The U.S. Senate today joined the House in approving a bill that would postpone a requirement to post to the Internet financial disclosure forms of as many as 28,000 senior level federal employees. The House approved the measure on Dec. 5.
The passage of H.R. 6634 effectively delays the current deadline for posting the financial data of senior federal employees, from Dec. 8, 2012, until April 15, 2013. Keep reading →
It can be difficult to change 222 years of military heritage and tradition. Just ask Jesse Rangle, team lead and senior planner for the U.S. Coast Guard’s Exercise Support Division, which designs rigorous all-hazard and contingency preparedness exercises nationally for Coast Guard field units and helps execute and support those events.
Even though the Coast Guard established a telework policy in 2005, Rangle ran up against a cultural brick wall every time he tried to acquire the senior management support and endorsement he needed for his division to telework on a regular basis. Keep reading →
Day one for me at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is best remembered as OBA –Overwhelmed By Acronyms. I felt like a stranger in another world. All through graduate school I envisioned my future as an academic professor. I love to teach. I get great satisfaction out of sharing my enthusiasm for science and encouraging paths to discovery, especially when it is returned to me by others. When it came time to seek out that job, I felt the university tenure system would undermine my personal and professional wellness, so I broadened my future vision –that is when my career path took an abrupt change of course. The Science Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument team was looking for an organic biogeochemist to work on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) and future astrobiology missions. It was a natural fit and a fortuitous opportunity. In retrospect, I think I was destined for NASA without ever knowing it.
I come from a family of engineers and technicians. My father contributed to some of the electrical connections used on the Space Shuttle. Like him, I was an inquisitive kid and enjoyed science at school, but I also loved art. It was on the return drive from visiting James Madison University, where I would eventually attend for my undergraduate degree, that my career path set its course. The rolling blue-green mountains were awe-inspiring. I decided right then and there that I wanted to know how they got there. What forces of nature brought them to their gentle majesty? Curiosity got the best of me. Keep reading →
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management has released results of the 2012 Employee Viewpoint Survey, deemed the largest administered since first launched a decade ago.
Results indicate the federal workforce remains resilient, hardworking, motivated and mission-focused amid many challenges. But they also reflect a dip in morale for the second straight year. Keep reading →
Most people take for granted the ability to blow up type on a computer so it’s easier to read. Or they don’t really notice the ubiquity of street corners with ramped sidewalks. Or that some fixtures in restrooms are set lower than the others.
Yet none of these accessibility aids for people with handicaps just happened. They represent decades of work not only to establish legislation such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, but to make sure organizations comply and people with disabilities really do have access to what they need to live and move about independently and work productively.
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The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has released dismissal and closure procedures in anticipation of the winter weather months.
OPM has announced a new policy addition to the list of dismissal options that instructs employees to stay off of the roads until a certain time because of unsafe conditions. This option was informally implemented during the 2011-2012 winter season to help ensure the safety of federal employees preparing to commute into work. Keep reading →
It has been such an honor to be part of the NASA and GSFC team for more than 30 years. I still love it and am enthusiastic about coming to work each day!
In looking back, I can’t say that I started with a grand plan when I was younger about where my career would go but I can say that I had a passion about space and, in particular, astronomy. I was fascinated about the detail I could see when I trained my first telescope on the Moon and this passion fueled my desire to pick Astronomy as my major at University of Maryland. Getting that degree was not easy for me. I had no particular natural talent for the complex math and multi-dimensional thought process one needed to understand and complete the course work. There were days when I thought I just couldn’t do it. But, one of the skills I do have is resilience and this got me through. I asked for help repeatedly, pestered those that had that natural talent, scoured every physics and astronomy book in the library and became a fixture in the lab. It worked and I got better at the material. Keep reading →
I attended an all girls vocational public school in Washington, DC. During high school, I studied Secretarial Science, and in the 11th grade, I was asked by the Guidance Counselor to assist with after school office duties. I duplicated documents, organized and filed papers and reports, and typed reports from rough draft. In the 12th grade, I met the graduation requirements and earned a cooperative education (co-op) assignment with the Federal government. My 11th Grade Guidance Counselor recommended me for the assignment at NASA, where I worked half days while earning my diploma. My first day at NASA was very exciting and scary. I worked as a student aide to the Space Science office where I was mentored by the lead secretary. She groomed me to be the employee I am today. She was very exacting in her expectations and frowned upon anyone who made excuses. This began my work ethic training.
I learned early that if you work diligently, the impossible can happen. If assigned an unusual task, try to complete it even if you are not familiar with it. In every experience, you learn something and gain recognition as a productive employee, without expecting anything in return. Keep reading →
For all the devastation it brought, Hurricane Sandy also showed how a cadre of Health and Human Services web sites have become a flexible and living conduit for crucial government information when public health and safety are at stake. Keep reading →
As an elementary student and continuing through high school, I learned how to work hard and earn a living. At a very young age, I learned how to gather Manila clams and blue crabs at the bay, worked as a fish vendor, and as a young adult, I became a seamstress. At one point, I even learned and manufactured brown paper bags and sold bundles of them at the nearby grocery stores. In my youth, I learned how to do all kinds of housework.
In my elementary school, I remember when I was a fifth grade student, NASA had become a popular name in every corner of the world. I was about 10 or 11 years old when Echo-1 launched into orbit. Shortly after this significant event, our elementary school’s social studies teacher wrote acronyms on the classroom chalkboard – and one of them was NASA. She asked the class what it stood for. After hearing the answer, our teacher said that NASA is one of the government agencies in the United States of America, where astronauts and scientists work. From that moment, I wondered what America looked like. “Are all the homes made of bricks and concrete? Is the soil the same? Do they have lots of trees?” I used to climb trees when I was young. “Are there lots of tall buildings?” Believe it or not, I started wondering if one day, we might live in America. Then I thought, “What happens when I grow up and maybe someday work for NASA? Will they take me? Will they let me work there?” Although I asked myself those questions, I also thought it was an unrealistic dream. I didn’t know what made me think that, or why I had that idea, when in reality, it was not going to happen. I walked two miles home from school, still thinking about that little “day dream. “ Keep reading →