 3 hours every two months. Those interested should contact CAPT Rodenbeck.

5. Retirement: Yesterday there was a retirement party for RADM Mazzella of the nursing category. She had been very supportive of the Engineer category during her career. To honor her, the OCE selected her as an honorary PHS Engineer and presented her with a hardhat and shadow box gift. She was given a good send off.

6. Healthy Building Initiative: The OCE received a letter from ADM Satcher endorsing the Healthy Building Initiative. This is a feather in the cap for the EPAC. Many people put a lot of effort into this initiative. The letter stated that the Office of the Surgeon General wanted EPAC to move forward to develop a framework to guide the establishment of universally accepted standards and criteria, to develop a compendium of current knowledge, and promote continued research on this subject. So, it is now up to the EPAC to decide how and when to go forward, and to identify the appropriate sources of funds.

EPAC Chair: CAPT Kinney reported the following:

1. CCPM Reviews: It appears that DCP will be asking for comments from the EPAC on all the new CCPM Instructions that will be coming out, including the one on Recognition and Awards. These reviews will most likely have tight timelines, so we will have to be looking for these pro-actively and be ready to provide our comments.

2. Recruitment and Retention: As announced previously by RADM Williams, the CPO and PAC Chairs Subcommittee on Recruitment and Retention will defer their report until they have time to review the comments from the EPAC R&R Subcommittee and others. Fortunately that gives the EPAC some additional time to discuss these comments during this meeting, and to officially approve and endorse them.

Division of Commissioned Personnel (DCP) Liaison: CDR Ganaway reported the following.

The reorganization of DCP is still shaping up. CDR Ganaway updated the EPAC with some current statistics for Engineers in the Corps. There are a total of 423 Engineer Officers currently in the Commissioned Corps. Of those, 380 are male and 43 are female. CDR Ganaway can provide more detailed information to the OCE and to the EPAC upon request. DCP currently has 25 Engineer applicants, eight of which are cleared and ready to be hired. DCP is also working on a composite list of vacancies that will be available on the DCP web site. DCP will rely on the OPDIVs to provide updated vacancy information. LCDR Kellie Clelland will be responsible for maintaining the vacancy list. CAPT Kinney requested that the Information Subcommittee contact LCDR Clelland to coordinate the exchange of the Engineer vacancy information.

Commissioned Officers Association (COA) Liaison: CDR Poneleit reported the following:

The last COA meeting was held on October 24. The group discussed the upcoming Annual PHS Professional Conference, scheduled for May 28 – 31, 2001, in Washington, D.C. There was a decision not to do a mass mailing this year for a “call for papers”. Instead, it will be advertised through other, less expensive, means such as on various web sites and the COA Newsletter. During the meeting there was a review of the mission statements of the various groups within COA, such as the Annual Meeting, Education, and the Insurance Committees. In some cases the mission statements were re-written. It was a worthwhile exercise and was suggested to the EPAC that each EPAC Subcommittee review their mission statements at least once a year.

Other items discussed included a new COA initiative for the use of Reserve PHS officers. This initiative would augment the Army’s medical mission and would increase our presence in a way that benefits both the PHS and the military. This piece of legislation is part of the National Defense Authorization Bill. The awards process was discussed. There was much talk about the problems with awards, especially its lack of timeliness and access. There will be more on this soon. The last item discussed at the meeting is the 50^th anniversary of COA, which will be in 2001. Stay tuned for planned events to celebrate the occasion.

Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) Liaison: CAPT Rodenbeck reported the following:

The EPAC Emergency Preparedness Subcommittee will be meeting with the SAME Emergency Preparedness Committee tomorrow to coordinate and exchange information. Representatives from the Office of Emergency Preparedness will also be there.

RADM Williams reported that the SAME ribbon is currently at the final level for consideration. There is confidence that it will be approved. There are still several SAME committees that are looking for PHS representatives. Anyone interested in volunteering should contact RADM Williams or CAPT Rodenbeck.

Junior Engineer Report: LT Boyd reported the following:

The Junior Officer Ad Hoc Advisory Group (JOAHAG) is currently in the middle of their elections. Running for Chairperson are LT Sean Boyd of FDA and LCDR Michelle Jordan, a Therapist from HRSA. For Vice-Chair are LCDR Nelson Adekoya, a Scientist from CDC, and LT Jacque Rodrigue, an HSO from HRSA. Once selections are made they will be reported to RADM Moritsugu who has been appointed as the liaison for the JOAHAG to the OSG.

Last month a message was forwarded to all engineers to encourage Junior Commissioned Officer Engineers to get involved with the JOAHAG and to identify an alternate to LT Boyd, the Engineer category representative. In response to that message, the JOAHAG has selected LCDR John Longstaff, an IHS Engineer stationed in Arizona.

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

CCRF Update: CAPT Rodenbeck reported there are some exciting changes taking place in the Commissioned Corps Readiness Force (CCRF). First, CAPT Rodenbeck had the privilege recently to serve as the liaison officer for the medical team that went to the Republican National Convention. Another Engineer, LCDR Dan Beck, was assigned to the Democratic National Convention. The primary client at these conventions was the Secret Service. CAPT Rodenbeck provided logistical support and acted as the primary liaison between the medical team and the Secret Service. This is a new role for the CCRF and it appears to have been a success. It presents another opportunity for Engineers to assist medical care personnel during their deployment.

There was a two-day CCRF meeting in August with representatives from all categories in attendance. CAPT Rodenbeck represented the Engineer category. The primary purpose of the meeting was to define a list of roles for the CCRF during National emergencies, and to identify which professional category would perform each role. A list was developed which was submitted to the CPOs and PACs for review. The list has many roles for Engineers, and specifies some that require a professional engineering license. The Emergency Preparedness Subcommittee is currently reviewing the list and will provide comments to the EPAC to review before submitting them to the Office of Emergency Preparedness.

The best way to get information on CCRF now is from the CCRF web site (http://oep.osophs.dhhs.gov/ccrf/). All CCRF members should be aware that there is a “ready” roster. In order for an officer to be considered for deployment, she/he must be on the ready roster. There are approximately 120 members who are not currently on this ready roster. To be on the roster requires each CCRF member to log onto the membership database within the last six months, and be current in CPR certification. When logging into the CCRF membership database, officers are instructed to check their data to make sure it is current and correct. There will soon be on-line CCRF training that will also be a prerequisite for deployment. Everyone that is currently considered qualified will have to go through this on-line training. There will be a grace period of about a year and a half to allow everyone to take the training; however, after that period anyone who has not taken the training will be eliminated from the database. More on this on-line training can be found in the October 2000 edition of the Chief Engineer’s Newsletter, which is posted on the Engineers web page.

Recruitment and Retention: CDR Crump, Chairperson of the Recruiting and Retention (R&R) Subcommittee, summarized the Subcommittee’s draft comments on the CPO/PAC Chair’s Subcommittee draft report on Recruitment and Retention, dated September 27, 2000. CDR Crump briefly reviewed each issue presented in the draft report, and followed each issue with the comments that were prepared by his R&R Subcommittee. Most of the Subcommittee’s comments agreed with the draft report’s findings, but went on to expand on the report’s recommendations for implementation. After CDR Crump was finished, there were several comments from the EPAC. LT Boyd recommended that the proposal to reactivate the Associate Recruiter program, mentioned on page 4 of the comments, be emphasized by moving it to the first page. CAPT Kinney discussed the issue of Process and Policy, and the recommendation of requiring only one application when first applying for a job and applying to the Corps. This may not be possible in the Indian Health Service because of Indian Preference requirements. The concept, however, of streamlining the Corps application process is a good one. After some further discussion, the EPAC unanimously endorsed the Subcommittee’s comments with those modifications as discussed. CAPT Kinney thanked the R&R Subcommittee for their quick and very thorough review of the draft report.

New EPAC Member Nominations: CAPT Chadwick, Chairperson of the Rules Subcommittee, presented the Subcommittee’s revised EPAC membership distribution table. This distribution table is Table F of the EPAC Bylaws, titled USPHS Engineer OPDIV Distribution Table & Worksheet. Using Engineer personnel data from DCP and PSC dated July 1, 2000, the Subcommittee re-tabulated the membership distribution among the OPDIVs. The main change in the membership distribution is that EPA dropped from two seats to just one. The Subcommittee recommended that the seat lost by EPA should go toward FDA, increasing their membership from three seats to four. The EPAC unanimously concurred with this recommendation.

With that vote approved, CAPT Chadwick moved on to review the list of new EPAC member nominees that have been forwarded to the Subcommittee by the OCE. The nominees discussed will remain confidential until they are approved by the Office of the Surgeon General (OSG). The positions that are available, by OPDIV, are as follows: 2 for CDC, 1 for EPA, 2 for FDA, 2 for IHS and 2 for NIH. The Subcommittee has nominees for all positions except the two for NIH. There was some discussion of whether to submit the current list of nominees forward to the OSG without the two for NIH, or to wait and recruit the needed NIH nominees. CAPT Chadwick recommended that the list go forward now since it was already overdue. The Bylaws allow for new nominations to be considered by the Rules Subcommittee later. The EPAC voted unanimously in favor of sending the list of seven nominees forward to the OSG now without the two nominees for NIH. CAPT Kinney suggested that there be some follow-up by the Rules Subcommittee in future meetings on the status of NIH nominees.

SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS

1. Awards: CDR West reported the following.

Submissions for the 2001 PHS Engineer Literary Awards, sponsored by OCE and the EPAC, are due on November 1, 2000. The awards acknowledge contributions to the PHS by both Civil Service and Commissioned Corps Engineers and Architects.

The National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) Engineer of the Year Award and OPDIV Engineer of the Year nominations were due to the OCE by October 20, 2000. So far the Subcommittee has received nominations from CDC, EPA, FDA and ATSDR. The Subcommittee is still waiting for nominations from IHS and NIH.

The SAME Engineer Achievement Awards proposal that was put forward by the Subcommittee received approval from SAME. The Subcommittee hopes to identify the names for these awards soon and plans to finalize this proposal by the next EPAC meeting.

The OCE Leadership Award proposal is nearing completion. The Subcommittee plans to have the proposal out to EPAC members for review by the first week in November, and also hopes to finalize it by the next meeting. The Subcommittee invites members to provide input on possible evaluation criteria and eligibility for this award

2. Building Design & Construction: CDR Martinez reported the following.

Due to the NIH Research Festival, there was no Subcommittee meeting this month.

3. Career Development: Ms. Hayes reported the following.

Update on the Engineering Leadership Development Seminar. The Seminar will be held in San Antonio, Texas, March 26-29, 2001 at the St. Anthony Hotel. The Subcommittee, through the Office of the Chief Engineer, is trying to work out a cosponsor agreement with the American Society of Civil Engineers which will provide us with Seminar speakers, registration services, and other Seminar related services. That cosponsor agreement should be worked out in the next week or two. Once that agreement is worked out we should have registration information available.

We still need speakers for our Seminar. Two of them, in particular, we would appreciate the EPAC's help in recruiting. One will speak about leadership. Ideally, we would like to have a high-ranking civil servant Engineer to make this presentation because the other half of this session will be presented by an Air Force general who is an Engineer. We also need someone who can speak about some different certifications that are available to Engineers (beyond the standard Professional Engineer registration.) We want this speaker because many PHS Engineers have positions that don't fit into the traditional Professional Engineering categories. Ideally, we would have this speaker present several alternative certifications that would be relevant to PHS Engineers. But if we can find a speaker who can present on one kind of certification that would be relevant to a large group of PHS Engineers (such as the Biomedical Engineers at FDA), that would also be acceptable. In addition, we are looking for moderators, up to five, for our Seminar. If you would like to volunteer or would like to volunteer someone else, please let Ms. Hayes know.

COA Category Day. The Career Development Subcommittee will again be planning the category day for the COA Professional Conference. We will begin discussing this at our next conference call. Please let a Career Development Subcommittee member know your ideas for topics to include in the program for the category day.

Our next conference call is November 16, 2000, at 2:00 EST.

4. Emergency Preparedness: CAPT Rodenbeck reported the following.

The Subcommittee last met on October 19, and discussed the roles that were identified at the CCRF meeting (see CCRF Update under New Business). The Subcommittee hopes to finalize its comments at the next Subcommittee meeting on December 7, and present them to the EPAC for approval on December 14.

5. Information: LCDR Coene reported for CAPT Sullenger.

The last conference call was October 25th. CAPT Sullenger presented an update on the status of getting the Engineer's database up on the web. LCDR Coene and CAPT Sullenger will be putting the existing database up by November 1, 2000 and then the following plan will begin:

· EPAC members will verify their data.

· EPAC members will be asked to view their OPDIV data.

· We may consider a mass e-mail mailing to get better data.

· It was considered that maybe there is an automatic method to do the updating. That is, FDA has a payroll system called EASE and the data already exists there so perhaps we can consider using a sub-set of this data.

CAPT Sullenger discussed the Picture Book initiative but had no input from Ms. Lisa Hayes. Ms. Hayes was working on this initiative and purchasing a scanner.

CAPT Sullenger discussed the concept of looking for an assistant editor for the Engineer's Newsletter. Kevin Milne mentioned that he had some background in this area and was willing to discuss a limited involvement with Ms. Hayes.

6. Mentoring: Mr. Mitch Williams, Chairperson of the Mentoring Subcommittee, reported the following.

The small influx of applicants for participating in the program has been short-lived, and we are again asking that EPAC members promote our program among their respective agencies' Engineers and Architects. Of the current program applicants, there is one new match that appears to have potential, and this tentative team is hoped to be confirmed within the next week. More applicants, particularly for the protégé role, would result in other teams being established.

The Subcommittee continues working on other methods for increasing participation, including: developing certificates for participants; developing mailings; and making its program known at the upcoming Engineering Leadership Development Seminar. The Subcommittee intends to remind attendees at the Seminar of the opportunity to make application to the program.

The next meeting of the Mentoring Subcommittee is scheduled for November 14, 2000 at 11:00am ET.

7. Recruiting and Retention: CDR Crump, Chairperson of the Recruiting and Retention Subcommittee, reported the following.

The Recruiting/Retention Subcommittee met on Oct 17. As noted under New Business, the Subcommittee reviewed and provided comments on the CPO/PAC's recommendations for recruiting and retention. Those comments were compiled and sent to the Chief Engineer and the EPAC Chair for action.

The Subcommittee briefly discussed the comments, and discussed additional plans for the Career Opportunities booklet. Graphics and layout staff from CDC will assist the Subcommittee in pulling the final document together.

The Subcommittee also discussed plans to expand the Subcommittee to have representation from all OPDIVs. This will be essential as we take on a new role of assisting DCP in contacting engineer applicants to the Corps. The Subcommittee currently lacks representation from NIH and HRSA.

Finally, the Subcommittee concluded discussions on the topic of admitting people with Engineering Technology degrees to the Engineer category of the Commissioned Corps. It is true that some people with such backgrounds can qualify for the P.E. exam, and serve in engineering positions in the PHS. However, consistency with the other uniformed services, as well as the ongoing debate in the Professional Engineer community (over whether the M.S. degree should be the basic degree for an entry level engineer) were cited as reasons for not changing the current requirements for the category.

8. Rules: CAPT Chadwick, Chairperson of the Rules Subcommittee, reported the following.

The Subcommittee will consider any revisions to the Bylaws and Charter at the next Subcommittee meeting on November 7^th.

ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at approximately 3:22 p.m. EDT.

EPAC MEETING PARTICIPATION:

Participants: (Members in bold, with alternates attending matched by number to the members absent):

LT Sean Boyd (FDA, ex-officio, #1), CAPT Kevin Chadwick (IHS), CAPT Terry Christensen (NIH), CAPT Joseph Cocalis (CDC), LCDR Michael Coene (FDA), LTJG Michael Copeland (EPA), CDR Eric Crump (EPA), CAPT Jose Cuzme (IHS), CDR Marylouise Ganaway (DCP), CDR Jo Ann Griffith (EPA), Ms. Lisa Hayes (ATSDR), Greg Holland (NIH, #2), CAPT Cris Kinney (IHS), LCDR Louis Lightner (HRSA), CDR Kenneth Martinez (CDC), CDR David McDonnell (IHS, ex-officio), CDR Leroy Mickelsen (CDC), CDR Kathy Poneleit (FDA), CAPT Sven Rodenbeck (ATSDR), CDR Maurice West (ATSDR), Mr. Mitchell Williams (NIH), RADM Robert Williams (ATSDR, ex-officio).

Members Absent:

CAPT Thomas Bedick (NIH, #2), Mr. Tony Iannacchione (CDC), CAPT Gene Sullenger (FDA, #1), LT Hilda Scharen (OEP, ex-officio).