A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

FOR RELEASE
December 1, 1998

CONTACT:
Stephanie Babyak (202) 401-2311
Jane Glickman (202) 401-1307

WOODS NAMED CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER FOR STUDENT AID

U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley today announced the appointment of Greg Woods as chief operating officer for the office of student financial assistance, a new position as head of the federal government's first Performance Based Organization (PBO).

"As we designed this PBO, we envisioned a leader with precisely the mix of experience that Greg Woods possesses. He has extensive experience in both the private and public sectors, including eight years as CEO of a software company and most recently as deputy director of the National Partnership for Reinventing Government," said Riley.

Vice President Gore's National Partnership for Reinventing Government (NPRG, formerly known as the National Performance Review) developed model legislation for establishing PBOs in federal agencies to create incentives for high performance and accountability for results, while allowing more flexibility to promote innovation and increased efficiency. Congress and the Administration on a bipartisan basis established a PBO as part of the Higher Education Amendments of 1998 to modernize the delivery of student financial aid and improve service to millions of students and the postsecondary institutions they attend. In FY 1998, some 8 million students received more than $46 billion in federal financial aid.

Since 1993, Woods has served as deputy director for information technology, customer service and regulatory reform at the NPRG. In this capacity, Woods spearheaded reinvention initiatives in customer service and the Access America technology program designed to provide families with electronic access to a broad range of government services, from applying for Medicare and pension benefits to making U.S. park reservations. One of the first pilots will allow students to use commercial financial systems and the Web to receive financial aid accounts and monitor them over the Web.

From 1985 to 1993, Woods served as CEO of Science and Engineering Associates, a startup company that develops computer systems and innovative software products.

He was the deputy chief operating officer of Science Applications International Corporation, a consulting firm (1984-85), and was president of its subsidiary JRB Associates (1979-1984).

In the early 1970s, Woods worked for the office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense, where he won the Fleming Award as one of the outstanding young people in government.

Woods has a bachelor's degree (1965) in mechanical engineering from the University of Southern California.

He is married to Linda Woods and resides in Alexandria, Va.

NOTE TO EDITORS: A fact sheet on the PBO for student financial aid is attached.

MODERNIZING STUDENT AID
THE FIRST FEDERAL PERFORMANCE-BASED ORGANIZATION

The Higher Education Amendments of 1998 established the first performance-based organization (PBO) in the federal government to help modernize the delivery of student financial aid. The PBO featured prominently in this bipartisan legislation, which passed both the House of Representatives and the Senate without opposition and was signed by President Clinton.

The PBO has new flexibility and accountability. Performance-based organizations establish incentives for high performance and accountability for results while allowing more flexibility to promote innovation and efficiency. Vice President Gore's National Partnership for Reinventing Government has promoted the PBO concept. To help the PBO improve student aid operations, the law includes the following provisions:

• Leadership. The PBO is led by a Chief Operating Officer who reports to the Secretary of Education and has demonstrated expertise in management and information technology.
• Incentives for high performance. The law aligns incentives for success by compensating the COO and other senior managers based upon their success meeting measurable performance goals.
• Personnel flexibility. The law allows us to strengthen management and increase expertise by hiring new senior managers and technical personnel outside of the normal civil service constraints and without regard to personnel ceilings, although staff levels will remain subject to the PBO's budget ceiling.
• Procurement flexibility. The PBO has increased flexibility in procurement, with an emphasis on performance-based contracting. For example, the law simplifies procedures for purchasing services and for the successive purchase of modules of a large system.
• Accountability for results. PBO employees will have specific, measurable performance goals, promoting accountability for defined results.

The PBO will build on the Department's improved student aid management. The PBO will complement and strengthen the student aid reinvention initiatives already underway, including implementing Project EASI (Easy Access for Students and Institutions), reducing student loan defaults, increasing the use of the Internet and electronic applications for student aid, and further integrating computer systems to administer student aid.

The Department is aggressively implementing the PBO. Less than 60 days after the passage of the law, we have:

• Named Greg Woods as COO and begun to hire senior PBO staff;
• Reorganized reporting relationships to allow the COO to report to the Secretary;
• Begun developing performance agreements to govern the PBO activities as well as the support received by the PBO from the rest of the Department; and
• Begun exploring the new personnel and procurement flexibility.