 AMS Chief Information Officer Doug Nash congratulates the combined IT staff on the successful email migration of all employees affected by the reorganization. The team worked tirelessly to migrate more than 800 email accounts over the past month, even with unforeseen challenges.
Good afternoon Stakeholder,
I want to congratulate the combined AMS/GIPSA IT staff for completing the migration of all employee email accounts affected
by the merger in a timely fashion. Job well done!
As we move forward with the merger, the budget is one of the
primary areas of focus. Although it’s not certain how the FY18 appropriation
will look, the transition team is working on execution plans to ensure funding
is in place when employees begin to move.
Here are a few main objectives we are working on:
- The
GIPSA appropriated budget will be joined with the current AMS appropriated
budget, but will retain its individual functional areas. Employees who
work under the Packers and Stockyards funding and Grain Regulatory funding
will only see minor changes. These changes will primarily be Financial
Management Modernization Initiative (FMMI) codes that will be updated
to assign this money to AMS. The Budget Office will work with timekeepers
to ensure T&A’s have the proper accounting code and are seamless for employees.
- The GIPSA
user fee account will be transferred to AMS. We are working through the
details, but the goal is to retain the account numbers and make only the necessary minimal changes to FMMI codes.
- FSA’s
funding is more complex as it includes multiple funding sources. The AMS and FSA budget offices are working closely to ensure
funding is moved as the people are moved.
The Human Resources Division (HRD) is working to merge GIPSA
and FSA employees into AMS shortly after Congress passes the FY 18
appropriation or another continuing resolution. HRD is focused on the
classification efforts necessary to carry out the merger, including steps such as:
- Establishing
the new programs in AMS’ organizational structure;
- Building
the positions that GIPSA and FSA employees will move into;
- Preparing
the personnel actions that will officially realign GIPSA employees and
reassign FSA employees into their positions.
We don’t expect to initiate official personnel actions
until late December, and we will share the effective date of personnel actions
with you as soon as we can. AMS leadership continues their efforts to
integrate and make the new merged programs operational within the
Agency.
If you
have specific questions about the merger, I encourage you to use
the link that was developed so our employees can submit questions
at any time. You can send your questions to employeeqs@ams.usda.gov.
If you haven’t already, sign up to receive
future updates through GovDelivery and remind your
colleagues.
As always, thanks for all that you do to make our organization successful!
Bruce Summers
Acting AMS Administrator
Question: Will the move
of employees to AMS require an official personnel action?
Answer: Yes, HR will process an SF-52 that will issue a
Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) that moves GIPSA and FSA employees to
AMS. We will establish one effective date for the move of employees to
AMS.
Question: How will employees
know when they receive their SF-50?
Answer: Employees will receive e-mail notification that
the SF-50 has been placed in their electronic Official Personnel Folder
(eOPF).
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