Minutes of Senior Staff and Center Directors’ Meeting 29 Jan 2001
The following documents the discussions addressed at the Senior Staff and
Center Directors’ Meeting on January 29, 2001. Mr. Goldin attended the
meeting. Action assignments have been placed in brackets [ ] for easy
identification.
1. AA Reports
AA/Stadd: Courtesy visits with all Associate Administrators (AA’s) will be
conducted.
M/Rothenberg: The Space Shuttle launch of STS-98 is scheduled for February
7, 2001.
P/Cleggett: There will be a briefing on the successful NEAR (Near Earth
Asteroid Rendezvous) mission at 1 p.m., January 31, at NASA Headquarters.
E/Manuel-Alexander: Mr. Reese is at the White Sands Test Facility.
F/Novak: 1) NASA continues to be under strict hiring controls; further
guidance is expected from OMB soon. 2) An online system that allows
employees to access their personal benefits statement is scheduled for
roll-out at HQ in early February. 3) The Executive Development Education
Panel met last week and selected 48 applicants for university fellowship
programs in FY 2001-02.
L/Kerwin: 1) The House will be in session very briefly this week to take
up a few votes under suspension and will begin party retreats later in the
week. 2) The Senate is in session to continue confirmation processes. 3)
Committees’ organization continues on the House and Senate, with final
decisions targeted to be completed between February 2-8, depending upon
individual Committees.
2. Dr. Mulville
1) The Senior Management Council (SMC) meeting has been rescheduled for
Friday, February 16, at Headquarters from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. 2) Effective
February 1, there will be a Center Directors’ Telecon held every Thursday,
from 11 a.m. to noon (Eastern Time). The participants will include the
Associate Deputy Administrator, the Chief of Staff, the Enterprise
Associate Administrators, and the Center Directors.
3. Center Directors
ARC/Berry: ARC will host 10,000 students over the next 2 weeks as part of
the Jason interactive science learning project.
GRC/Campbell: 1) Dr. John J. Adamczyk has been selected to receive the
2001 International Gas Turbine Institute Aircraft Engine Technology
Award. 2) An experimental effort to develop engine disk material
technology for regional engines is being completed under the
Ultra-Efficient Engine Technology program. The result is a new chemistry
and heat treatment with improved crack growth resistance and a composition
that can be more easily processed into full-scale forgings for regional
engines.
JSC/Parsons: 1) The STS-98 rolled out to the pad, and the Lab will be
installed in the Payload Bay today. Launch is currently scheduled for
February 7, 6:11 p.m. L-2 will be held February 5; JSC currently has the
range from February 7 through 9. 2) The first flight of the Block II
Engine will be delayed until STS-104. 3) The International Space Station
(ISS) budget will be briefed to OMB on January 31. 4) STS-102 is
baselined for no earlier than March 8, STS-100 for April 19, and STS-104 no
earlier than June 8.
LaRC/Creedon: 1) LaRC is supporting the Epcot (Disney) Initiative for
summer 2001 Aeronautics/Space Festival with displays and presentations. 2)
The NASA Connect Series won the highest award given for the Secondary
Education Sector of the New York Festival TV Programming Awards.
MSFC/Stephenson: 1) MSFC will soon roll out a new Internet site called
nasaexplores.com for K-12 teachers. 2) Carolyn Griner’s retirement
reception is February 1, 2001.
SSC/Craig: SSC conducted three 750-second tests on the Pratt & Whitney
high-pressure turbo pump last week.
4. Mr. Goldin
1) Mr. Goldin called for Center Directors (CD’s) and AA’s to be
personally committed to creating and maintaining an open environment in
which safety issues can be easily raised. He will follow-up with his
senior managers in several weeks to ensure action is taken.
2) A Management Advisory Group is being established to ensure that NASA is
aligned with Presidential policy to “flatten the federal hierarchy by
redistributing positions and resources from high-level management positions
to front-line service delivery jobs.” This group will review the
organizational and reporting structure of the Agency and will identify
opportunities for improving utilization of our SES, ST, and SL positions
across the Agency. Members include Mr. Rothenberg (Chair), Ms. Garman, Mr.
Frankle, Mr. Peterson, Mr. Christensen, Ms. Novak, and Dr. Blumberg.
NOTE: ACTION ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE TRANSMITTED UNDER SEPARATE COVER AND
TRACKED BY THE HEADQUARTERS CORRESPONDENCE MANAGEMENT OFFICE. SPECIFIC
QUESTIONS MAY BE ADDRESSED TO VANESSA COATES @ (202) 358-0906.
