C. POLICY, PLANNING AND INNOVATION

The Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Planning and Innovation (PPI) serves as the principal advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education in policy development, strategic planning, innovation, policy research and analysis, in the area of postsecondary education. The Deputy Assistant Secretary for PPI provides overall leadership for, oversees, and coordinates postsecondary education policy development and implementation.

Policy, Planning and Innovation provides an integrated and structured approach for the identification and development of policies and innovative practices designed to improve the performance of federal postsecondary education programs, and, with the Assistant Secretary for OPE provides leadership in the postsecondary education arena. PPI ensures an integrated and consistent direction in the development of postsecondary education and program policy. The programs for which PPI has responsibility include the programs fully administered by the Office of Postsecondary Education and Federal Student Aid (FSA) programs administered by OPE and FSA.

The Deputy Assistant Secretary for PPI leads the development of OPE policy through close coordination with the Assistant Secretary for OPE, the Chief Operating Officer for FSA and Deputy Assistant Secretary for HEP, as well as with senior agency officials (e.g., Office of the Under Secretary), other federal agencies (e.g., OMB, General Accounting Office, Department of Labor), the immediate staff of the President, the Congress, and the postsecondary education community.

The Deputy Assistant Secretary for PPI leads OPE efforts in strategic planning, and impact assessments to ensure alignment of program planning and delivery strategies with overall policy direction and ensures the responsiveness of postsecondary education programs to customers and constituents.

Specifically, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for PPI is responsible for the following major activities:

• Policy Leadership and Development

  • Developing the postsecondary education and OPE policy agenda and establishing policy direction for ED's postsecondary education programs; working with the Assistant Secretary for OPE and the Chief Operating Officer for FSA and the Deputy Assistant Secretary for HEP; the Deputy Assistant Secretary for PPI formulates and defines OPE program policy positions;
  • Working closely with senior agency officials (e.g., Deputy Secretary, Under Secretary, the Secretary, and others), senior managers of other federal agencies, the Congress, and program constituents and other stakeholders in the development of postsecondary education policy;
  • Assuring consistency and integration of OPE policy across programs and providing: policy direction; program regulations; and monitoring the alignment of program regulations with the overall OPE policy agenda;
  • Serving as the lead organization for development of postsecondary education legislative initiatives, as well as for development of proposals for the periodic reauthorization of the Higher Education Act; and,
  • Developing annual program budget plans and policies; in coordination with key stakeholders, developing the annual OPE program budget.

• Policy and Program Analysis

  • Providing analytic support for policy development activities sufficient to establish a data based foundation for policy formulation and management decision-making;
  • Conducting long and short-range studies, as well as impact and cost analyses for OPE programs and the legislation and regulations associated with them;
  • Conducting analyses, research, and consultations with stakeholders to evaluate policy options, including long-term program and policy planning; and,
  • Providing quick response or quick turn-around analytic studies in the areas of policy, budget, and planning.

• Performance and Impact Measurement

  • Identifying and developing performance and impact measures for the postsecondary education programs, coordinating with the Chief Operating Officer for FSA and the Deputy Assistant Secretary for HEP;
  • Working with senior agency officials, constituent stakeholders and customers to develop critical measures which assess program delivery, performance, and impact from the customer perspective; and,
  • Collecting performance measurement information for use in analyzing and evaluating program effectiveness and performance; coordinating OPE assessment and evaluation activities with senior agency managers, other federal agencies, and the postsecondary education community; using results of these activities to formulate policy.

• Strategic Planning

  • Providing leadership in implementing strategic planning activities, including the Government Performance and Results Act, in OPE;
  • Supporting all elements of the OPE management team in strategic; planning development; facilitating implementation; communicating progress; and developing operational plans;
  • Integrating OPE program and service delivery strategies and resource planning into OPE's overall policy and planning framework;
  • Ensuring customer requirements are integrated and adequately addressed for all OPE activities; and,
  • Identifying targets of opportunity in OPE; developing strategies for introducing innovative approaches to improve service delivery; and fostering experimental management approaches to better serve OPE customers.

• Program Oversight

  • Providing leadership and support for training to program staff on OPE- wide monitoring policies, procedures and standards;
  • Providing direction to staff conducting on-site reviews based on random selection or focused reviews; and,
  • Directing field-based grantee technical assistance and training on the OPE-wide monitoring policies, procedures and standards.

• Innovation and Reform

  • Providing policy leadership and support for reform, innovation and improvement in postsecondary education including international education and graduate Education.

The Deputy Assistant Secretary for PPI provides overall direction, coordination, and leadership to the following:

• Policy and Budget Development Staff;
• Forecasting and Policy Analysis Staff;
• Strategic Planning Staff; and,
• Program Oversight Staff

The Immediate Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary also manages the operating budget and human resources of PPI. These functions include salaries and expenses, budget development and management, human resources and performance management, employee development and training, staff and workload allocations.

Policy and Budget Development Staff

The Policy and Budget Development Staff provides support, information, and recommendations to the Deputy Assistant Secretary on developing policy for postsecondary education. The Staff is responsible for the formulation of postsecondary education policy, policy for OPE programs, program budget formulation, and development of legislative proposals.

The Staff is responsible for ensuring the effective integration of OPE policy with implementing regulations, and for ensuring consistency among policy, budgetary, legislative, and regulatory plans and initiatives. The Staff serves as the liaison between the Deputy Assistant Secretary and other principal offices in ED on all postsecondary education policy issues. Additionally, the staff coordinates the Department's participation in education activities of international organizations, and supports other international education initiatives.

The Policy and Budget Development Staff is headed by a Director and may utilize team structures to facilitate the work of the Staff. The Policy and Budget Development Staff is responsible for developing policy for postsecondary education programs, and for the formulation of program budget estimates for those programs. Working with the Director, Forecasting and Analysis, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for PPI, and the Assistant Secretary for OPE; this Staff establishes the OPE policy agenda and sets policy directions for OPE programs.

The Staff develops policy, which informs and guides the development of implementing regulations and oversees and coordinates postsecondary education and program policy.

In performing its responsibilities, the Policy and Budget Development Staff:

• Conducts long-term policy studies in various fields of postsecondary education with a view to future federal policy. In addition, conducts critical, short-term policy studies as directed by senior management on issues in postsecondary education of national importance.
• Coordinates and chairs consultations with postsecondary education constituency groups regarding short and long-range policy issues, and conducts national workshops and meetings on proposed policy and legislative initiatives; serves as the principal point of contact in OPE for coordinating postsecondary education policy with other federal agencies, such as the Office of Management and Budget, and works with senior agency officials in the development and implementation of the postsecondary education policy agenda.
• Ensures consistency and integration of policy across postsecondary education programs; ensures the alignment of program regulations with overall policy directions; as appropriate, develops, negotiates and clears regulations for programs in conformance to the policy agenda, and monitors the regulations clearance process.
• Provides authoritative advice on policy matters that impact the delivery and oversight of postsecondary education policy including the development of documents (including "Dear Colleague" letters, program bulletins, and Federal Register notices) needed to support the implementation of postsecondary education programs.
• Identifies the need for new legislative initiatives and guides the development of such legislative proposals to improve the effectiveness of postsecondary education programs; works with the postsecondary education community, other federal agencies, and senior agency officials in the identification of legislative issues and the development of legislative proposals.
• Provides guidance, coordination, and liaison for OPE's participation in bilateral and multilateral education activities; develops policy for, and coordinates ED's participation in the education activities of international organizations such OECD, OAS, Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and the European Community; coordinates U.S. government supported activity in all areas involving the development of American education in foreign language, area and international studies; and manages visits to ED by international educators, including providing briefings on American education, and developing itineraries for education visits in the United States.
• Formulates program budget estimates for the postsecondary education programs; coordinates, reviews, and recommends final approval of program budget justifications for ED's postsecondary education programs for submission to OMB and the Congress; prepares materials and guides the process for supplemental appropriations, justifications, and input to Congressional budget resolutions, including justifications, and program impact estimates for proposed legislative or regulatory initiatives.
• Prepares testimony for ED witnesses on higher education policy, and budget issues, and responds to inquiries from the Congress and others regarding postsecondary education policy and budget issues.

Forecasting and Policy Analysis Staff

The Forecasting and Policy Analysis Staff provides analytic support to ensure valid, accurate, consistent and databased information to inform postsecondary education policy development activities. The Staff performs analysis of ED's postsecondary education programs, assessing program performance against policy and budget and expectations; analyzes program trends to inform policy directions and plans; identifies data needed for such analytic purposes; coordinates program policy analysis and research with other agencies and the community; and prepares studies and other reports regarding postsecondary education program performance. The Staff develops program-forecasting models that support postsecondary education policy and budget development.

The Staff is responsible for performing specialized non-recurring analytic projects to guide policy and legislative proposal development and to guide the development of long-term postsecondary education and postsecondary education policy. The Staff identifies and measures indicators of postsecondary education program performance, and assesses the impact of postsecondary education programs. Based upon these program assessments, the Staff identifies needed changes to the structure and functions of postsecondary education programs to enhance and improve their effectiveness.

The Policy and Budget Development Staff is headed by a Director and may utilize team structures to facilitate the work of the Staff.

In performing its responsibilities, the Forecasting and Policy Analysis Staff:

• Analyzes and evaluates the critical program and population trends, trends in eligible student populations, trends in postsecondary education, institutional and administrative characteristics and practices, economic indicators, etc. for use in developing policy and assessing the effectiveness of program structure and functioning against policy, budget goals, and objectives; determines the data necessary for these and other analytic tasks it performs
• Develops and maintains models to forecast the effects of costs of key indicators or proposed regulatory or legislative changes across ED postsecondary education programs, and develops annual or periodic updates to existing forecasting models for each of the major programs using various costing assumptions; coordinates its costs modeling and forecasting activities with the Policy and Budget Development Staff in the development of budget requests and justifications for postsecondary education programs.
• Evaluates the impact and effectiveness of policy changes made to postsecondary education programs; identifies issues for analysis in support of policy development; and, coordinates OPE program-related research with other segments of the postsecondary education community.
• Prepares postsecondary education policy-related research papers for publication presentation at postsecondary education conferences; and prepares analytic reports for senior agency officials and other federal managers and the Congress.
• Assesses and measures program impacts for postsecondary education programs; develops and implements appropriate studies in coordination with other stakeholders; working with the Deputy Assistant Secretary, for PPI, the Chief Operating Officer for FSA, Deputy Assistant Secretary for HEP, the Assistant Secretary for OPE, other senior agency officials, federal oversight agencies such as OMB, and the postsecondary education community, develops plans for the assessment of postsecondary education programs to determine their effectiveness in meeting legislative goals, agency policy goals, and long-term postsecondary education needs in the nation.
• Leads the development of early warning reports to assess actual demands for program dollars against fiscal plans, and uses results to re-calibrate estimation M models.
• Performs special, non-recurring analytic studies to meet the long-range program assessment plans, coordinating its research with that of other federal agencies and the postsecondary education research community; reports its findings to senior agency officials and to the community; develops recommendations for senior agency officials to integrate plans for long- and short-term policy development.
• Identifies, develops, and analyzes performance measures and indicators which assess the effectiveness of postsecondary education programs in terms of their meeting legislative and agency and postsecondary education goals; oversees development of appropriate program information reporting systems to provide analytic data and reports.
• Directs and/or conducts studies in response to special requests from the Congress, the President, the Secretary, Assistant Secretary, and OMB, etc. These studies vary in duration, but may often be of an urgent nature, having specified completion dates and are of national scope and importance.
• Serves as OPE authority on analytic and evaluative methods and provides OPE-wide consultation upon request.

Strategic Planning Staff

The Strategic Planning Staff (SPS) is headed by a Director who is responsible for leading and coordinating OPE's strategic planning efforts and related activities, including implementation of the Government Performance and Results Act and coordinating with the Office of Inspector General to monitor all audits.

In consultation with agency officials and OPE senior managers, the Staff develops an OPE-wide strategic plan that integrates policy planning, operations analysis, budget and resource planning, and service delivery and customer information.

The Staff analyzes strategic options and customer requirements and coordinates with other OPE and community research entities to integrate findings into OPE's strategic planning activities and overall policy framework. SPS conducts independent assessments and surveys, as appropriate, to support other activities related to strategic planning. SPS provides findings and recommendations to the Deputy Assistant Secretary.

In performing its responsibilities, the Strategic Planning Staff:

• Coordinates OPE's analyses of critical indicators to identify strategic program directions; determines whether changes in service delivery strategies are warranted; and measures progress in meeting organizational goals.
• Develops management reporting processes to monitor the alignment of near-term management strategies and long-term strategic goals; reviews reports prepared for the Deputy Assistant Secretary to determine implications for strategic planning.
• Provides leadership in designing, developing and assessing pilot projects to test alternative management, performance accountability, and service delivery strategies.
• Collects and interprets data and other information from external sources and performs statistical analysis with data from constituents, the postsecondary education community, other government agencies, and the private industry.

Program Oversight Staff

The Program Oversight Staff is responsible for overseeing program monitoring throughout OPE, the Monitoring & Performance Tracking System, OPE's Strategic Monitoring Plan, OPE Monitoring Policies, Procedures, and Standards, and training staff in the above; the Staff establishes OPE-wide policy for grant monitoring.

In performing this responsibility, the Program Oversight Staff:

• Develops the OPE Strategic Monitoring Plan and prepares an annual report on its implementation.
• Develops OPE-wide Monitoring Policies, Procedures, and Standards.
• Oversees the implementation of the OPE Monitoring and Performance Tracking System throughout all discretionary grant programs.
  
• Reviews and responds to allegations of violations of statutes, regulations, EDGAR, and applicable OMB Circulars.
• Conducts on-site reviews based on random selection or focused reviews.
• Trains new program staffs on OPE-wide Monitoring Policies, Procedures.
• Conducts field-based grantee technical assistance and training on the OPE- wide Monitoring Policies, Procedures, and Standards.