Press Release

NASA Receives Praise for Presidential Management Success

By SpaceRef Editor
April 14, 2004
Filed under ,

NASA was recognized today by the Administration for
achieving the highest standard in Strategic Management of
Human Capital and Budget and Performance Integration.

Kay Coles James, Director, Office of Personnel Management and
Clay Johnson III, Deputy Director for Management, Office of
Management and Budget, recognized NASA Administrator Sean
O’Keefe for his leadership of the effort.

NASA’s Assistant Administrator for Human Resources, Vicki
Novak and Comptroller Steven Isakowitz, and their teams, were
also recognized for their efforts in support of the
President’s Management Agenda (PMA).

Administrator O’Keefe said, “This is a great achievement for
NASA. The hard work, dedication and technical excellence of
our human resources and budget teams resulted in significant
improvement in critical management areas. The entire NASA
family is proud of the teams being honored today.

“The President’s Management Agenda is a starting point for
management reform, and the guide to NASA’s own reform in the
way we do business, improving performance and in the way we
meet our objectives.

“When one thinks of NASA, one thinks of landing on the moon,
pictures of far-away galaxies, and robotic rovers searching
for traces of life on Mars. We have also emphasized
management reform as a necessary condition for accomplishing
the next generation of scientific and space discoveries.
Every manager and employee knows, he or she must not only be
committed to the ‘cool stuff’ of NASA lore, but also to the
management requirements for organizational competence and
prudence.”

NASA is the first federal agency to achieve a “green” PMA
status score for achieving the highest standard in managing
human capital resources and budget accounts. The PMA was
created in response to the President’s vision for a dynamic,
21st century government.

Standards of excellence were created for five key areas of
government: human capital, competitive sourcing, financial
management, E-government and improved financial performance.
Ratings of red, yellow or green are assigned for each area.
NASA continues to pursue the highest standard in the other
three areas.

For information about NASA and agency programs on the
Internet, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

For information about PMA on the Internet, visit:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2002/mgmt.pdf

SpaceRef staff editor.