The Chief FOIA Officers (CFO) Council Committee on Cross-Agency Collaboration and Innovation (COCACI) recently published a white paper on FOIA.gov that presents findings and recommendations on ways to standardize the job series that many FOIA professionals fall into. COCACI’s Working Group for Standardizing the Government Information Specialist (GIS) Position researched and wrote the paper.
The Working Group surveyed FOIA professionals and federal agency executives in four key areas: work demographics, FOIA experience, working environment, and career planning. Using data from this survey, the seven-member Working Group hosted conversations with FOIA leadership across several federal agencies to further delve into existing ways to professionalize and standardize the GIS job series. In addition, the Working Group looked at a variety of challenges faced by FOIA programs and how cross-agency collaboration could improve FOIA and a GIS professional’s career.
Based on its research, the Working Group identified and analyzed a series of trends in leadership support, career development, hiring and retention. The Working Group developed five recommendations:
- Promote GIS careers and create opportunities to raise awareness.
- Implement both in-agency and cross-agency GIS career support.
- Cultivate employee engagement and transparency to create a more desirable work environment.
- Create clear career advancement opportunities and re-examine the job series.
- Consider a certification program to enhance the job series.
FOIA professionals, agency leadership, GIS career professionals, and members of the public are encouraged to review this white paper and consider how its findings and recommendations could benefit the GIS job series and agency FOIA programs.
COCACI was established in response to a FOIA Advisory Committee recommendation (2020-16) to, among other things, create career paths for FOIA professionals. The 2022-2024 term of the Committee also made three recommendations to COCACI pertaining to staffing that relate to the Working Group recommendations:
2024-05 – The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) should add the 0306 Government Information Specialist (GIS) Job Series to the direct hiring authority list.
2024-06 – The Chief FOIA Officers Council, through its Committee on Cross-Agency Collaboration and Innovation (COCACI), should organize agencies to participate in a “talent pool” posting through OPM.
2024-07 -The Chief FOIA Officers Council, through its Committee on Cross-Agency Collaboration and Innovation (COCACI), should create and maintain a database on its website of position descriptions in the Government Information Specialist (GIS) job series at various grades.
For information about the CFO Council’s work, visit the Council page. For additional information on the Working Group for Standardizing the GIS Position, review the Working Group’s charter on COCACI’s FOIA.gov page.
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