State of Maryland

A Public Affairs Specialist is the entry level of progressively responsible work in the field of public relations at the professional staff level.  Employees in this classification, following a period of training and orientation, serve as staff assistants in diversified public affairs programs and may be specialists in a particular phase of overall program activities. Employees in this classification do not supervise other positions.

Employees in this classification receive close and moderate supervision from a Public Affairs Program Chief, Chief Editor or higher-level administrator.  Following a period of training and orientation, employees will begin to work with increased independence in media relations and the preparation and distribution of informational, promotional and educational materials.

Positions in this classification are evaluated by using the classification job evaluation methodology.  The use of this method involves comparing assigned duties and responsibilities of a position to the job criteria found in the Nature of Work and Examples of Work Sections of the class specification.

The Public Affairs Specialist and Public Affairs Officer I are differentiated on the basis of the degree of supervisory control exercised by the supervisor over these employees.  The Public Affairs Specialist perform duties under close supervision at times and under moderate supervision at other times, depending on the complexity of the specific duty being performed while the Public Affairs Officer I performs the full range of duties and responsibilities under general supervision.

Gathers information regarding agency activities through personal contact and research of available records and files;

Prepares a variety of promotional and informational material such as news releases, pamphlets, bulletins, articles and booklets;

Distributes promotional and informational material to appropriate media outlets, individuals, groups or organizations;

Compiles and maintains files and records of resource information, photographs, mailing lists, historical and biographical information and technical information concerning agency activities, programs and personnel;

Serves as host for visitors to the agency and arranges for or conducts tours, news conferences or meetings;

Assists in the preparation, publication and distribution of occasional or regularly scheduled agency publications such as newsletters, monthly or annual reports, magazines or other material;

Edits statements, news releases, reports, articles or other information submitted for dissemination;

Prepares speeches, statements, scripts or other information designed for presentation by others;

Responds to inquiries from the public or media representatives regarding agency activities or programs;

Arranges for the dissemination of information to the public through appropriate media outlets;

Provides guidance to program officials regarding methods of presenting information and techniques of maintaining effective public relations;

May be independently responsible for the preparation and distribution of regularly scheduled publications of limited size, scope and complexity;

May operate cameras, tape recorders, projectors, or other similar equipment on occasion.

Performs other related duties.

Class Descriptions are broad descriptions covering groups of positions used by various State departments and agencies.  Position descriptions maintained by the using department or agency specifically address the essential job functions of each position.

Class Descriptions provide information about the Nature of Work, Examples of Work, General Requirements and Acknowledgements.  The Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities; Minimum Education and Experience Requirements; Special Requirements; and recruitment and testing procedures are set by the using agency.

This is a Skilled Service classification in the State Personnel Management System.  All positions in this classification are Skilled Service positions.  Some positions in Skilled Service classifications may be designated Special Appointment in accordance with the State Personnel and Pensions Article, Section 6-405, Annotated Code of Maryland.

This classification is not assigned to a bargaining unit, as indicated by the designation of S (Supervisor), M (Manager), T (Agency Head), U (Board or Commission Member), W (Student), X (Used by Agency or Excluded by Executive Order), or Z (Confidential).  As provided by State Personnel and Pensions Article, Section 3-102, special appointment, temporary, contractual, supervisory, managerial and confidential employees are excluded collective bargaining.  Additionally, certain executive branch agencies are exempt from collective bargaining and all positions in those agencies are excluded from collective bargaining.

Employees in this classification are eligible to receive overtime compensation.  An employee who works more than the normal workweek is entitled to be compensated for that overtime, as provided by the State Personnel and Pensions Article, Section 8-305.

This classification is one level in a Non-Competitive Promotion (NCP) series.  NCP promotions are promotions by which employees may advance in grade and class level from trainee to full performance level in a classification series.  In order to be non-competitively promoted to the next level in a NCP series, an employee must: 1) perform the main purpose of the class, as defined by the Nature of Work section of the class specification; 2) receive the type of supervision defined in the class specification and 3) meet the minimum qualifications of the classification.