at the September 4 meeting, Chairman Robert E. Hampton said:

With the issuance of Executive Order 11478, President Nixon set new directions to assure equality of opportunity in every aspect of Federal employment. For the first time in an Executive order, the responsibilities of Federal department and agency heads for affirmative action in equal employment opportunity are clearly enunciated. The order emphasizes the integral relationship of equal opportunity and personnel management in the employment, development, advancement and treatment of civilian employees of the Federal Government.

C. Role of the Civil Service Commission under the Executive Order

Prior to August 1969 CSC's civil rights responsibilities were widely diffused throughout the agency. The problems which this posed, especially with respect to its responsibilities under Executive Order 11246, had been widely noted.37 In response to the new Executive order, the staff reorganization took place.

1. STRUCTURE OF THE EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY OFFICE 38

In conjunction with the reconstituted operation, Nicholas J. Oganovic, CSC's Executive Director (level V of the executive schedule), was named Coordinator of Federal Equal Employment Opportunity, reporting directly to the Commissioners. Two high level staff positions, Director of Federal Equal Employment Opportunity (Communications) and Director of Equal Employment Opportunity (Operations), were located immediately below that of the Coordinator. These roles were occupied respectively by James Frazier, Jr. (GS-15) and Irving Kator (GS-16). The former was made responsible for "coordinating operations with minority group organizations and with other Federal agencies having civil rights responsibilities"; the latter, responsible for program

"E.g., "The Equal Employment Posture of the U.S. Federal Government," supra note 14. See also, "Memorandum on Equal Employment Opportunity Organization of the Civil Service Commission" and covering letter from Stephen J. Pollak, Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, Justice Department, to John W. Macy, Jr., Chairman, Civil Service Commission, Sept. 18, 1968.

"The office originally called the "Office of Coordination of Equal Employment Opportunity," is now the "Office of Federal Equal Employment Opportunity."

As of October 1969, a 16-member staff was planned for the newly created Equal Employment Opportunity Office. On November 18, 1969, Mr. Hampton announced the designation of CSC's 10 regional directors as coordinators for the Equal Employment Opportunity program in their respective areas.40 Subsequently, a new midlevel position of Equal Employment Opportunity Representative was created within each of CSC's regional offices.

Although such a centralized, high level office is essential for the direction, cohesiveness, review, and stature of the equal employment opportunity program, many equal opportunity functions are so intrinsically tied to CSC's mission that it is impossible to separate these from other responsibilities in its bureaus. While the equal employment office provides substance, coordination, and stimulation, heavy responsibility for the program's success rests within the Commission's several bureaus.

2. MAJOR COMPONENTS OF THE EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY EFFORT a. Recruitment

Recruitment is the logical first step to consider in attacking job discrimination and inequitable job opportunity since it is the principal means of bringing new employees into Federal service.

In recent years, concepts of affirmative action have begun to take hold. CSC officials, with whom Commission staff spoke, recognized the need for their own agency and others to exercise initiative in searching out, informing, and attracting minority group" candidates.

"CSC News Release, Aug. 25, 1969. On May 21, 1970, CSC announced a further reorganization of its civil rights office. Mr. Frazier was promoted to a GS-16 and named as the sole Director of the Office of Federal Equal Employment Opportunity. He will assume all of the duties of the office which had previously been shared with Mr. Kator and will continue to report directly to Mr. Oganovic. Mr. Kator was named Assistant Executive Director and will work with Mr. Oganovic on a variety of special assignments not necessarily relating to civil rights. Civil Service Commission News Release, May 21, 1970.

A variety of recruiting methods are used in keeping with the diversity of jobs, skill levels, location of Federal offices and installations, and sources of potential manpower. Edward Dunton, Director of the Bureau of Recruiting and Examining, describes the problem in terms of "getting the word out." 42 Post offices -more than 1,000-provide information on job openings and give tests at frequent intervals. Announcements are sent to labor unions, minority group organizations, veterans organizations, college placement centers, U.S. employment offices, and other public and private agencies. Written materials in Spanish are utilized in parts of the country with high concentrations of Spanish-speaking people. Announcements are sometimes given to radio and press. Federal Job Information Centers are located in 65 cities throughout the country, including Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Canal Zone. Finally, considerable information is disseminated simply through personal contacts-present Federal employees passing the word to relatives, friends, and neighbors.

CSC is responsible for general recruitinginforming the public about employment opportunities, getting people to apply, and take qualifying examinations for Federal hiring. CSC also trains recruiters from other agencies.43

Recruitment training concentrates on problems of minority group recruitment including sources of referral, techniques, and the value of using recruiters who are themselves black, Spanish-speaking, or members of other minority groups, to reach blacks, Mexican Americans, and other minority group members.

The pace of the college recruitment program, especially that directed toward black students, has picked up in recent years. CSC estimates that one of every 10 recruitment visits to predominantly white colleges is made by the Government [CSC and/or other agencies], while one out of every five recruitment visits to predominantly black colleges is conducted by Federal officials. The ratio of visits to numbers of students clearly reveals the emphasis being put on minority recruitment. A visit by one or more Federal officials is made for every 20 black students; the ratio for whites is estimated at 1:225.**

CSC reports that similar, specialized efforts are made to recruit Spanish Americans, although data are not kept.45 Despite the intensity of these efforts, no method for assessing the efficacy of recruitment has been developed to date.46

Not all recruitment efforts are directed to college students or are aimed at filling whitecollar jobs. A summer employment program for disadvantaged youths has provided parttime jobs for approximately 70,000 teenagers during each of the past 2 years." Priority is given those in greatest need, i.e., children from families on welfare or others near the poverty level. Recruitment is done through local U.S. Employment Service (USES) offices, which,

48

"However, College Placement Services, Inc., recently conducted a survey of June 1967 graduates from 51 black colleges. Of nearly 1,400 graduates, 656 had accepted jobs with government (primarily Federal Government) while only 741 had gone into private industry. Federal employment comprises less than 4 percent of all U.S. employment. McCarthy interview, supra note 44. "Interview with James Poole, Director, Office of Youth and Economic Opportunity, Nov. 18, 1969.

48 CSC officials have expressed satisfaction with the cooperation given and the effectiveness of USES efforts on behalf of the summer program and other programs designed to aid disadvantaged youth. Poole interview, supra note 47. However, as reflected elsewhere in this report, the overall USES operation has fallen short with

in turn, maintain contracts with high school guidance counselors.

Although racial data are not maintained, James Poole, CSC's Director of the Office of Youth and Economic Opportunity, estimates that 85 percent of the more than 260,000 summer youth hired under the program during the past 4 years are from minority groups.49

Recruitment for low-skill and blue-collar jobs is frequently closely linked to the special training programs which are discussed later in this report. Recruitment of minority group members for senior level and executive positions has often been planned primarily for filling civil rights and staff assistant slots which carry limited decisionmaking authority.50

b. Examinations and Hiring

The examination process of various kinds is the vehicle for selection of most Federal employees.51 It is the means of screening more than 2.5 million applicants annually and helping provide 300,000 to 450,000 new Federal employees each year. The crucial function of examinations has brought the entire procedure under which they operate under attack from individuals and groups concerned with equal opportunity. Over the years, examinations often have had the effect of barring blacks and Spanish-speaking Americans from the chance to obtain a Federal job. In some instances, heavy emphasis on verbal skills— often not related to the requirements of the job have tended to screen out minority group members denied an adequate basic education. Similarly, the premium placed on higher education as an aid in evaluating candidates for promotion has drastically curtailed upward mobility for many black and brown employees. In recent years, the inherent cultural bias in objective tests has come to be recognized.52

regard to many other aspects of equal opportunity. See ch. 4 infra.

49 Poole interview, supra note 47.

50 "The Equal Employment Posture of the U.S. Federal Government." Memorandum prepared by Roger W. Wilkins, Director, Community Relations Service, and others, for John W. Macy, Jr., Chairman, CSC, Jan. 14, 1969, at 9-10.

"1 Certain positions are exempt from the examination requirement, e.g., attorneys.

52 See U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Employment Testing: Guide Signs, Not Stop Signs, Clearinghouse Publication No. 10, 1968. And, currently CSC, in coop

Moreover, Albert Maslow, Chief, Personnel Measurement Research and Development Center, advised Commission staff that studies have shown that the nature of the test setting and interview environment may significantly inhibit performance by minority group members. The impersonal, formal, authoritarian aspect of large-scale testing situations, which are generally conducted by white officials in "establishment" settings, epitomize for many persons from minority groups the dominance of white society. Perceived as alien and unfriendly, the examination setting is scarcely conducive to optimum performance.53 CSC is cognizant of these factors, and has been working to assure that examiners exhibit appropriate understanding to all applicants. (1) Types of Examinations

(A) In General. For many, the term “examination" connotes a written question and answer test. However, as used by CSC, an "examination" is any method by which a candidate is determined to be qualified for a Federal job. Currently there are some 20 basic examination plans. These can 54 These can be broadly grouped as: (1) written examinations, and (2) unassembled examinations. The former category includes both aptitude and achievement tests. The aptitude test in widest use is the clerk/carrier postal examination which screens an estimated three-quarters of a million applicants each year.55

The Federal Service Entrance Examination (FSEE), designed to select candidates for a wide range of professional, technical, and management jobs, is another of the more familiar written aptitude tests. 56 Achievement tests are used to fill positions such as typists and stenographers. Examinations for apprentice trades are primarily achievement tests.57 Areration with the Educational Testing Service, is conducting in-depth studies of cultural bias in employment testing. Interview with Albert P. Maslow, Chief, Personnel Measurement Research and Development Center, Bureau of Policies and Standards, Nov. 19, 1969. 53 Maslow interview, supra note 47. "Dunton interview, supra note 42.

55 About 100,000 hirings are made annually in the Postal Service.

56 The FSEE accounts for up to 10,000 placements each year. See U.S. Civil Service Commission Preparing for the Federal Service Entrance Examination 1966.

"Several years ago a "programed" learning test was started on an experimental basis. The examination is de

ithmetical and algebraic components, formerly contained in these exams, have been largely eliminated with a view toward designing the exam to predict more accurately the applicant's ability to do the job. Also, by dropping the older tests, CSC sought to give greater opportunity to students who lacked good high school preparation in these subjects but who might have the ability to learn them in the apprentice program itself.

Unassembled examinations have no written test component. They consist of an evaluation of education, experience, or both.58 An attempt is made to quantify educational and experiential elements in each applicant's background as measured against job standards established by CSC's Bureau of Policies and Standards.

Regardless of whether the examination is written or unassembled, efforts have been underway at CSC for some time to reassess all examinations in terms of their relevance to the actual job to be performed. A recent example of this approach is the WorkerTrainee Examination which has been in use since 1968.

(B) Worker-Trainee Examination. The Worker-Trainee Examination is a method of bringing unskilled persons into Federal service at beginning grade levels. No written test is given nor is experience necessary. The examination, inaugurated in July 1968 in conjunction with the Concentrated Employment Program (CEP),59 is aimed at finding persons who are signed to test the ability of applicants to become familiar with the principal elements and their application in a particular trade. The Bureau of Engraving has begun using this with promising results from the standpoint of EEO. Dunton interview, supra note 42.

"In comparison to written examinations, the unassembled examination is time consuming and costly to score. In large-scale selections, such as post office jobs, it would be impractical to have an examination which did not lend itself to mass administration and scoring. "The Concentrated Employment Program (CEP) is a system of packaging and delivering manpower services. Working through a single contract with a single sponsor (usually a Community Action agency), the Manpower Administration of the Department of Labor provides a flexible package of manpower programs, including outreach and recruitment; orientation; counseling and job coaching; basic education; various medical, day care, and other supportive services; work-experience or vocational training under a variety of individual manpower programs; job development and placement; and individualized followup after placement.

likely to be satisfied with a steady, secure, routine job despite low salary. Motivation is evaluated and willingness to work at a job that may be boring and tiring is an important requirement. Thus, an overqualified candidate -a college student or a high school graduate, for example, as compared to a high school dropout-would actually score lower on this examination. Candidates who have participated in CEP job training programs are given highest priority. In fiscal year 1969, about 10,000 disadvantaged persons, mostly from minority groups, entered Federal service at GS grade one, Postal Field Service grades one through three, and wage-board grades one and two, via the worker-trainee route. As of the fall of 1969, an estimated 1,000 persons were being hired through this examination each month.60 CSC has been encouraging agencies to develop more openings at the workertrainee level by breaking certain higher grade jobs into their component parts-creating for example, two low-skill positions to perform one more complex job or separating menial tasks involved in certain mechanical, technical, or even professional positions, in order to create another job while simultaneously utilizing persons with high level skills more comprehensively. Expansion of the program had been limited, however, by agency personnel ceilings. In the fall of 1969, CSC requested that the Bureau of the Budget exempt workertrainee placements from personnel ceilings. BOB responded favorably and by January of this year, advised CSC that 25,000 spaces

61

Concentrated employment programs are established by priority in urban neighborhoods or rural areas having serious problems of unemployment and underemployment, coordinating and concentrating Federal manpower efforts to attack the total employment problems of the hardest hit of the disadvantaged in a way that will make a significant impact on the total well-being of the area. See, Office of Economic Opportunity, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (1969).

60 The examination is offered at approximately 100 locations throughout the country, including all of the more than 70 CEP cities. Between 75,000 and 80,000 applications had been received during the first 5 months of fiscal year 1970.

61 The Worker-Trainee program ironically tends to exacerbate the problem of the disproportionately heavy concentration of nonwhites within the lowest grade levels. Opportunity for advancement from workertrainee slots is limited.

would be exempt on a Government-wide basis for use by agencies participating in the Public Service Careers program.62 CSC has responsibility for allotting exemptions to agencies upon their request.63

The Worker-Trainee Examination program, in common with most of the newer, innovative examinations, training programs, and recruitment efforts, is being evaluated by the Research and Development Center of the Bureau of Policies and Standards under the direction of Dr. Maslow.

(C) The FSEE. From a civil rights viewpoint, the Federal Service Entrance Examination (FSEE) has undoubtedly been the most widely criticized of all examinations utilized by the CSC. A written test in use since 1955, the FSEE is designed to screen, via a single testing device, applicants for approximately 200 different types of managerial, technical, and professional occupations in approximately 50 Federal agencies throughout the country. The FSEE is intended to measure verbal ability and quantitative ability 65 required by these positions. These factors correlate significantly with individual academic background. Educational disabilities experienced by many Spanish Americans, blacks, and other minorities necessarily have placed members of these groups at a decided disadvantage in this test.

Precise racial data, which would enable an accurate appraisal of the extent to which the FSEE screens out minority group applicants, are not available. CSC officials concede, however, that the percentage of blacks and Mexi

can Americans who pass is low. Over the past several years, an average of 10,000 to 14,000 persons out of approximately 150,000 applicants entered Federal service annually via the FSEE. The majority of these new employees are recent white college graduates.

Basic FSEE requirements for entry-level GS-5 positions are:

(1) A bachelor's degree or 3 years of responsible experience, or a combination of the two; plus a minimum FSEE rating of 70, or a combined score on the Graduate Record Examination Aptitude Test of 1,000; or

(2) A bachelor's degree within the previous 2 years and either a 3.5 grade point average (4.0 equals an "A") or rank in the top 10 percent of the class. No written test is required.

Entry at the GS-7 level is also possible. Additional education and/or higher scores on the written portion of the examination are required.

Requirement No. 2 above, instituted in 1967 with a view toward bringing more minority group members into managerial and administrative positions, has had only limited value. Thus, only about 600 persons (approximately 5 percent of those appointed from the FSEE register) enter Federal service through this avenue each year. Of this total, however, an estimated 200 or 300 are nonwhite.66 (2) Other Special Hiring Programs

(A) Mexican Americans. CSC has urged Federal agencies with southwestern offices and installations to make special efforts to recruit, hire, and promote Mexican Americans.67 These agencies are also expected to be alert to available job opportunities outside their region (and outside their own agency) which will enable more Mexican Americans to move into the mainstream of Federal employment.

(B) Indians. In recent years, CSC has moved more imaginatively to reach and enlist other minority group members in Federal service. For example, it is working with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), especially in

“This number represents about 2 percent of the total FSEE hires each year.

67 Interview with James Bohart, Chief, Manpower Sources Division, Bureau of Recruiting and Examining, Oct. 29, 1969.