2009 Archives

2009 Administrative Professional Awards Ceremony: All Headquarters employees are invited to attend the ceremony in the NASA Auditorium on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 at 1:30 p.m. Contact: Rhonda Taylor, 358-0444.

Columbia Café: The new Columbia Café, located in Room 9G39, opened for business on Thursday, April 9. The new contractor is The Lundsford Group. Please take a moment to welcome the Lundsford Group to NASA. Contact: Rebecca Bythewood, 358-1253

Privacy Outreach Awareness Campaign: During April, NASA's Information Technology (IT) Security Training and Awareness Program is kicking off an agency-wide Privacy Outreach Awareness Campaign to raise employee awareness regarding the protection of sensitive information, which includes personally identifiable information (PII), PII incident reporting, and identity theft. NASA civil service and contractor employees have the responsibility to protect all PII collected, maintained, and used by the agency in any form, digital or hard copy. For information on how to protect private information, visit the CIO Privacy Management Web site. Contact Bryan McCall, Headquarters Privacy Manager, 202-358-1767.

Take Your Children to Work Day: Mark your calendars! Headquarters will be hosting a "Take Your Children To Work Day" on Tuesday, June 23, 2009. This event will take place after the school year has concluded to allow more children to participate without missing a day of school. This event is targeted for children ages 7-15, and promises to be both educational and fun! Online registration and a schedule of events will be available in May. Contact: Felicia Toney 202-358-0366.

Columbia Crew Survival Investigation Report Briefing: All Headquarters civil service and contractor employees are invited to attend a briefing on the Columbia Crew Survival Investigation Report by Dr. Nigel Packham of Johnson Space Center (JSC) on Monday, April 20, 9:30 - 11:30 a.m., Auditorium. Packham is currently associate director, Technical in JSC's Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate and served as project manager for the Columbia Crew Survival Investigation Team. Contact: Shavon Spry 358-1823

2009 Agency Honor Awards: All Headquarters employees are invited to attend the ceremony in the auditorium on Thursday, April 16, 2009. Reception immediately following in the West Lobby. Contact: Gail Eastmon, 358-1504.

Headquarters Town Hall Meeting: All employees are invited to a town hall meeting on April 15, 10 a.m. to Noon, in the Auditorium. Chris Jedrey, Executive Director, Office of Headquarters Operations will present the annual Customer Service Awards. Other topics include new and updated Headquarters conference centers, lobby redesign, building lease, the Columbia Cafe, and Bring Your Children to Work Day. There will be a
question-and-answer session. You may submit questions in advance by e-mail to mteam@nasa.gov or anonymously in the question box in Suite 4G74. Contact: Margie Team, 358-0343.

Reapply for a Parking Permit or Fare Subsidy Benefits by April 15: Anyone who parks a vehicle, motorcycle, or bicycle in the HQ garage, or who receives any type of fare subsidy such as SmarTrip benefits or travel vouchers is required to reapply once a year. To reapply, log in to the Parking and Fare Subsidy System, or read about PFSS policy and procedures. Contacts: Rose Butler 358-0184 or Clint Green 358-0825.

Columbia Café: The Columbia Café located in Room 9G39 is scheduled to reopen for business the week of April 6. The new contractor is The Lundsford Group. The new menu will be available online at http://columbiacafe.hq.nasa.gov once it is finalized. Further announcements will be posted in “Heads Up.” Contact: Rebecca Bythewood, 358-1253

Hidden Headquarters: The Stuff You Never Hear About: Learn about the history of NASA Headquarters at a special brown bag session on Tuesday, March 24, at noon, in MIC 5. This session will be hosted by Chris Jedrey, Executive Director, Headquarters Operations and Liz Suckow, NASA History Division. Sponsored by the Headquarters Next Generation Lunch Group. Contact: Garth Henning, 358-1081 or Craig Levin, 358-1152.

National Women's History Month: Employees are encouraged to attend National Women's History Month events throughout the area during the month of March. The 2009 theme is "Women Taking the Lead to Save our Planet." The Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity Management has compiled a listing of activities scheduled throughout the Washington, DC area. All events are free, except where noted. Contact: Judy Phillips, 358-4589.

HATS 4.0 Training: All HATS users, particularly Local Administrators, are encouraged to attend hands-on training for the newest version of HATS offered thru March 20. Preregistration is not required. See the HATS Training Web page for a complete schedule of classes. Contacts: Larry Box (358-5137) or Bridget Fenner (358-0909).

NASA College Scholarship Fund: The NASA College Scholarship Fund, Inc., awards scholarships agency-wide to qualified dependents of NASA and former NASA employees. For the 2009-2010 school year, up to five scholarships will be awarded in the amount of $2,000 each. The scholarship is renewable for a maximum of $8,000 over 6 calendar years. Students must be pursuing an undergraduate degree in science or engineering. Applications and all required materials must be received by mail by March 20, 2009. For complete guidelines and application forms, visit the link above. Contact: Terri Robinson, 358-4500.

2009 Administrative Professional Awards: The Human Resources Management Division is accepting nominations for the 2009 Administrative Professional Awards. The nomination deadline is Monday, March 16. The Administrative Professional Award was created to recognize NASA Headquarters employees in the administrative field who have made exceptional contributions in the past year. Nominations must be submitted in the NASA Automated Award System by the organization's Administrative, and forwarded to the HQ Awards Officer, Rhonda Taylor. Contact: Rhonda Taylor at 358-0444.

2009 Customer Service Awards: The Human Resources Management Division is accepting nominations for the 2009 Customer Service Awards. Nomination deadline is Wednesday, February 18. These awards recognize HQ civil service and contractor employees from the Office of HQ Operations, Logistics (GSFC Code 230), Procurement (GSFC Code 200), and Talent Cultivation Office (GSFC Code 114), for exceptional customer service provided to HQ organizations and staff. Nominations must be submitted in the NASA Automated Award System by the organization's Adminitrative POC, and forwarded to the HQ Awards Officer, Rhonda Taylor. Contact: Rhonda Taylor at 358-0444.

Sensitive But Unclassified (SBU) Awareness Training: All Headquarters civil service and contractor employees are required to complete SBU training in SATERN by February 14, 2009. The HQ Security Office will not be providing classroom sessions. This course is mandatory for civil service and contractor employees with Headquarters badges. Contact: Raymond Patten, 358-2371

Apple Technology Presentation: On Wednesday, February 11, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., in Room 2K79, Apple representatives will be at NASA HQ to highlight MAC OS X solutions available to the Macintosh, Windows, and Unix communities. There will be a hands-on demonstration/presentation of the iLife 09 suite of productivity products and other software capabilities, as well the latest hardware technologies available. Contact Tom Powers, 358-1666.

ITCD Services Day: The Information Technology and Communications Division (ITCD) is hosting an awareness event on February 11, 2009, from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., in the West Lobby and Auditorium to help familiarize employees with IT and communication services available at HQ. Members of ITCD, supporting contractor staff, and Customer Service Managers will be on hand to discuss services and answer questions regarding training, application development, remote access, desktop backup, printing, multifunction copiers, multimedia, design, and records management. Special informational presentations on specific IT topics and equipment will also be offered in the Auditorium. Contact: Mary Shouse: 358-0625

HATS 4.0 Training : All HATS users, particularly Local Administrators, are encouraged to attend hands-on training on this latest version of HATS. There are 19 sessions scheduled between January 22 and February 25; morning and afternoon sessions are available. Pre-registration is not required. See the Computer Training Center Web page for more information. Contact: Computer Training Center, 358-1111 or ctc@hq.nasa.gov.

Electrical Work Scheduled in HQ Building: Electrical maintenance work will occur on Saturday, January 24 from approximately 6 a.m - 12 noon. This is not a total power outage, but several sections of the building will be impacted at different times and the same section may have several interruptions. During the actual outage, emergency lights will come on, the elevators will operate on emergency power and restrooms will operate. Contact: Marla Neustadt 358.3741

NASA to Participate In Inaugural Parade: Following swearing-in ceremonies for President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joseph Biden, the STS-126 shuttle crew will join our armed forces and representatives from across the country in the inaugural parade down Pennsylvania Avenue on Tuesday, January 20. The NASA contingent also will include the next-generation lunar rover, which astronauts will use when they return to the moon by 2020.

NASA Update with the Administrator: Michael Griffin will host a NASA Update on Friday, January 16, at 11 a.m. EST in the NASA HQ auditorium. The program will be broadcast live on NASA TV and can also be viewed on HQ Channels 31 or 33 as well as the Web. Employees will be able to ask questions from HQ and participating field centers. You may also send questions by e-mail to nasaupdate@hq.nasa.gov.

Building Status on January 20, 2009: The NASA Headquarters building will be open on Inauguration Day. Badged individuals accessing the building and garage on this date must follow the standard security procedures for entry. The parking garage will be open for monthly parking pass permit holders. Contact: Dave Redman, 358-4577.