NASA: Further Guidance for October 12 SRR Meeting

National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

Office of the Administrator

Washington DC 20546-0001

OCT 10 2001

TO: Enterprise Associate Administrators

Directors, NASA Centers

Director, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

FROM: AI/ Associate Deputy Administrator

SUBJECT: Further Guidance for October 12 SRR Meeting

I would like to expand on the guidance provided to the Center Directors yesterday to put it in the proper context. The information requested for the October 12 Strategic Resources Review meeting should not be viewed as a budget exercise, but rather as a parametric study. We would like to have the problem bounded, should we be asked by the Administration to adjust our programs or staffing levels. Center Directors should amend inputs to reflect a 10 percent and a 20 percent reduction versus 15 and 20 percent reduction. The reductions should be applied to civil servants and on/near-site contractors in the ratio you deem most appropriate. In your analysis you should assume that any workforce realignment will be sensitive to your employee and community needs and will ensure that all available tools are used to benefit employees in the transition. What is key to this study is the recognition that reductions in on-site staffing will be used to secure the same functions through partnerships, outsourcing, strategic alliances, especially with academic institutions, etc. – it is a discussion of how our work will be done, not what work will be done. Your analysis should provide insight into the how. It should assume that major elements of the work are selected by peer review and that external reviews are conducted to periodically ensure the highest quality of the workforce and facilities required to achieve NASA’s vision.

Enterprise Associate Administrators are to conduct the same parametric study from a top-down perspective. That is, rather than cut staffing levels, you should determine which programs you would choose to eliminate, reduce, or realign in order to achieve a 1) 10 percent and 2) 20 percent reduction from the planned FY 2002 funding level. Space Station and Space Shuttle programs are to be excluded from this analysis because steep reductions in spending levels for these two programs are already planned.

We will continue our Strategic Resources Review discussion on Friday, October 12, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in ACR-2 at NASA Headquarters.

Daniel R. Mulville