Category: CPSE Exchange

RFI for CPC Application Automation

by Ed Comeau | May 15, 2023 | Uncategorized | 0

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
Credentialing Application Automation
Center for Public Safety Excellence
Date of Release: May 15, 2023
RESPONSE DATE: June 30, 2023, by 5 pm EDT
The Center for Public Safety Excellence® (CPSE®) seeks to create a cloud-based credentialing application to enhance user experience and has released a Request for Information (RFI).
Click here to download the RFI.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: Interested parties must prepare and submit all required documents no later than 5:00 p.m. (EDT) on June 30, 2023 to info@cpse.org.
The Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE) is a not-for-profit 501(c) (3) corporation. We are an international technical organization that works with the most progressive fire and emergency service agencies and most active fire professionals. Our mission is to lead the fire and emergency service to excellence through the continuous quality improvement process of accreditation, credentialing, and education.
Questions about proposal submission should be sent at least three days in advance of deadline to info@cpse.org.

CPSE Learning Opportunities

by Ed Comeau | May 11, 2023 | Accreditation, CPSE News, Credentialing | 0

Peer Assessor Training

Quality Improvement Workshops

CPSE Sponsor Webinar

On Demand Webinars

Resource Documents

At the Center for Public Safety Excellence® (CPSE®) we are excited to bring you the latest learning opportunities to advance your department and career.
Registration for the 2023 CPSE Excellence Conference is now open. Click here for more information.

Peer Assessor Training Program

August 29 – In-Person training, Rosemont, IL

August 30 – In-Person training, Rosemont, IL
Click here for more information and to register for a Peer Assessor training program.

Quality Improvement for the Fire and Emergency Services Workshop – 3 Days, In-Person
Civilian Workshops
Click here for for more information and to register for civilian workshops.

June 27-29 – Joint Base San Antonio Fire Emergency Services, San Antonio, TX (not under DoD contract)

August 28-30 – CPSE, Rosemont, IL

September 6-8 – Cape Coral Fire Department, Cape Coral, FL

September 6-8 – Hilton Head Island Fire Rescue, Hilton Head Island, SC

September 13-15 – Halifax Regional Fire & Emergency, Halifax, Nova Scotia

September 25-27 – Fenton Fire Protection District, Fenton, MO

September 26-28 – Marysville Fire District Regional Fire Authority, Marysville, WA

October 3-5 – York Area United Fire and Rescue, York, PA

October 4-6 – Goodyear Fire Department, Goodyear, AZ

October 17-19 – Spring Fire Department, Spring, TX

November 7-9 – Kingsport Fire Department, Kingsport, TN

Click here for for more information and to register for civilian workshops.

DoD Only – Quality Improvement for the Fire and Emergency Services Workshop – 3 Days, In-Person
Click here for more information and to register for DoD workshops.

June 5-7 – Navy Region Mid-Atlantic Fire & Emergency Services, Norfolk, VA (DoD Only)
June 20-22 – North Carolina Air National Guard Fire Department, Charlotte, NC (DoD Only)
June 28-30 – Navy Region Mid-Atlantic Fire & Emergency Services Great Lakes, Great Lakes, IL (DoD Only)
July 11-13 – Yokota Air Base Fire Department, Tokyo, Japan (DoD Only)
July 12-14 – Creech AFB Fire & Emergency Services, Creech AFB (Indian Springs), NV (DoD Only)
July 18-20 – MCBH K-Bay ARFF, Kailua, HI (DoD Only)

Click here for more information and to register for DoD workshops.

On-Demand Webinars and Resource Documents
We encourage you to take the time to access these free resources in the CPSE University:
On-Demand Accreditation Videos

Writing the Four-Part Answer – A webinar explaining development of the four-part answer for the self-assessment manual.
Performance Statements – A webinar explaining development of performance statements.
Creating a Strategic Plan – A webinar explaining the creation of a community-driven strategic plan.
Developing Strategic Plan Goals and Objectives – A webinar explaining how to develop effective goals and objectives for a strategic plan.
Tech Writing 101 – click here for an overview of the Advanced Technical Writing Certificate Program at George Mason and click here for more detailed information and how to register.

Resource Documents

Annual Appraisals – A handout to assist with developing annual appraisals.
Critical Tasking – A handout to aid in conducting critical tasking for all emergency response types.
Engaging Stakeholders – A handout explaining how to engage stakeholders in the CRA/SOC process.
Fire Department Strategic Plans and Community Master Plans: Are They The Same? – A handout comparing and contrasting fire department strategic plans and community master plans.
Performance Statements – A handout outlining how to develop performance statements.
Writing the Four-Part Answer – A handout explaining development of the four-part answer for the self-assessment manual.
Completing the Designation Application – Learn tips on completing the designation application for CFO, CTO, CEMSO, FM, or FO
21st Century Fire and Emergency Services White Paper – Handouts and videos on the critical issue areas.

CPSE is looking for agencies to host the Quality Improvement for the Fire and Emergency Services workshop in 2023. If you are interested in hosting a 2023 workshop, download the hosting agreement for more information.
For questions or assistance contact info@cpse.org or 703-691-4620.

CPSE appoints City Manager Cathy Ball to the Commission on Fire Accreditation International

by Ed Comeau | May 1, 2023 | Accreditation, CPSE News | 0

The CPSE appoints Cathy Ball, City Manager for Johnson City, Tennessee, to the Commission on Fire Accreditation International representing city manager overseeing a CFAI accredited agency.
Cathy Ball has served as city manager for Johnson City, Tennessee since December 2021. In this capacity she oversees a CFAI accredited agency. Prior to returning home to East Tennessee, she spent 24 years with the City of Asheville, NC as an assistant city manager, interim city manager, Public Works director, and a licensed professional engineer with an emphasis on civil engineering. Her career in local government began with the City of Greenville, SC, in 1988.
A native of Erwin, TN, Cathy is a graduate of Tennessee Technological University and earned her master’s degree in public administration from Western Carolina University.

CPSE Goes Remote

by Ed Comeau | Apr 27, 2023 | CPSE Corner, CPSE News | 0

CEO Preet Bassi, CPSE

By CEO Preet Bassi, CPSE
In 2022, the Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE) entered the last year of our five-year office lease requiring an important decision to be made about the future of work at CPSE.
For the preceding two years, driven primarily by the COVID pandemic, CPSE had shifted to remote work two to three days per week. During that same time, as CPSE recruited for openings on staff, a competitive employment market and the high cost of living in the Washington DC metro area led us to permitting some roles to be fully remote.
Two of the operational tenets identified during our 2021-2023 strategic plan,Continued Financial Responsibility and Stability and Meaningful Innovation for Greater Efficiency and Effectivenesswere at play as we analyzed our options.
I, along with CPSE’s Chief Operating Officer Debbie Sobotka, worked to determine the optimal solution for CPSE’s office space once our lease expires in May 2023 and to identify a future course of action. Literature review on remote versus hybrid workplaces and discussions with other fire and emergency service organizations that had encountered similar situations led us to decide that CPSE would be a Remote-First Workplace.
But what does being “Remote-First” actually mean? For CPSE, it meant not renewing our existing office lease, permitting all staff members to work from home full time, while retaining a small footprint in a co-working space.
Early, we decided that the shift to Remote-First would not impact our in-person field activities (CFAI site visits, CPSE University workshops, TAP facilitation or the CPSE Excellence Conference and Summer Symposium). Furthermore, the shift would also not impact our joining the CPSE community in-person at consortium meetings and conferences throughout North America.
We engaged a realtor to guide us on finding the best co-working solution for CPSE. We ended up renting two small offices in a Spaces building in Reston, Virginia, to permit those employees that wished to work from an office to do so and to have a space to conduct those tasks that remain hands on.
Having made a space decision, we understood it was equally important to understand how this change would impact the CPSE team and a stakeholder-centered focus would ultimately guide what being Remote-First meant at CPSE. Information gathering meetings were held with CPSE staff to determine their home office needs and to identify any task digitization challenges. Beyond mere program task completion, we asked our colleagues for their feedback on how CPSE could prioritize connection, communication, and collaboration in a Remote-First environment. While most tasks could be conducted remotely, the ability to come into an office, when needed, to print certificates, ship books and decals, or meet in person was necessary.
From these discussions, a comprehensive plan with over 50 subtasks was developed. Having shifted to Microsoft Office 365 a few years back, the technological infrastructure would only need to be modified, not overhauled, for us to work seamlessly remotely. Implementing Teams Voice in March 2023 was a big step forward. Sound risk management would see us expand our insurance coverage to address the variability in remote work. Additional tasks varied in length and complexity from disposing of obsolete letterhead to digitizing CPSE’s financial processes. The human element of this monumental change was always in the forefront and developing remote collaboration policies that would ensure we remain responsive to each other as well as the larger CPSE community was essential.
The largest challenge we faced was what to do with the gently used office and conference room furniture we had acquired over the years. The market for reselling corporate furniture post-COVID is non-existent as so many companies were shifting to hybrid or remote work. A great suggestion by Karl Ristow, the former CFAI Program Director, was to donate the furniture to local volunteer/combination fire departments and we were successfully able to coordinate with three local departments to collect 90 percent of our furniture. A true win-win situation.
We began our lease at the co-working location on April 1st, will move on May 4th, and have our final walkthrough on May 8th. After taking a few weeks to catch up on our non-office move related tasks, we will begin phase 2 of CPSE becoming a Remote-First workplace. While that plan is not yet fully fleshed out, it will entail us reviewing any remaining hands-on operations and determining how to either digitize or outsource them.
CPSE’s commitment to our mission, to lead the fire and emergency service to excellence, to our values, of progressive leadership, outcomes, and continuous improvement, and to our vision, of being the global organization dedicated to collaboratively improving health, wellness, and safety outcomes in all communities, is unwavering whether we are working from an office in Reston, Virginia, from our homes in four different states, or on the road.

Preet Bassi has been CPSE’s chief executive officer since 2014 and oversees work across all program areas with a focus on the organization’s strategic direction as set by the Board of Directors. Prior to CPSE, she was the Director of Finance and Administration for the International Accreditation Service and managed their Fire and Life Safety and Building Department Accreditation Programs. She has experience at both the local and state government levels, having worked for the City of Anaheim, California, and the California State Assembly.
Ms. Bassi holds a master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Southern California, and a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Political Science from the University of California Davis. She is credentialed as a Certified Association Executive through the American Society of Association Executives. She was part of the inaugural cohort for the University of Pennsylvania’s Executive Program in Social Innovation Design and has completed Cornell’s Diversity and Inclusion eCertificate Program.

Request for Proposals: Corporate Strategic Plan Development

by Ed Comeau | Apr 13, 2023 | CPSE News | 0

Request for Proposals
Corporate Strategic Plan DevelopmentCenter for Public Safety ExcellenceDate of Release: April 14, 2023RESPONSE DATE: May 12, 2023 by 5 pm EST

Expected Deliverables

Expected Timelines

Response Requirements

Selection Criteria

Previous Strategic Plans

About CPSE

Download PDF

This Request for Proposals (RFP), issued by the Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE), seeks proposals to develop a corporate strategic plan.
The Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE) is a not-for-profit 501(c) (3) corporation. We are an international technical organization that works with the most progressive fire and emergency service agencies and most active fire professionals. Our mission is to lead the fire and emergency service to excellence through the continuous quality improvement process of accreditation, credentialing, and education.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: Interested parties must prepare and submit all required documents no later than 5:00 p.m. (EST) on May 12, 2023. Respondents should email a cover sheet and attachment(s) addressing the response requirements before the deadline to pbassi@cpse.org.
Late proposals will not be reviewed. Questions about proposal submission should be sent at least three days in advance of deadline to pbassi@cpse.org.

Expected Deliverables

The selected organization is required to complete the following steps, at a minimum, in development of the corporate strategic plan.

Survey instruments to gather input from the CPSE community, partners, and stakeholders
Up to five virtual listening sessions with select groups from within the CPSE community
Two two-hour in-person strategic planning sessions with the Commission on Fire Accreditation and the Commission on Professional Credentialing (August 28, 2023 in Rosemont, IL)
A one-hour in-person listening session with CPSE community members (August 28, 2023 in Rosemont, IL)
A two-hour pre-work session with the CPSE Board, senior staff, and commission leadership to identify applicable sections from the American Society of Association Executives’ Drivers of Change (August 29, 2023 in Rosemont, IL)
A one-day in-person strategic plan development meeting with the CPSE Board, senior staff, and commission leadership (December 7, 2023 in the DC Metro)
Facilitate and provoke discussion among the attendees at the development meeting on topics such as foresight, ESG, and business models as well as topics emerging from prior planning and feedback activities
Develop strategic goals and objectives during the development meeting
Formulate success measures to ensure strategic goals and objectives are achieved
Engagement with CPSE graphic designer to develop a professional print-ready strategic plan

Expected Timelines

The selected organization is required to operate within our desired timelines. They are:

Organization selection: Late June 2023
Kick off meeting: Early July 2023
In-person planning and listening sessions: August 2023
Virtual and survey-based feedback activities: September and October 2023
Complete and compile all community input: Mid-November 2023
Develop strategic plan: December 2023
Strategic Plan graphic design: January 2024

Response Requirements

The RFP will, at a minimum, identify the following:

Introduction of your organization
Identify your abilities and plan of action for the deliverables noted in the RFP
Identify your abilities to meet the timelines noted in the RFP
Identify key team members that will be assigned to this project and their knowledge, skills, and abilities
A detailed project proposal including milestones and facilitation and travel costs
Minimum of three examples of prior projects that are similar in scope and size to our project as well as references for these prior projects that we may contact

Selection Criteria

As the successful candidate you will demonstrate:

Significant experience in strategic planning
An understanding of nonprofit organizations and association management
Experience with public safety and/or local government
Experience synthesizing stakeholder input for action
Experience facilitating group discussions
A proven track record of project management by meeting committed deadlines and costs

Previous Strategic Plans

In March 2016, we unveiled our stakeholder-driven CPSE Strategic Plan. This plan provided the road map for CPSE’s continuous improvement. CPSE’s Technical Advisor Program guided the development of the plan with a major focus on gaining stakeholder feedback and identifying our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
In February 2020, we issued a RFP and received responses to develop a new 5-year strategic plan. In June 2020, we decided to change the scope of our strategic planning efforts due to the global pandemic. Information about the development, execution, and implementation of our 2021-2023 Strategic Plan can be found online.

About CPSE

CPSE is governed by a nine-member board of directors. The board elects a president, vice president, and secretary-treasurer, and hires a Chief Executive Officer to manage the corporation’s day-to-day operations. CPSE accomplishes its mission with a staff of seven full time employees, over 600 committed volunteers, and 40 contractors. To further our mission to lead the fire and emergency service to excellence, CPSE offers a number of programs that can help fire and emergency service agencies and officers.
Each year, we publish an annual report highlighting our activities and accomplishments. We have developed annual reports for 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017 or 2016.
AGENCY ACCREDITATION
Agency Accreditation, overseen by the Commission on Fire Accreditation International, is an all-hazard, quality improvement model based on risk analysis and self-assessment that promotes the establishment of community-adopted performance targets for fire and emergency service agencies.
PROFESSIONAL CREDENTIALING
Professional Credentialing, overseen by the Commission on Professional Credentialing, is a career enhancement and development model that recognizes professional accomplishments and technical competence of fire and emergency service officers. CPC offers six designations:

Chief Fire Officer
Chief EMS Officer
Chief Training Officer
Fire Marshal
Fire Officer
Public Information Officer

EDUCATIONAL OFFERINGS
CPSE offers a variety of educational offerings through our CPSE University for departments and personnel to achieve peak performance. Offered in both on-site and web-based formats, these workshops are designed to provide the tools for continuous improvement as well as practical information on accreditation and credentialing. Our premier event is the CPSE Excellence Conference where the finest minds in the fire and emergency service come together for four days to advance agency accreditation, promote professional credentialing, and encourage leadership.
TECHNICAL ADVISOR PROGRAM
Technical Advisor Program provides agencies with the tools to internalize continuous improvement and achieve excellence. TAP provides agencies expert guidance and coaching in preparing for CFAI accreditation.