Hispanic Employment Initiative: Nine-Point Plan
On September 18, 1997, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a memorandum to Heads of Executive Departments and Independent Agencies that raised concerns about Hispanic underrepresentation in the Federal workforce. In this memorandum, OPM proposed a Nine-Point Plan to improve the representation of Hispanics in the Federal workforce.
The Nine-Point Plan encourages Federal agencies to:
- Support and implement the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans;
- Provide employment information to students, faculty, and the Hispanic community;
- Use the Presidential Management Intern (PMI) Program for recruiting, converting, and advancing Hispanic college graduates;
- Participate in the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) National Internship Program;
- Use the flexibilities of the Student Educational Employment Program to bring Hispanic students into agency’s shortage category occupations, as well as other occupations;
- Develop mentoring programs to motivate young people to pursue higher education and Federal careers;
- Promote participation of Hispanic employees in career development programs;
- Assess agency needs for full-time, part-time, or collateral Hispanic Employment Program (HEP) Managers and ensure that HEP Managers are integral members of the agency’s management team; and
- Incorporate these activities into agency’s Federal Equal Opportunity Recruitment Program (FEORP) accomplishment report to OPM.
Nine-Point Plans
The following are examples of accomplishments obtained from agency submissions in support of the Nine-Point Plan during FY 2002. This section complements the summary of FEORP Initiatives.
Several agencies within the Department of Agriculture (Agriculture) targeted recruitment and employment of Hispanics through student intern and employment programs. APHIS, Rural Development, and Forest Service (FS) hosted a total of 35 HACU students this year (3, 6, and 26, respectively). Food Safety and Inspection Service hired 34 students through the Student Intern Program. For the first time, FS recruited and selected two scholars in support of the Department's Hispanic Scholars program. Rural Development selected 11 Hispanic females as student volunteers, hired 15 Hispanics under the Student Temporary Employment Program, and selected two Hispanic employees to participate in the Department's Student Career Enhancement Program. The USDA has two full-time Departmental HEPMs at the GS-14 level and three at the GS-13 level.
The Department of the Air Force (Air Force) utilized internship programs to employ Hispanics and several installations established mentoring programs and partnerships with local schools. Hispanics encompassed seven percent (23 out of 345) of hires through the PALACE Acquire intern program and five percent (4 out of 83) of COPPER CAP program hires. Twenty-seven internships were awarded to students at Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs). Also, seven percent of the employees who participated in agency and Governmentwide career development programs were Hispanic.
The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) has a mentoring program in which Hispanic employees made up 28.5 percent. Two HACU interns were employed at BBG during the summer of 2002. BBG also maintains Partnerships in Educational Programs with two senior high schools that have a large representation of Hispanic students.
The Department of Commerce (Commerce) recruits college-level interns through its Post-Secondary Internship Program (PIP). HACU institutions received 31 percent of the available FY 2002 funding and 22 HACU interns participated in PIP. Commerce supports several mentoring and outreach programs that promote Hispanic and other students to pursue science, mathematics, engineering, and technology.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) hired three Hispanic males: two into attorney positions and one into an IT Specialist position. A total of 118 students were hired under the Student Employment Program during FY 2002. Seven of them (5.9 percent) were Hispanic.
The Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) employed and converted four HACU interns to permanent positions. Seventeen percent (8 of 49) of DCAA's Student Employment Program participants were Hispanic. DCAA continued to participate in Adopt-A-School programs across the country, mentoring young people through a variety of community organizations.
Three Hispanic employees participated in the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) accounting intern program during FY 2002.
During FY 2002, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) established partnerships and made recruitment efforts at several Hispanic Serving Institutions and other Hispanic organizations. The agency contracted the services of a public relations firm to reach Hispanic students at academic institutions. DIA established a Hispanic Employment Program Council, which served to enhance career development and programs for the Hispanic workforce through workshops on
mentoring, training, and leadership skills. Trend analyses of quarterly agency employment data are being conducted. This fiscal year, a total of 20 Hispanics were hired, which accounted for 4.2 percent of new hires.
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency's (DTRA) HEPM and Human Resources officials reached out to the Hispanic community through participation in special programs, job fairs, special emphasis program conferences, and other educational forums in various locations of the country as well as maintaining partnerships with counselors at schools with large Hispanic populations. The Albuquerque location currently employs two HACU interns. Hispanic students comprise 90 percent of the student population employed through stay-in-school, cooperative education, and summer job programs at the New Mexico site.
The Department of Defense Headquarters (DoDHQ) participated in the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) National Internship Program by hiring six interns.
The Department of Education (Education) used a unique summer program, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholar program, to hire twelve students, one of which was Hispanic. Under the Presidential Management Intern Program, two of seven hires were Hispanic and two Hispanic employees were converted. In addition, four of twenty-one employees hired under the Outstanding Scholar/Bilingual & Bicultural Program were Hispanic.
The Department of Energy (Energy), in partnership with the Hispanic Scholarship Fund Institute, developed a university career scholarship and internship program entitled "The Next Generation of Public Servants". In FY 2002, the Department granted $689,000 for the program and eleven students were identified as participants. Several Operations Offices throughout Energy participate in extensive outreach programs to foster interest in the Department and public service in general.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the University of Kansas Medical Center's Latino Math and Science Academy. The Agency also funded a grant project for $30,000 for one year for Harvest America, a program that conducts outreach activities to educate Hispanic migrant farm workers on pesticide exposure and safety. The National HEPM and collateral duty HEPMs received training on work plan development and special emphasis program management. In FY 2002, the HEPM developed a Hispanic network under EPA's National Hispanic Outreach Strategy for the
dissemination of information on employment, internship, training, and activities salient to the Hispanic community. The HEPMs also developed the National HEP Work Plan to address specific implementation strategies concerning outreach, employment, career development, and training. The Agency continued to utilize student employment flexibilities by sponsoring 22 HACU interns, hiring one Hispanic Presidential Management Intern, and employing several Latino students in the Ann Arbor Lab's Student Career Experience Program.
Hispanics made up 17.9 percent (7 out of 39) of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) new hires.
The Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) reports that three Hispanic employees were hired at the agency this fiscal year. Two PMI's were converted to career conditional appointments and one of two participants in the FY 2002 summer intern program was hired under the Student Temporary Employment Program. In addition, one Hispanic PMI was hired this year. The scope of the agency's Tuition Assistance Program was expanded to include "courses related to the mission of the Ex-Im Bank". As a result, three out of a total of 39 (or 8.0 percent) of the employees who received tuition assistance were Hispanic.
The Farm Credit Administration (FCA) utilized agency and Governmentwide intern programs to recruit and develop Hispanic professional trainees. Seven students were hired through the HACU intern program. Six (50 percent) of the individuals hired under the agency's Examiner Career Intern and Policy Analyst Career Intern Programs were Hispanic. In addition, two Hispanic students were hired from the University of Texas Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Policy.
The Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) visits to universities in Puerto Rico resulted in the hiring of two Hispanics, one of which was appointed under the FCC Engineer-in-Training Program. In addition, five Hispanics were appointed under the Student Career Experience Program and three employees were hired for their ability to speak, read, and write Spanish
The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) hired one Hispanic out of twelve positions filled during FY 2002.
Several regions within the General Services Administration (GSA) have hired and promoted Hispanic employees this fiscal year. Regional efforts at the New England Region resulted in two Hispanic accessions. Four Hispanic students were hired at the Northeast and Caribbean Region under the Outstanding Scholar Program and the Student Career Experience Program (SCEP). Out of a total of 49 college students hired under the SCEP at the Great Lakes Region, 11
(22 percent) were Hispanic. At the Heartland Region, two Hispanics were promoted and one was hired. Finally, Hispanics represented 14 percent of new hires, 16 percent of student hires under the SCEP program, and 13 percent of the employees hired under the Federal Career Intern Program.
Various Departmental bureaus and administrations within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), conducted a training program at 16 regional Education and Research Centers located at leading universities throughout the country, and funded 40 training project grants in over 20 states and Puerto Rico. The Department hired 41 Presidential Management Interns, 3 of which (7.3 percent) were Hispanic. Through HACU and other internship programs, including SCEP, Outstanding Scholar, the Staff Fellowship Program, and the Career Intern Authority, HHS hired 104 Hispanic students for summer internships and 94
students for Spring and Fall semester internships. At the Food and Drug Administration, six Hispanic students were converted to permanent positions and seven Hispanic employees participated in Career Development Programs. The National Institutes of Health selected a full-time HEP Manager during Fiscal Year 2002.
The Department of the Interior (Interior) requires that the performance plans for senior executives, managers and supervisors include elements related to significant accomplishments on diversity recruitment and career development. DOI established partnerships with national Hispanic organizations and Hispanic Serving Institutions to foster Hispanic recruitment, advancement, career development and retention within the Federal workforce. Interior successfully uses the Student Employment Programs and entry-level leadership and career development programs as effective recruitment tools.
The Department of Labor (Labor) hired 35 employees under the Student Employment Programs hiring authority. The Department co-sponsored and hosted the annual National Association of Hispanic Federal Executives Summit on January 24, 2002. Two Hispanic participants were selected for the Department's Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program. DOL hired a new point of contact for Hispanic employment programs and maintains a tri-fold directory that includes all Labor agency and regional collateral duty Hispanic Employment Program managers.
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) hired six Hispanic individuals in the professional, administrative, and clerical professions.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Centers participate extensively and provide education and employment opportunities by conducting workshops for the NASA Scholars Internship participants (47 percent are Hispanic), awarding monetary grants to Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI), tutoring Hispanic students at local schools, and assigning employees to serve as a faculty members at HSI. NASA continued to use the flexibilities of the Student Employment Program by hiring 12 students from Hispanic Serving Institutions. A Hispanic engineer participated in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Project Management Program.
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) hired one Hispanic into a permanent position as a Humanities Administrator during FY 2002.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) utilized Special Emphasis Program Coordinators in each region to help recruit Hispanics for Field Attorney and Field Examiner positions. The Agency hired Hispanic students for these positions under the Agency's Student Internship Program.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) continues to advertise employment vacancies in publications and websites that target Hispanics and utilize student programs to introduce NSF careers to the Hispanic community. Eleven Hispanic students participated in the HACU Intern Program and two were employed through the Student Employment Program.
The Department of the Navy (Navy) conducted an Executive Career Planning Seminar for Hispanic employees in grades 13-15 and the Senior Executive Service that provided career planning strategies and other career enhancement techniques. In addition, two Hispanic interns entered the Presidential Management Intern program at Navy.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) agency-wide Nuclear Safety Intern Program is a two-year developmental program that provides formal and on-the-job training and rotational assignments to qualified employees. The program focuses on entry-level women, minorities, and people with disabilities. Hispanic employees have comprised 25-30 percent of the individuals who have participated in the first two classes.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) hired one Hispanic under the Presidential Management Program. OPM coordinated, sponsored and hosted a forum on Federal careers for Washington, D.C. metropolitan area HACU summer interns and provided on-the-job training and educational opportunities for 24 HACU interns. A Hispanic female participated in the six-month developmental USDA New Leader Program. In addition, OPM is renewing partnerships with Hispanic Serving Institutions and organizations such as the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) hired 5 HACU interns and approximately 50 employees volunteered their time to mentor students at the local Thompson Elementary School, whose students are 47 percent Hispanic. PBGC is also creating a database of Hispanic students contacted at college and university job fairs and reviewed recruitment packages for translation into Spanish.
At the end of this Fiscal Year, Hispanics comprised 11.2 percent of Social Security Administration's (SSA) workforce; including 123 Hispanic participants in the student employment programs (18.4 percent). During FY 2002, 594 (or 17.3 percent) of SSA's new hires were Hispanic. The agency utilized the Outstanding Scholar program and the bilingual hiring provision to hire Hispanics. The Hispanic representation in each program was 23.5 percent and 61.1 percent, respectively. To increase Hispanic representation in the PMI program, SSA established a committee of PMIs charged with identifying schools with high Hispanic populations. In terms of career development, Hispanics comprised 15.2 percent of the Leadership Development Program participants.
The Department of the Treasury (Treasury) instituted a Vacancy Referral Program in conjunction with its Hispanic Employment Initiative to increase the Hispanic candidate applicant pool and increase the Department's visibility in the Hispanic community. Hispanic Treasury bureau employees participated in various career development programs, such as: Federal Executive Institute, Customs Tuition Program, Harvard University Senior Executive Service Development Program, Customs Mid-Level Managers Course, Customs Supervisory Seminar, Treasury Executive Institute and Support Staff Conference. The Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) reported that 4.5 percent of FY 2002 new hires were Hispanic. The ATF hosted one HACU student, employed six Hispanic students through the Student Employment Program, and five Hispanic students participated in the ATF student volunteer service program. In addition, the ATF continues to educate children in predominantly Hispanic communities through the ATF Gang Resistance, Education and Training Program.
In FY 2002, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) established a Youth Initiative Program to introduce minority students to role models and mentors who will inspire them to remain in school and pursue a postsecondary education. Fifty-three students participated in this initiative, most of whom were Hispanic. VA hosted 65 HACU interns in their Summer and Fall Hires Program. Seventeen employees were selected for the Department's Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program. Four of these candidates (24 percent) were Hispanic. Also, under an Intergovernmental Personnel Act, VA provided the National Association of Hispanic Federal Executives with a full-time program manager from June 2001 through December 2002 to develop a strategic plan and embark on initiatives to increase Hispanic representation in Federal service.
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