The second option is designed for persons who have at least five years of full-time equivalent experience as a Florida certified Fire Officer. This method is intended to reduce the redundancy in courses taken by crediting the applicant’s educational experience to the objectives required by the NFPA 1021 Fire Officer IV standard and the Fire Officer IV curriculum as evidenced by documentation in the Fire Officer IV Portfolio (DFS-K4-2109 PDF or DFS-K4-2109 Word). To qualify for certification using the Portfolio Program, the applicant shall:

• Possess an active Firefighter Certificate of Compliance issued by the Division or have met the curriculum requirements for Firefighter Part I as defined in 69A-37.055(1) F.A.C.
• Possess an active Instructor I Certificate of Competency issued by the Division.
• Possess an active Fire Officer III Certificate of Competency issued by the Division.
• Meet the program prerequisites, the objectives required by the NFPA 1021 Fire OfficerIV standard and the Fire Officer IV curriculum as evidenced in the Fire Officer IVPortfolio.

The Fire Officer IV Portfolio Workbook enables a candidate to document that their educationalexperiences meet the program prerequisites, the objectives required by the NFPA 1021 FireOfficer IV standard and the Fire Officer IV curriculum.

The Division recognizes that a Fire Officer IV candidate may have already met requisite jobperformance requirements and student learning outcomes when achieving certain academic andprofessional development accomplishments. This method is intended to acknowledge theseaccomplishments, and reduce any professional development redundancy. Through a portfolioreview process, the candidate can evaluate and document their accomplishments in anycombination of three experiential areas;

Academic Degree & Course Work, Executive FireOfficer Designation, and Chief Fire Officer Designation.Academic Degree & Course Work. Fire Officer IV candidates that have an academic degree orcompleted academic coursework are encouraged to assess the applicability of their course workand to correlate the respective course learning objectives and student learning outcomes to therespective Fire Officer IV job performance requirements. Correlation can be demonstrated bysubmitting a copy of the academic institutions course description including the objectives andstudent learning outcomes and itemizing this information in the Fire Officer IV PortfolioWorkbook.

Executive Fire Officer (EFO) Designation. Fire Officer IV candidates that have obtained thedesignation of EFO from the National Fire Academy (NFA) are encouraged to assess theapplicability of their course work and independent research, and to correlate these to therespective job performance requirements and student learning outcomes. Correlation can bedemonstrated by submitting a copy of the Executive Fire Officer course descriptions includingthe objectives and student learning outcomes and itemizing this information in the Fire OfficerIV Portfolio Workbook.

Chief Fire Officer (CFO) Designation. Fire Officer IV candidates that have obtained thedesignation of CFO from the Center for Public Safety Excellence are encouraged to assess theapplicability of their CFO portfolio elements and correlate these to the respective jobperformance requirements and student learning outcomes. Correlation can be demonstrated bysubmitting a copy of the CFO designation and itemizing the elements of the applicant’s CFOportfolio in the Fire Officer IV Portfolio Workbook.