Wednesday, July 24, 2002

This is a reminder to all existing Cardholders and Approving Officials. The Department of Commerce, Acquisition Policy and Programs (DoC-APP) now requires Cardholders and Approving Officials to complete General Service Administration (GSA's) web-based purchase card training. GSA's Purchase Card Training "GSA SmartPay Purchase Card - Your Blue Print for Success" takes about 45 minutes to complete and includes a 30 question test. It can be found at the following website address: http://apps.fss.gsa.gov/webtraining/trainingdocs/smartpaytraining/index.cfm. When you pass the test, the website will generate a "Certificate of Completion". Please print out the certificate and send a copy to Robin Carpenter, ITA's Program Coordinator by September 15th, 2002, so that she can keep your credit card account active. If you have questions, please contact Robin Carpenter at (202)482-4989 or via e-mail Robin_Carpenter@ita.doc.gov.

Review of ITA Awards Program

The Office of Organization and Management Support (OOMS) is currently conducting a review of the ITA Awards Program. As part of the review, a survey will be sent via e-mail to employees in the various units of ITA. We would appreciate your feedback about the current ITA awards program. All comments are welcome and will be used in our review of the program. Stay tuned for an announcement as to when the survey will be made available. For more information contact Seth Raley at (202)482-3756.

FasTrac Online Training

Have you tried this new online training system? FasTrac is an on-line training system for federal government employees with a combination of over 1,200 courses. If you haven't requested your personal identification number and password, send an email with your name, social security number, telephone number, office title (down to division level) and email address to fastrac@ita.doc.gov. If you have questions, contact Charlene Gantt in the Office of Human Resources, Workforce Development Division at (202)482-2536.

Annual Undelivered Order and Accrual Verification Process

DOC accounting policies require the annual verification of accounting records and funds status reports. This year the verification process will require certification of both undelivered orders and accruals. The verification of undelivered orders will be conducted using the ITA143, Unliquidated Obligations by Organization Certification Report, and ITA673, the Accruals by Organization Certification Report. The certification must be completed by August 2, 2002. For more details and specific instructions, contact Roxanne Allen at (202)482-8363 or visit the web site at http://www.ita.doc.gov/ofm_guidance/UnliqObligCertInstrFY02.pdf.

Training on Looking Up Accounting Codes on Your PC

The Office of Financial Management (OFM) is launching an automated accounting classification code electronic lookup menu on the Intranet http://ourplace.ita.doc.gov. OFM is pleased to present accounting classification code classes for employees who process obligating documents such as time and attendance reports, requests for procurements, credit card bills, purchase orders, travel orders, etc. The training classes will introduce you to the ITA accounting classification code system and teach you how to navigate through the lookup screens. Training classes for ITA employees will be held on August 6, 8, 13, 16, 20, 22, September 19, 24 and October 1, 3, 2002. Training for timekeepers is mandatory and classes specifically tailored to timekeepers' needs will be held on September 17, 26, and October 1 and 2, 2002. All classes will be held in Room 4115 from 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM and 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM. Each session will accommodate 15 participants. There is no cost associated with this training. To register: Call Ms. Colita Shelton on (202)482-3789 or e-mail Ms. Shelton at www.colita_shelton@ita.doc.gov , no later than August 2, 2002. If you have any questions or would like more information regarding these sessions, please call Linda Henry on (202)482-5343. This program is physically accessible to people with disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids should be directed to Brenda Jennings on (202)482-3947 or (202)483-3438 (TDD for hearing impaired employees only).

COOL Enhancement

Effective July 26,2002, COOL (Commerce Opportunities On-Line) will initiate a new application format incorporating some of the users' suggestions which are designed to enhance the system. The new application format allows you to partially save an application prior to applying for the position. This new enhancement means you will no longer have to apply for a vacancy during one sitting. After you complete all sections, you will be prompted in the last section to "Check and Submit," if there are any errors that must be corrected before submitting your application. Another user-friendly COOL enhancement is the ability to check the status of your COOL application on-line. It's easy to do! From the Applicant Main Menu, simply click on "Application Status, History and Supporting Documents". The status of your application is shown in the left column. For additional information on the status descriptions, click on "Click Here for Help on This Screen". COOL users' suggestions helped make these improvements happen. If you have any questions, please call the COOL Help Desk at 1(800)470-8896. In ITA's OHRM, contact Nancy Benzing at (202)482-8326.

FY 2003 Budget

The Senate Appropriations Committee has marked up the Appropriations Bill. The ITA portion of the Commerce, Justice, State Appropriations Bill includes funding at the FY 2002 level plus an increase to cover the pay raise starting in January 2002. The House has not yet acted on our budget. For more information, contact Alan Zegas at (202)482-5739.

FY 2004 Budget

The Department continues to review ITA's submission. We expect to receive a passback from the Department on July 26, 2002. For more information, contact Alan Zegas at (202)482-5739.

Traveler's Corner

 

Question: Can a traveler request actual expenses in excess of 300% of per diem?

Answer: No. Reimbursement is limited to 300%. There is no authority to exceed that amount. If you have questions, call your travel contact or Sharon Russell at (202)482-3267.

Where Do I Find....

If you want to find out information about the House Appropriations Committee, go to: http://www.house.gov/appropriations. For information, contact Alan Zegas, (202) 482-5739.

ITA Yardstick

Benchmarking: What is It?

Benchmarking is an approach to learning where one is smart enough to know (and to admit) that someone else knows more about something and wise enough to learn from them, adapt it, and even surpass what they know. There are three applications of benchmarking:

Internal Benchmarking - Useful in large organizations to understand internal performance especially where one part of an organization has more efficient and effective processes than another part;

Competitive Benchmarking - This is commonly referred to as "position" benchmarking to help gauge one's place in an industry. In the Government, position benchmarking might be "scored" using criteria applied and comparisons made between Departments. For example, consider the government-wide initiatives under the President's Management Agenda "scorecard".

Process Benchmarking - This is the most common type of benchmarking. The focus is on understanding and utilizing best practices, regardless of industry or type of organization. Benchmarking can provide a useful approach for implementing performance improvement in an organization or in a key business process. Please contact Ed Meyer at (202)482-3304 for additional information on benchmark analysis.