International Cooperative Administrative Support Services

MINUTESICASS INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP MEETING

ICASS Service CenterWednesday, September 9, 2015

10:00 a.m.

1. Introduction of IWG Members and Attendees.

2. Adoption of Minutes of the July 8, 2015, IWG Meeting: Minutes for the July 8, 2015, meeting were approved and adopted with no changes.

3. Subject: The Uniform Service Standards and CMI Invigoration

Grace Levin, M/PRI, provided an overview of the Collaborative Management Initiative (CMI) and the Uniform Service Standards (USS) used to benchmark service provision. Presenting data from the last five years for customer satisfaction and service delivery performance, she advised that the new data collection technology, MyServices, is more flexible and precise, and will facilitate the planned review and recalibration of the USS.

As when setting the initial USS, Ms. Levin noted that the recalibration process has not only been a HQ and field team effort, but also an interagency collaboration. The Governance Council has reviewed and recalibrated 21 of the highest utilized services, i.e. Motor Pool and Procurement, with progress underway on Human Resources and Information Requests, to be followed by Travel Services.

Ms. Levin demonstrated the functionality of the CMI Dashboard and displayed the varied data available for analysis from this new collection technology. She reported that the data helps with the recalibration of the USS along with field experience provided by Quality Coordinators (QC). She cited her recent experience in Colombo where the need to educate customers and manage expectations led to the development of materials, including a “cheat sheet” for customers for quick reference. Several IWG reps requested those or similar training materials that they could send to their field personnel.

She closed by encouraging IWG agencies to participate in the ongoing USS review and displayed the Lessons Learned modules available for use by QCs, Foreign Service officers and local staff. Ms. Levin’s presentation can be accessed below.

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4. Discussion and vote on bringing HR/OE Wage Survey Contracts into ICASSMike Tulley, Director, HR/OE, gave a short background presentation on moving the cost of HR/OE wage survey contracts into ICASS as a below-the-line-cost. The proposal was initially presented to the IWG Budget Committee. The goal of this change is to improve service, timeliness and be more responsive to both posts and customer agencies. Mr. Tulley’s presentation can be accessed below.

VOTE: The Budget Committee had reviewed and approved the proposal to bring HR/OE’s wage survey contracts into ICASS as a below-the-line cost and recommended its acceptance by the IWG. The policy was presented to the IWG for a vote and was approved.

5. Reports:

ISC Director’s Report : ISC Director Sherrie Marafino reported on the ICASS Service Center’s busy summer and highlighted several of the activities undertaken to support service providers and customer agencies, including the roll-out of a new internet website, consultations, and briefings. (The Director’s report is at the end of these minutes.)

Budget Update : Trish Garate (ISC) announced that the first agency to pay its FY15 Final invoice was DOJ/Civil Division, and had been followed by several entities from State, Treasury, Defense, and Transportation. She advised that the packets for the Initial FY16 Budget Hearing are expected to be sent out September 14/15, with the Pre-hearing meetings on September 17th and 21st, followed by the FY16 Initial Budget Hearing on September 29th.

Service Provider Update : Howard VanVranken, State SP Rep, reported that the regional bureaus are looking at an interim measure to meet new badge-access requirements for using State’s OpenNet system, with a view to a long-term remedy. He advised that the regional bureaus are busy preparing for the upcoming Budget Workshops and noted that one IWG agency had indicated their plan to attend. He encouraged others to consider participating. In conclusion, Mr. VanVranken reported on the regional bureaus’ review of best practices in the OCCI data base to identify projects which might be implemented on a broader basis - regional or worldwide.

6. Committee Updates

Steven Gibson (ISC and Co-Chair of the IWG Policy Committee) asked reps to look again at the DETO policy regarding ICASS services.  He reminded the members that ultimately, when the interagency group working on a USG-wide DETO policy has completed its work, agencies will need to draft their own DETO policies on how DETOs are managed internally.  The IWG Policy Committee is also continuing its discussion of

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the FAP Governance policy, including a new list of standard and supplemental items, and provision of welcome kits. 

7. Other Issues There were no other issues raised and the meeting was adjourned.

The meeting ended at 12:12 PM.

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ICASS Service CenterU.S. Department of StateSA-1, Columbia Plaza, Room H1504

International Cooperative Administrative Support Services (202) 663-3260 FAX (202) 663-3275

September 9, 2015

TO: ICASS Working Group

FROM: ISC Director – Sherrie Marafino

SUBJECT: September 2015 Director’s Report

Outreach and Education: Outreach and education remain an important focus for the ISC. This quarter, ISC staff conducted several webinars, presentations and briefings, and a number of post-specific consultations.

The ISC conducted targeted webinars for the Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services/CDC, and the Department of Defense. Next week, the ISC will conduct a webinar focusing on the initial ICASS meeting held at posts in September to orient new council and budget committee members. The ISC is also working with M/PRI on a webinar targeted to HROs overseas, to review the importance of the data that HROs control and its impact on ICASS, CSCS, emergency accountability and other programs.

The ISC participated in an orientation workshop for State’s Bureau of Population, Refugee and Migration, in the DHS/ICE/Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Mission Support Administrative Officer Conference in Washington, DC, and conducted a briefing for members of the U.S. Coast Guard.

My courtesy calls to each of your agencies will continue through September. These meetings have helped acquaint me with your agency’s operations, priorities and challenges, and provided insights into ways that the ISC or ICASS can better support you, and I thank you, again, for taking time to meet with me. This fall, I will meet with State customers, service providers, and others involved in ICASS, including the regional bureaus. The goal of all of these meetings is to foster closer ties, strengthen communication, and identify further opportunities for collaboration.

The ISC continues preparing for the upcoming budget workshops, to be held October – November 2015, for the GSO workshop being held in FL this October, as well as the combined regional bureau management workshops scheduled for December 2015.

New Website: On August 1, the new ICASS internet website went live. The IP address remained the same (https://www.icass.gov), with visitors being redirected to the new site. The format of the new site is simpler with navigation on the site primarily via the top menu bar. The ISC will continue to populate the new site in the coming months.

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Domestic Employees Teleworking Overseas (DETOs): DETOs are a growing presence overseas, and many of your agencies are on the interagency working group that is helping State develop the overall body of policy governing DETOs overseas. There is now a requirement for agencies to request approval for an overseas DETO using the NSDD-38 process, and 6 FAH guidance governing participation in ICASS for DETOs overseas will soon be released. This is a timely reminder that each agency needs to begin to develop its own DETO policy following the OPM guidance and the guidance under development by this interagency working group.

FOBs and OpenNet Systems Security: The ISC receives reports of inactive accounts for USG employees whose FOBs were sponsored by the ISC. For systems security reasons, IRM requires that inactive accounts be deleted and the FOBs returned. To comply with this, the ISC has begun contacting inactive account holders to request return of their FOBs. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation with this task. Please keep in mind that the ISC can prepare and email, upon request, any reports or other unclassified information your agency might need.

Update of IWG Membership List: The ISC is reviewing and updating its membership list. We appreciate your assistance with updating the names and contact information of those in your agency who no longer attend and/or need access to ICASS information.

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