OPM Seeks Agency Comment on New FOIA Job Series

We’re pleased that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) recently proposed a new job series that would cover Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) professionals. OPM has asked Federal agencies to submit comments regarding the draft Position Classification for the proposed job series by October 31st. In a nutshell, OPM proposes an occupational series, GS-0306, titled Public Information Management Specialist within the GS-0300 occupational group. The new occupational series would combine FOIA, Privacy Act and records management responsibilities and, if approved, will consistently define public information management activities throughout the Federal Government. OGIS encourages agencies to take advantage of this opportunity to comment on how to professionalize the FOIA field. OGIS also applauds OPM for taking this historic step to recognize the value of this specialized field and to raise awareness regarding the importance of access to information.