Fire Department Promotional Testing

City of Urbana - Fire has issued request for proposal, solicitation FY2027-RFP-206.

The purpose of this “Request for Proposals: Fire Department Promotional Testing” is to select a qualified professional vendor to develop, validate, administer, and score assessment centers and written exams for the promotional testing of fire department: Engineer, Lieutenant, Captain, and Battalion Chief and per the specifications contained herein. The selected vendor will also analyze test results and provide final results.

It is essential that the procedure comply with professional standards ( Principles for the Validation and Use of Personnel Selection Procedures, Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing ) and legal guidelines ( Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures ) and that every reasonable effort to minimize adverse impact be made. Urbana Fire Department: The City of Urbana Fire Department (“the Department”) provides fire protection to over 43,000 city residents as well as the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus. The department also provides mutual aid to neighboring communities. Contract language for Department personnel specifies an assessment center to be utilized in the promotional process. The Department has 63.0 sworn full-time equivalent positions. The Department’s sworn staff consists of thirty (27) Firefighters, fifteen (15) Engineers, twelve (12) Lieutenants, three (3) Captains, three (3) Battalion Chiefs, two (2) Deputy Chiefs, and one (1) Fire Chief. Promotional Process: The promotional process is outlined in the Fire Department Promotion Act. The use of physical criteria, including but not limited to fitness testing, agility testing, and medical evaluations is specifically barred from the Fire Officer promotional process. Scoring will be conducted solely by the assessment service evaluators. The final eligibility list will remain in effect for three (3) years after the date of the initial posting.

Responses are due October 5, 2026 at 5:00 PM CDT.

Questions must be submitted by October 1, 2026 at 5:00 PM CDT.

A non-mandatory pre-proposal conference is scheduled for September 21, 2026 at 12:00 AM CDT.

Contact: Steven Doggett, Fire Chief (steven.doggett@urbanail.gov, (217) 729-2820).

The full solicitation document, addenda and the question-and-answer thread are on the agency's OpenGov portal at https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/urbanaillinois/projects/290986. Responses are submitted electronically there, and a free vendor account is required before you can upload one.