Crawley, R. W.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

National Academy of Public Administration Foundation
1225 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036
Phone: (202) 659-9165
September 7, 1975
Mr. Jaines Tesler
Deputy Contract Administrator
Department of the Navy
2110 G Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20037
Dear Mr. Tesler:
Enclosed is a copy of the Fourteenth Quarterly Progress
Report of the National Academy of Public Administration Foundation
as required under contract number NASW-2351. The report covers
activities .of the Academy Foundation in connection with the contract
for the period from May 1, 1975 to July 31, 1975.
Sincerely,
Roy W. Crawley
President
RWC:cac
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19750070474 2020-03-11T19:25:35+00:00Z
FOURTEENTH QUARTERLY REPORT
. OF THE • .
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION FOUNDATION
UNDER CONTRACT NUMBER NASW-2351
During the period from May 1, 1975 to July 31, 1975 Academy
staff and project panel members submitted a report to NASA on Public
Affairs Education for Scientists and Engineers in NASA titled,
"Developing NASA's Future Leaders: An Assessment of Needs and
Recommendations for Action," and staff conducted follow-up discussions
with NASA headquarters and field officials. Data collection was con-
tinued on the Equal Opportunity Programs study, and the process of
drafting a report was initiated.
Equal Employment Opportunity in NASA. During May the panel secretary
continued to gather data on the equal opportunity program from head-
quarters and field centers. In the first week of June two panel members
and the panel secretary visited Ames Research Center to conduct a site
visit of the equal opportunity program and to attend the meeting of the
Equal Opportunity Council. The site visit was followed by a briefing
of the Center Director, Deputy Director, and Equal Opportunity staff.in
which the findings of the panel were conveyed.
During June the panel chairman and secretary began a series
of interviews with members of the staff of the Headquarters Equal
Opportunity Office. A total of ten interviews were conducted during
June and July. The chairman and secretary made a visit, similar to
that at Ames, to Langley Research Center on June 24-25, 1975.
The drafting of the initial version of the panel report was
begun in July with a view to circulation of a comment draft to panel
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members in the latter part of August. Meetings were held with the
Assistant Administrator and the Deputy Assistant Administrator to discuss
progress and plan for the final stages of the study.
Public Affairs Education for Scientists and Engineers in NASA. On June 13,
1975, the panel submitted its final report on this project to NASA,
"Developing NASA's Future Leaders: An Assessment of Needs and Recommenda-
tions for Action." The panel's recommendations covered five areas:
(1) improving staff development policy; (2) identification of develop-
ment needs; (3) areas requiring special emphasis; (4) clarifying the
key role of the applications/utilization function; and (5) needed
organizational and policy adjustments. The highlights of the panel's
findings are. as follows. .• .
The time has come for NASA to move .more aggressively, and in
a more organized fashion, to develop its staff for the kinds of tasks
which they must perform in the near future. Increasingly, NASA managers
find themselves having to work with a great variety of people, from
both government and private organizations, seeking assistance in
solving their problems ~ and this trend will accelerate. More than ,
ever, NASA scientists and engineers who become successful managers
will be those who understand how NASA operates organizationally, how
it relates to other agencies (private and public), and how to effectively
relate NASA technical competence to the problems of potential users.
NASA cannot, develop the kind of leadership it needs without
I .
more comprehensive, centrally monitored staff development policy and
programs. Far too much of NASA's limited, but excellent, public
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management training is administered in a passive "cafeteria" stylei
Staff development needs to be more closely integrated with NASA
program planning and general policy development; and it needs to
be accorded a status commensurate with its importance. A greater
impact can be made if public management training resources are more
.consciously focused — both in terms of their management and in
terms of the target population. The Panel recommends the establish-
ment of a NASA Management Institute as .the programming focal point
and operational center for public management training and development
throughout NASA. \ ••
At the outset of its study the Panel was principally concerned
with the action NASA might take to prepare its scientists and
engineers for positions of leadership required by NASA's changing
role. As the members visited headquarters, then various field centers,
it became apparent that no program of development which they recommended
could be effective without important changes of emphasis in NASA
organization and policy. The confusion and frustration at all levels
about.NASA's evolving goals needs to be swept away. Many, if not
most, NASA managers see the need for greater emphasis upon applying
.NASA technology and competence to a broader clientele — to be
enunciated as a major agency goal and implemented through supporting
policy and management action.
The Panel strongly supports this view as a natural, historical
progression of the NACA-NASA mission. This applications/utilization
role has been well articulated, frequently by NASA's top leadership.
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But it requires visible organizational and policy adjustment to give
it the credibility necessary for effective action. The Panel is
convinced that such change is essential if NASA is to retain the
kind of competent staff required for future agency leadership and to
make best use of NASA's unique technical and managerial potential.


Quarterly report, 1 May - 31 Jul. 1975

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