HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-19-2017 Civil Service CommissionAGENDA
CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
8:15 AM
Helling Conference Room
(Lobby Conference Room)
City Hall
410 E. Washington St.
Iowa City, IA
Certification of Promotional Lists for the positions
of Police Sergeant, Police Lieutenant and Police
Captain
2. Fire Department promotional testing
If you will need disability -related accommodations in
order to participate in this program/event, please
contact Karen Jennings, Human Resources at 319-
356-5025 or karen-ienninqs(o)iowa-city.orq. Early
requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient
time to meet your access needs.
r
HIV A C N A Y
Date: July 14, 2017
To: Civil Service Commission
From: Karen Jennings, Human Resources Administrator
Re: Fire Promotional Testing
The promotional lists for command positions in the fire department expired July 14, 2017,
making it necessary to conduct promotional testing for the positions of Deputy Fire Chief,
Battalion Chief, Fire Captain and Fire Lieutenant. The Iowa Code allows up to ten names to be
certified for promotional positions.
After consulting with Chief Grier, we are recommending a testing process that uses
assessments relevant to the rank being tested to establish the rank order promotional lists
required by Chapter 400. The minimum requirements and proposed testing process (including
the recommended weighting, where applicable) for each rank is summarized in the following
table.
3 years as Firefighter with ICFD Written exam (25%)*
HS diploma or equivalent and certificate in Assessment Center (75%)
fire science with a minimum of 18 semester
hours of fire science technical courses and
Instructor I and Iowa or National EMT
certification required.
Thirty hours of coursework toward
Associate's degree in fire science or related
field may substitute for certificate
Experience in public education, hazardous
materials, technical rescue, and Fire
Prevention Bureau preferred
1 year as Lieutenant with ICFD, Instructor II
Iowa or National EMT certification required
Associate's degree or 60 hours coursework
toward BA in Fire Science or related field
required
Bachelors degree, experience in public
education, hazardous materials, technical
rescue, and Fire Prevention Bureau and Fire
origin and cause training from State Fire
5 years as company officer with
years' experience in fire and
operations
Bachelors degree required
Master's degree, Officer I, Instructor II and
Inspector I certifications, NFA Executive Fire
Officer and 6 years related experience and/or
*Candidates with highest 15 passing
scores will be eligible to participate in
Assessment Center
Fire
(40%)
Panel interview with Chief, Deputy Chief
and City management staff (60%)**
**To include candidate questionnaire
Page 2
6 years in Fire and Rescue Management, Panel interview with outside Fire Chiefs
currently hold rank of Battalion Chief with (40%)
ICFD
Bachelors degree required Panel interview with Chief and City
Management team (60%)'
Master's degree, Officer I, Instructor 11, '*To include candidate questionnaire
Inspector I certification, NFA Executive Fire
Officer and Chief Fire Officer Designation
As you can see, we are recommending that assessment centers be used in the testing process
for the ranks of Lieutenant and Captain. A consultant with experience in administering
promotional testing processes will be hired to design and administer the assessment centers.
Exercises are selected based on the position being testing and are developed in conjunction
with input from ICFD command staff and Human Resources. Because of the potentially large
number of candidates for the rank of Lieutenant it is recommended that candidates meet the
minimum passing score for the written test with no more than the top 15 candidates (assuming a
natural break in scoring) continuing on to an assessment center. Candidates must pass both
the written test and the assessment center to be placed on the certified list. Final Lieutenant
score will be based on a weight of 25% written test and 75% assessment center. Because the
Captain pool will be limited to current Lieutenants who have already passed a comparable
written exam and because this is a smaller potential applicant pool, we are only recommending
an assessment center for the Captain rank.
Cayler Consulting is recommended to administer the Lieutenant and Captain assessment
centers. Jeff Cayler has had a lengthy career in law enforcement, retiring after serving as Police
Chief in Carroll, Iowa for over 30 years. He has been administering assessment centers for
approximately 20 years including facilitating testing processes for Fire Chief and Deputy Fire
Chief in Marshalltown, Fire Chief in Spencer, Fire Chief in Mason City, and Fire Lieutenant in
Johnston and Grimes. He is also currently preparing an assessment center for the North Liberty
Fire Chief process.
A promotional test developed by the International Personnel Management Association (IPMA-
HR) is recommended as the written exam for the rank of Lieutenant. This is a multiple choice
test designed for entry-level fire service supervisors and consists of questions in the areas of
fire behavior/fire science, firefighting tactics and procedures, firefighting equipment and
apparatuses, rescue and safety, building construction, supervisory practices, hazardous
materials, and fire prevention and safety. IPMA-HR requires that applicants be given a
minimum of 60 days study time.
Staff recommends that City Human Resources staff be authorized to administer the IPMA-HR
written exam for Lieutenant candidates and the panel interviews recommended for the ranks of
Battalion Chief and Deputy Chief. Human Resources staff will be involved at all stages of the
process to ensure that legal requirements associated with the hiring process are met.
Testing is tentatively planned to take place in September and October. I look forward to
answering any questions at your upcoming meeting.
Please feel free to call me or Chief Grier if you have any questions
CC: Chief Grier