News Briefs

THE DAILY FED

News Briefs

SECTIONS TO CHOOSE FROM:

Federal Webmaster Institute Leadership Training Courses

GSA's Office of Governmentwide Policy is holding a series of training courses for federal webmasters, program managers and specialists. The trainings will assist in developing an awareness of policy and technical issues, trends and problems related to the implementation of the Internet and related techologies within the federal government. The two-day course is offered on Aug. 20-21 and again on Sept. 30-Oct. 1, 1997. To register or for additional course information, call the LEADS Corporation at (703) 769-5650 or e-mail to registrar@leadscorp.com.

DTIC Annual Conference

The Defense Technical Information Center is presenting its Annual Users Meeting and Training Conference on Nov. 3-6, 1997 at the DoubleTree Hotel, National Airport, Arlington, Va. The conference theme is Information in the New Millenium. Contact Ms. Julia Foscue at 703-767-8236 or by e-mail at jfoscue@dtic.mil.

The following news summaries are from OPM AM, the daily newsletter of the Office of Personnel Management. OPM AM is available on OPM Mainstreet, the agency's electronic bulletin board, at 202-606-4800.

THE FEDERAL DIARY--According to the GAO, the typical retiree has been retired 22 years and has received 26 cost-of-living adjustments (The Washington Post).

WIRED--A GAO survey found 31.1 percent of federal workers at 13 Cabinet-level departments and 29 agencies have Web access at their desks (USA TODAY, USA snapshots).

FEDERAL ISSUES--Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., called federal agencies onto the carpet at a July 31 congressional hearing for enrolling employees in the wrong retirement systems...Agencies will no longer be forced to figure out on their own how to calculate lump-sum leave payments for employees who leave the federal service (Federal Human Resources Week, 8/11/97). FAMILY FRIENDLY--Nurturing a family-friendly workplace has helped one company attract and keep high-quality, experienced employees (The Wall Street Journal, Work & Family).

WELFARE--There are 1.4 million fewer welfare recipients since the welfare reform bill was signed a year ago (USA TODAY)...The success of New York's Workfare program "provides an almost irresistible beacon for states to follow as work requirements become more stringent" (The New York Times).

PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS--In the new and best organizations, leaders are surrounded by people who tell them when they are wrong (FEND's Government Performance Report 8/11/97).

OTHER VIEWS--9,000 federal workers telecommuted in 1996 according to GAO (Chief, 7/25/97).