The Facility Representative Steering Committee members from HQ program offices provided a summary of their Facility Representative Program Self Assessments. DP has completed its assessment. The other offices are in the process of completing theirs.

EM Summary:

• Performance Indicator (PI) information from the Field indicates, with the exception of staffing, the Program is exceeding all of its DOE Goals.
• Average staffing has been running at about 95% of the DOE staffing goal. Attrition, an underestimation of staffing needs and the long duration required to obtain and qualify new FRs has impacted staffing.
• FR Site performance has been very good w/ notable accomplishments.
• The program is maturing. Facility Representatives are being shared among sites to function as technical and management advisors on various projects.
• Opportunities for FR career path development and advancement should be prioritized.
• Use of SMEs should be documented and reported.
• HQ Site & Support Offices should designate primary points of contact within their Office responsible for site FR Program activities.
• HQ should explore the benefits of standardizing technical content, formats and schedules for FR reports/assessments.

DP Summary:

Facility Representative staffing is well short of staffing analyses and FTE allotment. Measures are being taken to improve the staffing and percent qualification at DP sites. Hiring announcements have been issued recently at Y-12, NV, Los Alamos, and Kirtland. The FR Training Course being held in Albuquerque will involve many unqualified FRs from DP sites to significantly reduce time needed to qualify.

SC Summary:

Due to the varied nature of its facilities and the fact that SC has few nuclear facilities, SC relies heavily on its site offices to establish a tailored & efficient management structure of overseeing the operations. This involves effective coordination of Subject Matter Expertise with Faciltiy Representatives, so as not produce over-reliance on Facility Reps.

The assessment is showing that SC headquarters should have an "executive level awareness" of what is going on in the Program, that resource allocation within the Program is generally appropriate and varies according site needs, and that SC headquarters supports some programmatic responsibility for broadening.

NE Summary:

Preliminary findings from the NE assessment

• NE has authorized an adequate number of FR’s; however, it appears that a higher level of program manager involvement is needed in determining FR requirements.
• FR positions are filled with qualified personnel; however, there is a coverage time lapse when an FR leaves and is replaced with another FR and qualification usually takes many months.
• NE can do a better job at providing opportunities for FR’s to develop management skills.
• Performance assessments are accomplished for NE-managed nuclear and radiological facilities and corrective actions taken. However, it appears that a higher level of program manager involvement is needed in reviewing the performance assessments and ensuring timely implementation of corrective actions.
• NE’s staffing analysis review served as the validation; however, program managers have not been receiving every FR quarterly report.

Corrective actions include:

• NE will place added emphasis on providing opportunities for FR’s to develop manager skills.
• NE will ensure that all program managers receive the FR quarterly performance reports.
• NE will ensure that additional program manager attention is paid to the staffing analyses and self assessments.
• FR Program training session conducted by Joe Arango for NE Program Managers in March 2001.