Ulster
County Personnel Department
Civil Service Examination
Announcement
FILING
FEE $20.00
#68007 RECREATION DIRECTOR
OPEN-COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION
LAST DATE FOR FILING
APPLICATIONS: December 21, 2011
EXAMINATION DATE: February 4, 2012
SALARY:
The starting salary varies by location.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Candidates must meet the following
requirement(s) on or before the date of the examination:
Either:
A. Graduation from a regionally
accredited or
B. Graduation from a regionally
accredited or New York State registered college or university with an
Associate’s Degree in Recreational Leadership, Education or related field and one
year of full-time, volunteer or paid, work experience in an administrative,
supervisory or counselor-role in a recreational or seasonal camping program; OR
C. Candidate must be at least twenty-one
(21) years of age and meet the following requirement: Twenty-four (24) weeks of administrative,
supervisory or counselor experience in a recreational or seasonal camping
program; OR
D. An equivalent combination of the
training experience as indicated within the parameters of A, B and C above.
Special Requirements: If the position functions as a
"camp director" of an overnight camp, summer day camp or traveling
summer day camp as defined in the New York State Sanitary Code, appointee must
meet all relevant requirements of the Sanitary Code and be approved prior to appointment
by the local permit issuing official in the health department. In cases where incumbents perform duties in a
specialty area that requires a special license or certificate, possession of
such license or certificate is required at time of appointment.
ANTICIPATED ELIGIBILITY (FOR MINIMUM
QUALIFICATION ‘A’ ONLY):
If you expect to complete the
educational requirement within six months of the date of examination, you may
apply. If successful on the examination,
you will not be certified for appointment until you have submitted proof of
completion of the requirements to the Ulster County Personnel Department.
WHERE COLLEGE IS A REQUIREMENT, YOU
WILL BE EXPECTED TO SUBMIT COLLEGE TRANSCRIPTS NO LATER THAN FEBRUARY 20,
2012 OR YOU WILL BE UNCONDITIONALLY DISQUALIFIED. IF COLLEGE TRANSCRIPTS ARE ALREADY ON FILE
WITH OUR OFFICE, INDICATE THIS ON YOUR APPLICATION. ONCE SUBMITTED, COLLEGE TRANSCRIPTS WILL BE
HELD ON FILE IN OUR OFFICE FOR A PERIOD OF TEN YEARS. TRANSCRIPTS NEED
NOT BE OFFICIAL COPIES; HOWEVER, THEY MUST CONTAIN ALL INFORMATION
NECESSARY TO QUALIFY YOU FOR THIS POSITION.
NOTE:
If your degree and/or college credit was awarded by an educational
institution outside of the
APPLICATION REVIEW
TOLERANCE POLICY
For
the purposes of this policy, "tolerance" shall mean the leeway given
regarding work experience when reviewing an application. Applicants lacking a
small amount of work experience when applying for promotional or
open-competitive examinations may qualify under the following conditions:
1) Candidates
will be given a maximum tolerance of one (1) month.
2) Tolerance will be given only when the
minimum qualification requires one or more years of work experience.
3) Tolerance Policy does not apply
to education or licensure/certification requirements. (See particular examination
announcement for "Anticipated Eligibility" information).
4) Tolerance Policy does not apply
where required work experience is set forth by law or rules.
5) Tolerance Policy does not apply
to enable applicants to meet residence requirements.
For
more information regarding Tolerance Policy, please contact our office at (845)
340-3550.
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OF THE CLASS:
The work involves responsibility for planning, organizing and
supervising the recreation program of a municipality. This position is normally seasonal or
part-time and involves administrative and supervisory duties, overseeing all
aspects of the recreation program including staff selection and evaluation,
program development and fiscal responsibility.
The class differs from that of Assistant Recreation Director in that the
Recreation Director has overall responsibility for the program and supervises
the Assistant Director. The work is
performed under the general direction of a municipal board or a higher level
municipal official. Supervision is
exercised over the work of subordinates.
Does related work as required.
SUBJECT OF EXAMINATION:
Written test will cover knowledge, skills, and/or abilities in such
areas as:
1. Administrative supervision
These questions test for knowledge of
the principles and practices involved in directing the activities of a large
subordinate staff, including subordinate supervisors. Questions relate to the
personal interactions between an upper level supervisor and his/her subordinate
supervisors in the accomplishment of objectives. These questions cover such
areas as assigning work to and coordinating the activities of several units,
establishing and guiding staff development programs, evaluating the performance
of subordinate supervisors, and maintaining relationships with other
organizational sections.
2. Educating and interacting with the
public
These questions test for knowledge of
techniques used to interact effectively with individual citizens and/or
community groups, to educate or inform them about topics of concern, to
publicize or clarify agency programs or policies, to negotiate conflicts or
resolve complaints, and to represent one's agency or program in a manner in
keeping with good public relations practices. Questions may also cover interacting
with others in cooperative efforts of public outreach or service.
3. Preparing written material
These questions test for the ability
to present information clearly and accurately, and to organize paragraphs
logically and comprehensibly. For some questions, you will be given information
in two or three sentences followed by four restatements of the information. You
must then choose the best version. For other questions, you will be given
paragraphs with their sentences out of order. You must then choose, from four
suggestions, the best order for the sentences.
4. Recreation administration
These questions test for knowledge and
application of the principles and practices of recreation administration as
they relate to structuring and maintaining a leisure-time recreation program.
Questions may cover such topics as planning (forecasting, identification of
objectives, etc.); organizing (identification and grouping of work tasks,
definition and delegation of responsibility and authority, establishment of
relationships, etc.); control (development and implementation of standards,
evaluation techniques, etc.); and policy formulation (information systems,
evaluation of alternatives, etc.).
The New York State Department of Civil
Service has not prepared a test guide for this examination. However, candidates
may find information in the publication "How to take a written test"
helpful in preparing for this test. This publication is available on line at: www.cs.ny.gov/testing/localtestguides.cfm.
CALCULATORS:
"Unless specifically prohibited, candidates are permitted to use
quiet, hand‑held, solar or battery powered calculators. Devices with typewriter keyboards, ‘Spell‑Checkers’,
‘Personal Digital Assistants’, ‘Address Books’, ‘Language Translators’,
‘Dictionaries’ and any similar devices are prohibited."
*FEES*:
Send your check or money order for twenty dollars ($20.00) (made payable
to
EXCEPTION TO FEE REQUIREMENT: An exception to the processing fee will be
made for persons receiving Supplemental Social Security payments or public
assistance (Safety Net Assistance or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families),
provided Foster Care or certified Workforce Investment Act of 1998 eligible
through a state or local social service agency, and for those who are currently
unemployed. Individuals wishing to claim
this waiver of fee on the basis of Supplemental Social Security, Safety Net
Assistance or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, must certify on their
application, under number 20 Remarks, that they are receiving public assistance
and must indicate the type of assistance they are receiving, the agency
providing the assistance and their case numbers. Persons claiming this waiver
through Foster Care or Workforce Investment Act of 1998 Certification must
specify the program and name of their contact agency. Persons claiming this waiver,
who are currently unemployed must certify on their application, under number 20
Remarks, that they are currently unemployed and must provide documentation that
they are receiving unemployment benefits or other unemployment documentation
deemed appropriate by the Ulster County Personnel Officer. Such claims are subject to later verification and, if not
supported by appropriate documentation, are grounds for barring appointment.
Applications may be obtained at the
For those applications submitted in
person on the last file date, please submit no later than 4:30 PM. All
applications must be in our office no later than 5:00 PM on the last file date.
Applications postmarked by the last file date will also be accepted.
This
examination is being prepared and rated by the New York State Department of
Civil Service in accordance with Section 23‑2 of the Civil Service
Law. The provisions of the New York
State Civil Service Rules and Regulations dealing with the rating of
examinations will apply to this test.
CRIMINAL
BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION POLICY: In accordance with Ulster County Local Law
Number 14 of 2007, a criminal background check (including fingerprinting) will
be initiated by the Ulster County Personnel Department upon initial employment
or re-hire to Ulster County positions, and conducted by the New York State Division
of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), the New York State Office of Court
Administration, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
Verification Information System (IMAGE Program), or any law enforcement agency.
SPECIAL NOTE: All public agencies are required by law to
provide full and equal opportunities for minorities, women and to people with
disabilities. All qualified candidates are encouraged to compete without regard
to race, creed or national origin. Applicants requesting special testing
arrangements as a Saturday Sabbath Observer, alternate test date candidate (in
accordance with Alternate Test Date Policy), or an active member of the
military away from the area on the scheduled test date must clearly indicate
this fact on the application. All such requests must be supported by
appropriate documentation.
VETERANS: Non-disabled and disabled veterans
who wish to claim additional credits must request a Veterans Credits
application from our office. This form must be completed and submitted along
with a war service (DD214) form prior to the establishment of the
resulting eligible list. Veterans credits may only be added to a passing score
and may only be used for appointment once. Candidates currently in the
armed forces may apply for and be conditionally granted veteran’s credits. Any candidate who applies for such credits
must provide proof of military status to receive the conditional credits. You
may not claim additional Veterans Credits after the eligible list has been
established. It is the candidate’s responsibility to request the Veterans
Credits application forms and submit these forms and any required supporting
paperwork before the eligible list is established.
ADDITIONAL CREDITS FOR CHILDREN OF
FIREFIGHTERS AND POLICE OFFICERS KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY:
In conformance with section 85-a of the Civil Service Law, children of
firefighters and police officers killed in the line of duty shall be entitled
to receive an additional ten points in a competitive examination for original
appointment in the same municipality in which his or her parent has
served. If you are qualified to
participate in this examination and are a child of a firefighter or police
officer killed in the line of duty in this municipality, please inform this office
of this matter when you submit your application for examination. A candidate claiming such credit has a
minimum of two months from the application deadline to provide the necessary
documentation to verify additional credit eligibility. However, no credit may be added after the
eligible list has been established.
APPLYING FOR CIVIL SERVICE
EXAMINATIONS IN MULTIPLE JURISDICTIONS WHEN
EXAMINATIONS ARE SCHEDULED ON SAME DATE: If you have applied for any other Civil
Service examinations for employment with New York State or any other local
government jurisdiction, you must make arrangements to take all the
examinations at one test site.
If you have applied for both State
and Local government examinations, you must make arrangements to take
all your examinations at the State examination center by calling (518)
457‑7022 no later than two weeks before the test date.
If you have applied for other local
government examinations, call or write to each Civil Service Agency to make
arrangements. You must make your request
for these arrangements no later than two weeks before the date of the
examinations. You must notify all local
government civil service agencies with whom you have filed an application of
the test site at which you wish to take your examination(s). For this examination call (845) 340‑
3531 OR write to Ulster County Personnel Department,
*If candidates have not received
notification of this examination within four (4) days of the examination, they
should contact this office immediately.
#68007
ORIGINAL COPY: YELLOW
ISSUED: November 18, 2011