Washington, D.C. - U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Kay Coles James today announced that 4,704 applications had been received for consideration in OPM's Senior Executive Service (SES) Federal Candidate Development Program (FED CDP) executive preparatory program. The FED CDP was created to train a future generation of the SES - the federal government's top cadre of senior executives - and to meet the challenges of the civil service that lie ahead.
"Nearly 60 percent of the current career Senior Executive Service corps will be eligible to retire within the next five years," James stated. "It also is predicted that 20 percent of these employees will leave within the next three years. Though prospective, these figures represent the loss of a sizable portion of the government's senior leadership cadre. The time is now to develop a high-quality, skilled, and diverse candidate pool in order to avoid critical leadership gaps that can adversely impact agency operations."
"Through OPM's aggressive outreach and educational and recruiting efforts with minority institutions, I expect that this will be an important tool in bringing diversity to the federal Senior Executive Service," stated Representative Danny K. Davis.
The FED CDP is a partnership between OPM and participating agencies. It offers a 14-month immersion program that involves participants in educational forums and gives them unrivaled field experiences, including residential executive training and working sessions with White House and cabinet officials. This program is state-of-the-art in every respect, with a unique governmentwide orientation that makes it ideally suited for developing leaders in those professions and disciplines that cross agency boundaries, such as information technology, budget, financial management, human capital management, procurement, and program management.
"NAHFE is very appreciative of Ms. James' proactive initiative in implementing the OPM SES FED CDP," said Manuel Oliverez, president and chief executive officer of the National Association of Hispanic Federal Executives. "With outreach and aggressive recruiting, the program will contribute to an SES that is increasingly diverse." Mr. Oliverez also added that NAHFE has encouraged its membership to take advantage of the opportunity by applying for consideration.
Prior to the application acceptance period's closing on December 8, nearly 2,300 federal employees and other applicants used two OPM-administered websites to request e-mail updates to register their interest in the executive preparatory program. In addition to the online application, the FED CDP homepage provided links to an overview and duties of the program, as well as information on eligibility requirements and application procedures.
Initial application screening will consist of electronic questionnaires, both leadership and technical, and OPM convened interagency assessment panels -- panel members are senior expert representatives from participating agencies. Agencies also will conduct interviews to identify highly qualified candidates, and applicants found to be the best qualified will be asked to participate in a leadership assessment activity. Assessment results from the application, interview, and leadership assessment will be used to make final selections into the program.
OPM sent information to the following organizations in an effort to diversify the FED CDP candidate pool, and to make the organizations' members aware of the new program and the potential opportunities available.
American Association of People with Disabilities
National Organization on Disability
National Council on Disability
Interagency Subcommittee on Disability Statistics
National Council on Independent Living
National Federation of the Blind
Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Government
National Association of the Deaf
The Heritage Foundation
Self Help for Hard of Hearing People
Veterans of Foreign Wars
Blinded Veterans Association
Disabled American Veterans
AMVETS
Vietnam Veterans of America
Non Commissioned Officers Association
Paralyzed Veterans of America
Blinded American Veterans Foundation
Military Order of the Purple Heart
Jewish War Veterans
American Legion
National Veterans Legal Service
Catholic War Veterans
Reserve Officer Association
American GI Forum
Retired Enlisted Association
Fleet Reserve Association
Military Officers Association
Association for Service Disabled Veterans
Reason Foundation
Brookings Institution
RAND Institute
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
National Association of Asian American Professionals
Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities
American Indian Higher Education Association
National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education
National Association of Colleges and Employers
National Association of Schools of Public Affairs & Administration
Federally Employed Women
Executive Women in Government
National Association of Women Judges
Small Agency Council
National Bar Association
American Society for Training and Development
American Society for Public Administrators
League of United Latin American Citizens
National Association of Hispanic Federal Executives
Aspira Association, Inc.
Hispanic National Bar Association
Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers
Association of Latinos in Finance and Accounting
Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science
National Society of Hispanic MBAs
Coalition for Fairness for Hispanics in Government
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
National Hispanic Medical Association
Mana-A National Latina Organization
SER-Jobs for Progress National, Inc.
Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility
U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
National Association of Hispanic Federal Executives
National Hispanic Corporate Council
National Hispanic Leadership Agenda
National Council of La Raza
National Image, Inc.
Latino Coalition
Hispanic Scholarship Fund Institute
Mexican-American Women's National Association
Hispanic College Fund
American Enterprise Institute
Council for Excellence in Government
Partnership for Public Service
International Personnel Management Association
National Academy of Public Administration
Senior Executives Association
Blacks in Government
African American Federal Executives Association
Congressional Black Caucus Foundation
National Forum of Black Public Administrators
National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education
African American Association for Affirmative Action
American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association of Black in Energy
Association of Black American Ambassadors
Association of Black Psychologists
Black Leadership Forum, Inc.
Black Patriots Foundation
Black Women's Agenda
Conference of Minority Transportation Professionals
Executive Leadership Council and Foundation
Metropolitan Consortium for Minorities in Engineering
National Association of Black Accountants, Inc.
National Black Leadership Roundtable
National Pan-Hellenic Council
National Forum for Black Public Administrators
National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and
Chemical Engineers
Federal Asian Pacific American Advisory Council
Asian American Government Executives
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance
India Abroad Center for Political Awareness
Japanese American Citizens League
Korean American Coalition
National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium
National Congress of Vietnamese Americans
National Korean American Service and Education Consortium, Inc.
Organization of Chinese Americans
Asian Pacific American Institute Congressional Studies
Asian Pacific American Women's Leadership Institute
Asian American Government Executives Network
Coalition of Asian Pacific American Federal Employee Organizations
Society of American Indian Government Employees