Appeals process- deemed ineligible by CHRA/Army Applicant Helpdesk
Ok this is a long post, but wanted to use exact quotes when I could and present everything for consideration.
TLDR: Deemed ineligible for a job, I’m fighting it, and I’m wondering if I’m right or they’re right.
I applied for a GS-1301-11 (Physical Scientist) position with US Army-IMCOM, and have been fighting a determination of ineligibility for this position due to my education. I’m wondering if anyone can give me any sort of insight into what goes on behind the scenes, because all I’m getting on my end is higher blood pressure.
Background and context, I’m currently a GS-0028-09 (Environmental Protection Specialist), and the position I applied for is within my same division. I do some of the work already, and the hiring official encouraged me to apply. After submitting the application I received a notification that I was deemed ineligible due to “You were not considered for this position because your application does not show that you possess either a degree in the required field of study; or a degree that includes the required curriculum as specified in the announcement.”
However, in the eligibility portion of the job posting the following is directly stated:
“A. Degree: Bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in physical science, engineering, or mathematics that included 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science such as mechanics, dynamics, properties of materials, and electronics.
OR
B. Combination of Education and Experience: Courses equivalent to one of the majors, as shown in A above, that included at least 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science, plus appropriate experience or additional education.”
My degree is in Geography, and per my tally I have 28hrs of directly applicable coursework on my transcript. I highlighted the applicable courses in the transcript submitted with my application, and since the only contact info on the posting was submitting an Applicant Inquiry through the CHRA Portal I noted this and submitted my first appeal.
Early next morning, I received the following response:
“Good morning,
After reviewing your application, you are ineligible for the Physical Scientist due to not having a degree in one of the following 3: physical science, engineering, or mathematics. This is in combination with the semester hour requirement. Because you do not possess the required degree, you are unable to use the combination of experience and education. That is a basic requirement and cannot be waived.
We appreciate your interest in our agency's positions and hope that you will continue to seek employment opportunities with our agency.
Sincerely,
Applicant Helpdesk”
Ok, I understand and agree I don’t have the degrees mentioned in eligibility criteria “A”, however I believe I qualify under “B”. Thus, I submitted an additional ticket informing that in my reading of the announcement the “OR” between A and B would indicate an alternative eligibility based on having 24hrs of applicable course work, which I have.
Next day, I received the following response from the Helpdesk:
“Good afternoon,
The requirement for the combination states that you must have courses equivalent to one of the majors as shown in A. This means that you must have a degree in a physical science, engineering or mathematics with the 24 semester hours. Because your degree is in geography, this does not meet the initial requirement of A. This requirement is set by Office of Personnel Management and we are not permitted to deviate from the requirement. Unfortunately, because of the degree requirement, you do not meet the basic education requirement for this series.
We appreciate your interest in our agency's positions and hope that you will continue to seek employment opportunities with our agency.
Sincerely,
Applicant Helpdesk”
Am I crazy in thinking whomever this Helpdesk person is has completely and utterly misunderstood the eligibility criteria? Are we completely ignoring the presences of the giant “OR” between options A and B for eligibility? I submitted an additional appeal listing out every applicable course on my transcript, copy/pasted here with the courses removed as potential PII:
“In response to the additional comment of ineligibility for the Physical Scientist position based on the grounds that I do not possess a degree in physical scientist, engineering, or mathematics, I respectfully disagree and bring forth the following arguments that show my eligibility.
First, under part “B” of the basic requirements for Physical Scientist, the posting directly states, “Courses equivalent to one of the majors, as shown in A above, that included at least 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science.” I meet this requirement through the coursework highlighted on my transcript provided with my initial application. All highlighted courses fall under either:
[Courses broken up by applicable subject matter, i.e. physical science, math, etc.]
From this list, I have 28hrs of directly qualifying coursework. Per the OPM General Schedule Qualification Standards for Profession and Scientific Positions, “24 semester hours will be considered as equivalent to a major field of study”, therefore I satisfy the statement in CHRA’s previous reply of “The requirement for the combination states that you must have courses equivalent to one of the majors as shown in A.”
Secondly, to the statement from the previous comment of “Because your degree is in geography, this does not meet the initial requirement of A”, I appeal on the grounds that Geography is a branch of Physical Science, and I have highlighted the physical science related coursework specifically in my transcript in order to showcase my eligibility for this position.
V/r,
Worldwar235”
To this, I got an email this morning my ticket was closed with no comments. I’ve already submitted ANOTHER almost identical appeal because at least address me comments, but….idk am I out of line? Would really appreciate any insights or feedback!