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Home My WebLink About09-26-2019 Civil Service CommissionAGENDA CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION Thursday, September 26, 2019 8:15 AM Helling Conference Room (Lobby Conference Room) City Hall 410 E. Washington St. Iowa City, IA 1. Fire Department promotional testing 2. Police 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-ienningsaio wa -city. org. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to meet your access needs. r -4 CITY OF I O WA CITY MEMORANDUM Date: September 20, 2019 To: Civil Service Commission From: Karen Jennings, Human Resources Administrator Re: Fire Promotional Testing The promotional lists for command positions in the fire department expire October 31, 2019, 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 I 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 course toward Associate's degree in fire science or related field may substitute for certificate Experience in public education, hazardous *Candidates with highest 15 passing materials, technical rescue, and Fire scores will be eligible to participate in 1 year as Lieutenant with ICFD, Instructor II Assessment Center(100%) Iowa or National EMT certification required Associate's degree or 60 hours coursework toward BA in Fire Science or related field required Bachelor's degree, experience in public education, hazardous materials, technical rescue, and Fire Prevention Bureau and Fire origin and cause training from State Fire Marshall or National Fire Academy referred 5 years as company officer with ICFD; 5 Assessment Center (30%) years' experience in fire and safety operations Bachelor's degree required Panel interview with outside Fire Chiefs • (30%) Master's degree, Officer I, Instructor II and Panel interview with Chief, Deputy Chief Inspector I certifications, NFA Executive Fire and City management staff (40%) Officer and 5 years related experience and/or Page 2 6 years in Fire and Rescue Management, currently hold rank of Battalion Chief with ICFD Bachelor's degree required Master's degree, Officer I, Instructor 11, Inspector I certification, NFA Executive Fire Officer and Chief Fire Officer Designation Assessment Center (30%) Panel interview with outside Fire Chiefs (30%) Panel interview with Chief, Deputy Chief and City management staff (40%) As you can see, we are recommending that assessment centers be used in the testing process for all promotional ranks. 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. Battalion Chief and Deputy Chief candidates will be tested through three weighted components - an assessment center (30%), panel interview with outside Fire Chiefs (30%) and a panel interview with Iowa City Fire Chief, Deputy Chief, and City management staff (40%). Cayler Consulting is recommended to administer assessment centers for the ranks of Lieutenant, Captain, Battalion Chief and Deputy Chief. 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 over 20 years and has administered assessment centers for past City of Iowa City police and fire promotional testing processes. 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, rescue and safety, firefighting equipment, 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 early 2020. 1 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 r f��-4 CITY OF IOWA CITY MEMORANDUM Date: September 20, 2019 To: Civil Service Commission From: Karen Jennings, Human Resources Administrator Re: Police Department Promotional Testing The certified lists for promotional positions in the Police Department expired on July 19, 2019. To enable the Chief to fill future vacancies, we need to hold a new promotional process. The Iowa Code allows up to ten names to be certified for promotional positions. After consulting with Chief Matherly and City Administration, we are recommending a testing process for each rank which includes 2-3 weighted components to establish the rank order promotional lists required by Chapter 400. The minimum requirements and proposed testing process (including the recommended weighting) for each rank is summarized in the following table. 3 years as Iowa City Police Officer I Written exam (25%)* Associate's degree or 60 hours college Assessment center (75%) credit 5 years in law enforcement including 2 years minimum as a Sergeant Associate's degree or 60 hours college credit *Candidate with highest 15 passing scores will Assessment center (65%) Panel interview with Captains or equivalent from area agencies (35%) ®4 years at Sergeant rank or higher Assessment center (30%) Bachelor's degree Panel interview with ICPD command staff (30%) Experience at Lieutenant rank and Master's Panel interview with City dearee is preferred Admin istration/Deoartment Directors (40%) As you can see, we are recommending that assessment centers be used in the selection process for each of these positions. An assessment center is a process whereby assessors who have held command staff positions in other law enforcement agencies evaluate candidates for a position based on candidate performance in exercises designed to simulate situations encountered by a person in the rank they are seeking to hold. Previous assessment center exercises have included a number of the following: problem -solving, training presentation, citizen complaint, tactical, oral presentation, in -basket, employee interview or other job related situations. A consultant with police administration background and experience in administering civil service promotional testing processes will be hired to design and administer the assessment centers. Exercises are selected based on the position being tested and are developed in conjunction with input from ICPD personnel and Human Resources. Following completion of the assessment center the consultant will be available to meet with candidates to provide feedback regarding the candidate's participation in the assessment center. This is the opportunity for candidates to hear the assessors' comments regarding their strengths and weaknesses. This type of feedback is valuable to candidates as it provides them with information they can use in their professional development. September 23, 2019 Page 2 Cayler Consulting is recommended to administer the promotional assessment centers. Jeff Cayler has had a lengthy career in law enforcement, having served as Police Chief in Carroll, Iowa for over 30 years before retiring in 2015. He has been administering assessment centers for law enforcement agencies for over 20 years and has both administered assessment centers and served as an assessor in past City of Iowa City police promotional testing processes. A promotional test developed by the International Personnel Management Association (IPMA) is recommended as the written exam for the rank of Sergeant. This test is a multiple-choice test designed for entry level law enforcement supervisors. It consists of questions in the following areas: laws related to police work; police field operations; investigative procedures; supervisory practices; and reports, records and paperwork. Any candidate who meets the education and experience requirement for the position and submits an application form in a timely manner will be eligible to participate in the written Sergeant exam. IPMA requires that applicants be provided the required reading list for the exam at least 60 days prior to the test date to provide adequate study time. To assist candidates in preparing for this test the City will work with the Iowa City Public Library to make the books available. It is recommended that approximately the top 15 applicants who score 70% or higher on the written test (final number to be determined by a natural break in scoring) be eligible to participate in the assessment center. We recommend that City Human Resources staff be authorized to administer the IPMA written exam for the Sergeant process and the panel interviews for the Lieutenant and Captain processes on behalf of the Civil Service Commission. 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 late 2019/early 2020. 1 look forward to answering any questions you may have at your upcoming meeting. cc: Chief Matherly