The Contracts and Procurement Section session, "Training and Neutrals Task Forces," was held on Tuesday, March 2, 1999 in the Crystal Gateway Marriott, Arlington, VA. The session was introduced by Lt Col Shelly Kalkowski, USAF. Representatives from 15 agencies attended. The session opened at 9:00 a.m. and closed at 12:00 noon. Lt Col Kalkowski reintroduced the timeline for the Working Group, reminding attendees that the next meeting is the 26 April American Bar Association (ABA) Conference. Registration information will be available on the DOJ Web site. Lt Col Kalkowski also presented an updated version of the Agency Matrix, pointing out that the matrix will serve as the basis for the agency self-evaluations to be included in the 1 Sep report to the Attorney General. She then requested that agencies begin submitting monthly updates with the first submission due Wednesday, 24 Mar 1999.

Ms. Linda B. Oliver

Associate Administrator for Procurement Law and Legislation

Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP)

Presented an overview of acquisition ADR training and defined the terms "awareness education, user training, and neutrals training" by discussing who needs it and what does it do.

Michael D. Gerich

Deputy Associate Administrator (Procurement Law and Legislation)

Office of Federal Procurement Policy

OMB, Executive Office of the President

Patricia J. Sheridan

Counsel to the Chairman, Board of Contract Appeals

Hearing Examiner

Deuty Dispute Resolution Specialist

Carole S. Houk

Assistant to the General Counsel of the Navy

Deputy Dispute Resolution Specialist

Mr. Gerich discussed some requirements and concerns for ADR awareness education such as gaining higher level buy-in, the need to compete for employees’ time, convincing others of its worth, targeting the audience, emphasizing success stories and how they directly relate, using experienced people, and providing motivation for the training. Ms. Sheridan provided an overview of VA Procurement/ADR Awareness Training Tips regarding designing your ADR Awareness Training and Conducting your ADR Awareness Training. She provided a detailed handout of the Department of Veterans Affairs ADR and Procurement Activities. She noted that the Department is emphasizing partnering at the present time. Ms. Houk provided answers to the question, "Why do we need awareness training?" She noted that in the contract community in DON, ADR is not being used. She offered tangible ways to get the word out: contacting and "training" the steering committees of activities that employ the 200,000+ civilian employees (and military members); providing other employee groups with information on the Interagency ADR Working Group and its Website; and making the PowerPoint ADR presentations available electronically and in other forms. She emphasized the importance of sharing information and not "reinventing the wheel." She also announced that the DON 2-day ADR Awareness Course developed by NCAT was piloted last week in Virginia Beach and a schedule for course offerings is currently under development.

Richard F. Busch II

Attorney

Panel Member, Judicial Resolutions, Inc. (an ADR practice group)

Mr. Bush believes that ADR is very important and IS supported by contractors, because it sets the stage and makes the contracting process easier. He says that contractors will always support what the customer (the government) wants. He advised that contracting officers need to bring up ADR and he also feels that ADR Awareness isn’t in the mainstream yet. His recommendation is to focus on the issues and resolve to apply ADR techniques in the areas needed. Once the emotion is gone, he emphasized, "It is a business decision." He also emphasized that it is absolutely necessary for everyone to understand the process, that we need a good process and good neutrals, and then we will get good settlements. Mr. Bush and Ms. Houk both support placing ADR in contract RFPs as part of the ADR awareness process.

Frank Carr

Chief Trial Attorney

Agency Dispute Resolution Specialist

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Joseph M. McDade, Jr.

Deputy Dispute Resolution Specialist

Air Force General Counsel’s Office

Anthony N. Palladino

Associate Chief Counsel

Federal Aviation Administration

Director, Office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisition (ODRA)

Mr. Carr emphasized that user training is an ongoing process that consists of courses, publications, and applications. He advised that availability of training courses are particularly important to senior managers, who must have a good concept of ADR and its benefits to buy into the program. He advised that publications are an absolutely necessary part of the training, but they must be user-friendly. He suggested something like a "Blue Book" series, consisting of 10-15 pages, with sample agreements in it, for instance; a "Red Book" series, with case studies and success stories in it, for instance; and "White Papers," with some public relations information, such as how to get people involved, newsletters, updates via e-mail, techniques, etc. He suggested that applications training should be done in teams, training supervisors in all of the series mentioned, through conferences, EEO functions, Labor Relations, Contracts, Construction, etc., in a panel format or in team activities, with all users and attorneys present. Including all perspectives and rigorous dialogue in this training is a must, according to Mr. Carr. Mr. Joe McDade emphasized that ADR training must be targeted appropriately, using much of the material that has already been developed. He advocates borrowing electronic information from the ADR Websites and he presented a handout with information from the Air Force ADR Program Website (http://www.adr.af.mil/main.htm). It contains resources for ADR training and briefings, locations and dates, and points of contact. Mr.Tony Palladino presented the key elements that should be covered in any user training program, i.e., demonstrating the needs and goals of the program; identifying the benefits of ADR; clearly defining the user’s ADR authority; fully exploring available ADR options; and identifying available ADR resources. He provided a list of Federal and Other Procurement ADR-Related Websites compiled by the Interagency Working Group ADR Process Task Force.

John McElhenny, NCAT Instructor

Karen Byrd, NCAT Instructor

A short version of an interest-based negotiation role-play was excerpted from the DON ADR Awareness Course and demonstrated to the audience.

Jeffrey R. Brunner

Executive Director

Naval Center for Acquisition Training (NCAT)

Provided a brief description of the course development process, announced the next course offering at a Patuxent River, MD location, and invited those interested in future course offerings to contact NCAT.

Judge Martin Harty

Administrative Law Judge

Federal Board of Contract Appeals

Discussed the role of the Boards of Contract Appeals as a source of impartial and cost effective neutrals. He discussed ADR methods that can be used successfully at any stage of a contract controversy; i.e., Binding Decision and Non-binding procedures: the settlement judge and the minitrial. All of the 11 Boards, except the General Services Board, participate in a BCA-ADR Sharing Arrangement. The General Services BCA makes its services available upon request for a modest charge. Judge Harty’s handout provided a roster of Boards of Contract Appeals and Agency and Board of Contract Appeals Designations (By Agreement or on an Ad Hoc Basis).

The session was adjourned at noon with closing remarks by Ms. Carole S. Houk. Lt Col Kalkowski asked participants to encourage the involvement of their business managers in future meetings and in their internal agency efforts.