Rural Community Assistance (RCAP) Partnership Inc: Train and Credential Drinking
Water Administrative Professionals

FY 2020-2021: Innovative Water Infrastructure
Workforce Development Grant Program

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INTRODUCTION

The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) authorized the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to award grants
to nonprofit professional or service organizations,
nonprofit labor organizations, nonprofit community
colleges, institutions of higher education, or other
nonprofit training and educational institutions to (1)
assist in the development and use of innovative activities
relating to water workforce development and career
opportunities in the drinking water and wastewater utility
sector, and (2) expand public awareness about drinking
water and wastewater utilities and to connect individuals
to careers in the drinking water and wastewater utility
sector.

A total of 10 organizations were recently selected by EPA
to receive grant funding under this program. EPA has
developed Fact Sheets on each of these projects that
includes the language from the grant submission.

To learn more about the range of activities EPA is
undertaking to support our Nation's water workforce,
please go to Sustainable Water Infrastructure-Water
Sector Workforce.

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PROJECT OBJECTIVES

RCAP proposes to create a training and credentialing
program designed specifically to enhance the
management and leadership skills of drinking water
administrative professionals through the psychometric
process. RCAP's technical assistance providers have
worked extensively with drinking water administrative
professionals across the country, and some of the
technical assistance providers themselves worked in
administrative roles at a utility prior to joining RCAP.

RCAP staff are also knowledgeable about drinking water
capacity development. Certainly, RCAP staff could sit down
and develop training curriculum and exams to measure
competency based solely on that experience today, and the
results would be decent. However, our goal is to look beyond
basic competencies in order to understand what makes
administrative professionals effective managers and leaders,
and the best way to reach that understanding is by following
the psychometric process. Psychometricians are experts
within the psychology and education fields devoted to testing,
measurement, and assessment. The psychometric process
is designed to identify the key competencies necessary to
be successful in any job, and the resulting credentialing
examination is valid, reliable, and fair. The final certificate exam
will be a reasonable measure of job performance, and the
psychometric process will ensure that the exam adequately
covers the defined scope of the job and fairly discriminates
between those who can perform and those who cannot.



MAJOR ACTIVITIES

1.	Identify the key knowledge, skills, and abilities that
drinking water administrative professionals need to assume
management and leadership responsibilities for utilities,
leading to increased regulatory compliance and system
sustainability. These competencies will be developed through
the psychometric process by a group of experts including
leading utility administrative professionals, capacity building
specialists, and administrative experts. The competencies will
be described in a job analysis and need-to-know criteria.

2.	Use the job analysis and need-to-know criteria to develop
curriculum for drinking water administrative professionals.
RCAP's training approach utilizes proven adult-education
techniques and incorporates interactive strategies that

will increase knowledge retention, including training that
includes networking between participants and engagement

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January 2022- June 2023

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https://www. rcap.org/

Follow RCAP on Twitter @
RCAPinc!

191 May St, Worcester, MA
01602

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Sarah Buck

Senior Director of Programs
sbuck(a)rcap.org

Hana Abate

EPA Project Officer

abate. hana(5)epa. gov

MAJOR ACTIVITIES (CONTINUED)

with the content, opportunities for follow-up technical
assistance after training, and blended learning
programs that combine self-paced eLearning and live
instructor-led learning.

3.	Use the job analysis and need-to-know criteria
to develop a certificate exam for drinking water
administrative professionals. The certificate exam will
be given in conjunction with the educational events
designed around the curriculum. The questions for
the certificate exam will be developed using the
psychometric process to ensure that the exam is
valid, reliable, and fair. The certificate will be jointly
offered by RCAP and the international Association of
Administrative Professionals.

4.	Deliver educational programs to existing and
prospective utility clerks and drinking water
administrative professionals, with an opportunity to sit
for the certificate exam at the end of the session. The
certificate sessions will be 2.5 days in-person or an
equivalent amount of classroom time spread over eight
weeks online.

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$

OUTCOMES

0 Increased knowledge and competency of
drinking water administrative professionals to
maintain compliance and to sustain systems
over time, measured by the number of individuals
passing the certificate exam and by training pre-
and post-test results
0 Increased number of drinking water
administrative professionals receiving
management and supervisory responsibilities
and opportunities

0 Increased number of drinking water
administrative professionals receiving internal
promotions and job title improvements
0 increased retention of drinking water
administrative professionals
0 increased appreciation for the contributions
of administrative professionals to the utility from
managers, board members, and system owners
0 Increased number of public water systems
in compliance with SDWA or making substantial
progress toward compliance which leads to

better public health outcomes, as indicated by
measured performance, reduced enforcement
priority status, or other indicators.

PARTNERS

For this proposed project, RCAP's national office will
coordinate the development of the job analysis and the
need-to-know criteria for drinking water administrative
professionals. Each of RCAP's six regional partners
will contribute subject matter expertise developed
from years of providing technical assistance to rural
and tribal communities and by working directly with
drinking water administrative professionals in the field.

This project also builds a partnership between RCAP
and the International Association of Administrative
Professionals (IAAP). IAAP is the leading national
expert in developing the leadership skills of
administrative professionals broadly across many
sectors and industries.

RCAP will partner with other outside parties including
drinking water administrative professional leaders from
across the U.S. and staff from EPA, USDA, and primacy
agencies to ensure that a broad set of perspectives
and expertise are included in the job analysis and
need-to-know criteria. ASDWA will be a key partner in
sharing information about the project with primacy
agencies and in securing their attendance for the
project webinars.

The International Institute of Municipal Clerks (IIMC),
which provides certification for clerks who work in
local government in the United States, will review
any educational offering developed through this
program for pre-approval for their continuing education
requirements.

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Association of State
Drinking Water Administrators


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