Council Meeting

Held Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Host: Ms. Delia Johnson

Introduction

Ms. Delia L. Johnson, Co-Chair and Director, Office of Civil Rights for International Broadcasting Bureau, opened the meeting with a few remarks and then asked the attendees to give their names, agencies, and positions.

Announcements

Jorge E. Ponce, Co-Chair, took the floor to make multiple announcements.

Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao will host the Seventh Annual Asian Pacific American Federal Career Advancement Summit on May 15, 2008, at the Renaissance Washington, DC Hotel. The Summit provides management insights, skills training and other career opportunities to help Asian Pacific American government employees maximize their potential. While the Summit is free and open to everyone, you must pre-register by clicking on http://www.apasummit.gov.

An Interagency Task Force will host the first Hispanic Federal Career Advancement Summit on October 1, 2008, at the Marriott Crystal Gateway Hotel in Arlington, VA. The Summit’s goal is to develop individual leadership competencies to help advance participants’ careers in the federal sector – with an Executive Coaching session focusing on assisting those who are at the brink of the SES rank. The Summit is free and open to everyone. While registration is not open yet, you can get additional information by clicking on http://www.federalhispanicsummit.org.

Save the date for an EEOC public meeting that is tentatively scheduled for May 13, 2008. To confirm the date, please check the daily Federal Register. The purpose of this meeting is for the EEOC Commissioners to vote on the recommendations to improve the federal appellate process for handling discrimination complaints.

The Federal Triangle Partnership, consisting of the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the U.S. Postal Service will have its program celebrating National Asian Pacific American Heritage Month on Tuesday, May 13, 2008, from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, in the Pavilion Room of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. The Reagan Building is located at 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, and is accessible from the Federal Triangle Metro station on the Blue/Orange lines. Seating for this event is on a first come, first serve basis. Professor Frank Wu will be the keynote speaker. The mistress of ceremonies for the program will be Nancy Yamada, General Assignment Report for WUSA 9 TV. She is a first generation Japanese-American and speaks fluent Japanese. The program is free and open to the public. To view a wonderful interview that keynote speaker Frank Wu had with C-SPAN founder and CEO Brian Lamb shortly after the release of his book "Yellow: Race In American Beyond Black and White,” click on http://www.booknotes.org/Transcript/?ProgramID=1669.

The EEOC’s Training Institute will hold its EXCEL Conference in Chicago, Illinois, on August 18-21, 2008. During the plenary session on August 19, 2008, the Asian American and Pacific Islander Work Group will provide an update on its work, and a panel of Hispanic senior officials will give a presentation entitled “Identifying and Removing Barriers to the Employment of Hispanics in the Federal Workforce.” To attend the conference, you must pre-register by clicking on http://www.eeotraining.eeoc.gov/profile/web/index.cfm?PKwebID=0x79919e0.

Delia Johnson announced that her agency will host its Diversity Celebration on May 6-7, 2008. The highly acclaimed jazz ensemble Comfort Zone will perform a lunchtime concert on May 6, 2008, from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM, at the Cohen Building VOA Auditorium. To RSVP, call 202 619-5151.

Bonita White, Director, EEO Programs, DHHS, announced that the Department of Health and Human Services will host the 2008 Career Fair for People with Disabilities from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM, on May 29, 2008, in the Great Hall of the Hubert H. Humphrey Building, located at 200 Independence Ave., SW, in Washington, DC. The closest Metro station on the blue/orange lines is Federal Center SW. Jorge Ponce indicated that to view other upcoming conferences/events related to persons with disabilities, you should check the Federal Disability Workforce Consortium’s webpage at http://www.fdwc.info/trainingandothereducationalopportunites.

A Council member from the Department of Housing and Urban Development indicated that her Department had contracted with the Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind (CLB) to get interns with visual impairments to work for seven weeks. The organization will pay the stipends for the interns, and, thus, there is no cost to HUD. The Department is not bound to the full 7-week term if things don’t work out, nor is HUD obliged to hire the interns. CLB’s goal is to afford the interns an opportunity to gain experience in a government setting and expose the HUD staff to interns with visual impairments with excellent qualifications. For additional information on the Training Internship Program (TIP), click on http://clb.org/jobservices/index.html#prorams. The TIP Point of Contact is Ms. Kim Alphonso, Vice President of Business Development at CLB, and she can be reached at 202 454-6430.

FAPAC Conference

Dr. Kin F. Wong, Executive Secretary for FAPAC, announced the Federal Asian Pacific American Council’s 23rd Annual National Leadership Training Conference, which will be held on June 23-27, 2008, at the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge, located at 333 Adams St., in Brooklyn, N.Y.

A Council member from HUD indicated that EEOC’s Asian American and Pacific Islander Work Group had conducted a survey that showed a disparity in funding requests to attend APA training conferences when compared with other non-APA conferences (like the one hosted by Blacks in Government), and that Asian/Pacific Islanders did not file as many complaints of discrimination as other EEO groups. Of course, these issues will be discussed at the upcoming FAPAC conference.

Delia Johnson stated that rather than having the various EEO groups compete for training funds, she wished that there were more training funds available. A Council member from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission indicated that perhaps the various affinity organizations should get together and host an annual conference that addressed the concerns of all EEO groups – considering that the challenges faced by all groups were the same. Jorge Ponce suggested that, as long as we are under an austere fiscal environment, FAPAC and the Asian American Government Executives Network (AAGEN) should consider hosting a joint conference. Dr. Wong stated that AAGEN was once a part of FAPAC, and that there was still some tension between the groups because of the split. Mr. Ponce advised Dr. Wong to engage Ms. Cheryl Greaux, an expert in ADR/Mediation and a Council member, to help the two groups iron out their differences. Ms. Greaux and Dr. Wong exchanged business cards.

EHRI

Matthew Perry, an OPM Program Director, provided an update on the Enterprise Human Resources Integration (EHRI) system. Mr. Perry had first addressed the Council on EHRI on November 27, 2007.

Mr. Perry indicated that he had developed an EHRI action plan that included three components: 1) develop a statement of needs; 2) get the Army Department to provide a demo of its MD-715 system; and, 3) analyze the Army’s software and its development. Mr. Perry’s team has developed a draft statement of needs, which has been shared with Mr. Ponce and other stakeholders for review and editing. The Army’s officials have given Mr. Perry a demonstration of its MD-715 online system. Mr. Perry concluded that the Army’s system is the best one that he’s looked at (he’s looked at the MD-715 online systems at the Air Force and the Department of Veterans Affairs. While the VA system is powerful, it is maintained primarily by one employee. When this employee leaves VA, no one knows the outcome of its system). One of features of the Army’s MD-715 system that Mr. Perry liked best is the creation of dashboards that allow the viewing of selective data by multiple users. While the data elements are present in the database, users can tailor the statistical information that they want to see regularly. Regarding looking at the software and its development of the Army system, Mr. Perry stated that they are still negotiating the licensing agreements.

Jorge Ponce asked whether Mr. Perry had taken into consideration a recent change in the Army’s EEO Office leadership. Mr. Perry responded in the affirmative, and stated that he planned to meet with Army officials in two weeks.

Jorge Ponce asked whether there was any room in EHRI to collect applicant-flow data. Mr. Perry responded that OPM is authorized to collect race and national origin information only after an applicant is hired.

Jorge Ponce indicated that EEOC’s OFO officials had told members of the Council Executive Board in past meetings that the status of EHRI was held up as a result of EEOC and OPM reviewing a memorandum of understanding. The status of this alleged MOU has gone back and forth between OPM and EEOC for various years. Mr. Perry responded that the only MOU that he was aware of regarding EHRI was the one whereby OPM submits CPDF data dumps to EEOC on a quarterly basis. Nevertheless, Mr. Perry cautioned that his goal remained to replace the CPDF feed by 2009.

Jorge Ponce gave Mr. Perry many kudos for following up on this initiative, and for living up to one of the key recommendations made in GAO Report-06-214: for OPM and EEOC to “develop means to communicate and coordinate on a continuing basis, establish collaboration protocols, and work to resolve their disagreements to the maximum extent possible concerning their respective responsibilities in developing policy, providing guidance, and exercising oversight under the EEO framework for the federal workplace.” When OPM and EEOC resolve their differences regarding the coordination and implementation of civil rights programs, everyone benefits.