U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps

Associate Recruiter Program – Dental Category

Overview

In response to a growing need for health professionals in the Commissioned Corps, the Office of Commissioned Corps Operations (OCCO), with support from the Office of the Surgeon General continues to redefine the Associate Recruiter Program (ARP). Though this revitalized program is supported by a structure created by the OCCO, the category leads work with OCCO to manage, administer and maintain the program on an on-going basis and coordinate recruitment activities in their respective categories.

Many of you have been actively recruiting for the Commissioned Corps with or without a formal program in place and your efforts are appreciated. Enrollment in the new ARP/Dental Category will provide structure to the Commissioned Corps efforts and assure that such efforts receive due credit. All participants, to be fair and to assure program success, must join through the enrollment process and meet the accompanying guidelines. There is a tremendous need for Associate Recruiters in the Dental Category; a list of the Dental Schools with their contacts is now available. The IHS Recruiter maintains an online calendar of Recruiting events at http://www.dentist.ihs.gov/recruit.cfm.

Associate Recruiters are encouraged and expected to recruit for not only the Commissioned Corps but also the agencies they work for. Although these recruitment activities help grow the Commissioned Corps, they also augment the agencies recruitment efforts and help the agencies meet their staffing needs through volunteer recruiters in this program.

To understand the relationship of the Category Leads, Agency Leads and the Associate Recruiter, please review the ARP organizational chart . An Associate Recruiter is expected to coordinate recruitment activities with their Associate Recruiter Leads and to keep current with DePAC and the activities and initiatives of the Commissioned Corps and the Public Health Service.

Training for Associate Recruiters is currently underway. The first AR training of the year is scheduled for March 29, 2006. Officers interested in attending the training or applying to the Associate Recruiter Program may contact one of the Lead Associate Recruiters (see below) for further information. All Associate Recruiters should meet and maintain the Corps’ Basic Readiness requirements. In addition, it is strongly encouraged that each Associate Recruiter attend the Basic Officer Training Course (BOTC) to become familiar with or reacquainted with the Commissioned Corps customs, courtesies, policies and procedures in order to assure consistent information is passed on to potential recruits. The course schedule for BOTC can be found on the CCMIS web site at: http://dcp.psc.gov/COTA/default.asp.

Mission & Goals

The mission of the Commissioned Corps Associate Recruiter Program (ARP) is:

“… to attract and retain highly desirable, motivated and qualified professionals to the Commissioned Corps.”

In order to achieve this mission, the dental Category goals are to:

1. Participate in HHS agency recruitment opportunities.

2. Facilitate contact with HHS agency recruiters / contacts.

3. Serve as a resource for potential applicants regarding the Commissioned Corps and the application process.

4. Maintain tracking system for the ARP’s and applicants.

Process for Applying

Individuals interested in applying to the Associate Recruiter Program/Dental Category can download enrollment information (Associate Recruiter Enrollment Form and the 3 Reference Request Forms ) from this site. When applying for enrollment, the applicant should submit three of these Reference Forms and an ARP Enrollment Form to Cyndia.Harroway@HHS.GOV. The individual's immediate supervisor [Commissioned Corps or civilian] and two co-workers who are Commissioned Corps officers should complete the references. Applicants may contact Cyndia.Harroway@HHS.GOV if you have any questions about completing the enrollment or reference forms.

After approval by the CPO of the Dental Category, the participants will receive an Associate Recruiter badge along with an official certificate indicating their enrollment into the ARP, and a letter of acceptance by the CDO. Only when you have completed this process and received notification that you have been accepted into the Associate Recruiter Program can you present yourself as an Associate Recruiter.

We encourage you to share your interest in the U.S. Public Health Service through the Associate Recruiter Program/Dental Category. Your willingness to share your experience and enthusiasm with students/applicants who will become the Commissioned Corps Officers of the future is truly rewarding!

Process for Requesting Associate Recruiter Materials

Please contact one of the three Lead Associate Recruiter to request Recruitment materials. ARs need to request materials at least 1.5 months before events. This will allow OCCO to process requests for materials from all categories in a timely manner.

Process for Updating Recruitment Activities

Many current dental officers listed as Associated Recruiters have moved to new duty stations and have invalid email addresses on the distribution list. If you have changed duty stations and/or have not sent your AR activities statement to CAPT Joskow, please up-date your information. Contact information and Activity statements (see link below) should be submitted quarterly to Joskowr@mail.nih.gov.

ARP Activity List (for the past two years) Please use the following link for a downloadable form: www.phs-dental.org/depac/newsletters/ar_report.doc

Or send an email with the following required information:

NAME

PHS Serial Number

Phone Number

E-mail Address

For each activity:

a) include date of activity, b) point of contact, c) number of persons involved in contact, d) brief description of the activity.

Process for De-Activating as an Associate Recruiter

If you feel you no longer can actively support the Associate Recruiter Program, please send an email to any of the Lead Associate Recruiters (CAPT Joskow, CAPT Owen, or CAPT Saville). Please give your name, PHS Serial Number and the date you would like to de-activate your Associate Recruiter status. Please note that the Associate Recruiter Badge should not be worn once you have de-activated.