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IN RESPONSE, PLEASE
REFER TO: M081209B

December 22, 2008

The Commission was briefed by the NRC staff on the status of the agency's Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Program, diversity management, and small business contracting goals and accomplishments.  The Director of the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards and the Region I Deputy Regional Administrator presented their respective office’s accomplishments in recruiting a diverse workforce and fostering an organizational climate of opportunity for all its employees.  A representative of the NRC’s EEO Advisory Committees presented a joint statement reflecting the Committees’ views on EEO matters, and the President of the local chapter of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) commented on related issues.

The Commission congratulated the staff for their efforts and the progress that the agency has made in advancing its EEO program's objectives and for the recognition they have received from outside organizations.

The staff should continue to refine its exit interview process to identify any trends in the reasons employees choose to leave the NRC with a focus on increasing participation in the process.

In addition, the staff should seek input from current employees by encouraging participation in the upcoming Employee Survey and by seeking other opportunities such as feedback from Nuclear Safety Professional Development Program graduates.

The Commission supports programs that result in greater diversity of employees at grades 13-15.  This increased diversity should provide a greater diversity among candidates for the SES.

The Commission recognized the staff’s progress toward meeting its goal to increase opportunities for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses and supports its continued efforts.  The staff should also continue pursuing NRC participation in veteran programs such as “Helmets to Business,” “Helmets to Jobs,” and “Operation Warfighter.”

The staff should provide the Commission with the Diversity Performance Measures Report for the Offices on a semi-annual basis in connection with the regularly-scheduled EEO briefings.  The Commission encourages the staff to provide a clear explanation of the context in which the information in the report is gathered, the meaning of the information, and how this tool is used to help supervisors and managers further strengthen their diversity efforts.  The staff should ensure that best practices identified in the Diversity Assessment Program evaluation reports are made available to other offices, so their programs can benefit from the report findings.

The staff should continue pursuing its involvement in the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program.

The staff should continue its outreach to local schools, particularly middle schools, and coordinate efforts with the NRC Minority Serving Institutions Program (MSIP) to highlight interesting scientific and engineering facets of the agency’s mission and increase student awareness of the importance of middle school and high school math and science courses for students interested in pursuing scientific or engineering degrees in college.

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Wednesday, December 24, 2008