Title
Authorizing Reclassification of Public Health Analyst to Public Health Epidemiologist in Public Health Madison & Dane County
Body
Public Health Madison & Dane County (Public Health) has a vacant Public Health Analyst (P10, Position #2987) which we request to be reclassified to an Epidemiologist (P11). A Public Health Supervisor in the Epidemiology & Data Science unit will supervise this position. This position is currently vacant and the Department of Administration - Employee Relations has recommended approval of this request.
This request is a result of a need to align with the evolving needs of the department. As the department restructured as a result of lessons learned from the COVID pandemic, the Epidemiology & Data Science Unit was built in 2022. This unit is where the Public Health Analyst position currently sits. At this time, the new unit entered a cycle of strategic planning to determine where organizational gaps in data analysis were present. Alongside the Foundational Public Health Practices workforce analysis conducted in mid-2023, multiple gaps in data capacity were identified. Specifically, gaps in the areas of public health surveillance, disaster and preparedness epidemiology, chronic disease monitoring, and access to healthcare were highlighted. Previous to the Public Health Analyst position becoming vacant, the role was dedicated to violence prevention partnership coordination and data analysis. Since then, a full Public Health Epidemiologist role was reshaped to be dedicated to violence and injury prevention work.
While a Public Health Analyst position offers a baseline level of data analysis competency, the training required to become an applied public health epidemiologist better aligns with the needs of the department. Furthermore, the Epidemiology & Data Science Unit is comprised of Public Health Epidemiologists; having an equivalent classification would promote teaming and knowledge exchange. The requested classification will allow the Public Health Epidemiologist to take on more complex tasks with greater organizational impact such as conducting epidemiological investigations, establishing and maintaining data surveillance systems, and conducting extensive consultation with and serving as an expert resource to both internal staff and leadership, and external stakeholders and community partners.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Dane County Board of Supervisors does hereby support and authorize reclassification of the Public Health Analyst (#2987, P10) to a Public Health Epidemiologist (#2987, P11), commensurate with the Department’s request and approval of the Department of Administration - Employee Relations Division; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that position #2987, which has been vacant for more than six months, is authorized to be filled pursuant to Dane County Ordinance 29.52(15), which requires the Personnel and Finance Committee to approve filling positions that are vacant for more than six months.