|
This week in history: On July 26, 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush. The legislation provided civil rights protections to individuals with physical and mental disabilities and guaranteed them equal opportunity in public accommodations, employment, transportation, state and local government services, and telecommunications.
New: Nominate a Colleague for a GSA Customer Experience Award Today!
Do you know a GSA employee or team who is contributing to GSA’s mission of delivering the best customer experience and value in real estate, acquisition, or technology services to the government and the American people? Nominations are open now, and individual and team winners will be announced twice per year, in September and March.
Learn about the revamped CX Awards program, and nominate a colleague today! Contact the Office of Customer Experience at customerexperience@gsa.gov with any questions.
|
Reminder: 2022 HR Survey
Take the annual HR survey, which is available until August 15, to provide the Office of Human Resources Management feedback on their service offerings. The survey should take about 10 minutes to complete and your input will inform OHRM's HR strategy and HR products and services moving forward.
If you have any questions, please email ohrmsurveys@research.gsa.gov.
New: Government Operations Lunch and Learn Event Set for August 10
Join Associate Administrator for the Office of Government-wide Policy Krystal Brumfield and Director of the Office of Evaluation Sciences Kelly Bidwell on August 10 from 1 -2 p.m., Eastern, at a virtual lunch and learn to discuss GSA’s strategic goal on government operations. Hear how GSA plans to build a government that capitalizes on interagency collaboration and shared services to make informed management decisions and improve operations, delivering value for the American people.
This event will be hosted through a streaming link. Live captioning information will be available before the event. Add the event to your calendar. Watch the real estate solutions lunch and learn.
|
New: Take Steps to Benefit from Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness Before Oct. 31 Deadline
An update to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, called the Limited PSLF Waiver, will help student loan borrowers more easily get their loans forgiven. If you haven’t already applied for PSLF, you must submit a PSLF form and consolidate your non-direct federal student loans (if you have them) by October 31 to get the benefit.
The waiver will allow borrowers to gain additional PSLF credit, even if you were told previously that you had the wrong loan type or the wrong repayment plan. In addition, past periods of repayment will now count whether or not you made that payment on time, for the full amount due, or on a qualifying repayment plan. The Department of Education will even count certain periods of forbearance toward PSLF.
To take advantage of the waiver, you need to:
1. Register for an FSA ID (if you don’t already have one).
2. Consolidate your non-direct federal student loans (if you have them) into a Direct Consolidation Loan to qualify for PSLF.
3. Certify your employment by submitting a PSLF form. Use the PSLF Help Tool to generate a PDF, which you'll need to sign (read more about signature requirements) and date before sending to OHRM. For OCFO, forms should be sent to Lakita Rivero.
4. Submit the form to the PSLF servicer as instructed on the printed PDF document.
Once you have submitted a PSLF form and consolidated into the Direct Loan program, you will be automatically opted into the waiver. This means that, if you qualify, you will lock in the benefits of the waiver and start accruing credit towards PSLF.
Just a few minutes of your time may save you thousands of dollars on your student loans. Remember, you need to take the steps necessary to qualify for the Limited PSLF Waiver before October 31, 2022.
|
Reminder: Feds Feed Families 2022
This year’s 2022 Feds Feed Families campaign has launched. Visit USDA's Feds Feed Families page for helpful ways to participate!
GSA’s goal is to beat last year’s contribution and donate more than 130,000 pounds of food by the campaign’s close at the end of August. Please consider getting involved and visit the FFF Hub to record your donations this year!
Since its inception, GSA employees have graciously donated more than 2 million pounds of food.
|
Update: Upcoming Mandatory Training Deadlines
Past due!
- Security and Privacy Awareness (IT Security Awareness, Sharing Securely in a Collaborative Environment, Safeguarding GSA Sensitive Information, and IT Security Rules of Behavior trainings)
Due Wednesday, August 31
- Insider Threat Awareness and Reporting
- Internal Controls at GSA and You
- No FEAR Act
- Plain Language
These courses are now available in Online University.
To access your mandatory training, click on My Learning on the Online University home page. Once you're on the transcript page, click on the Open Curriculum button next to GSA 2022 Mandatory Refresher Training for Employees. On that page you'll find all the required training courses.
|
ICYMI: This Week's Messages from GSA Leadership
7/27: Deputy Administrator Katy Kale provides a post-town hall reminder of the policies around GSA's response to COVID-19
7/27: Administrator Carnahan shares a town hall recap, recording, and post-event survey
7/26: Associate Administrator Exodie Roe reports GSA's A+ on the Small Business Administration procurement scorecard
7/25: Deputy Administrator Katy Kale shares a personnel update
Check out the Messages from Leadership page on InSite, where you can find past messages from GSA leaders.
Poll Results: Summer, Summer, Summertime!
Maybe it's the power of suggestion at play, but the majority of respondents chose a lazy day at the beach (or pool) or the weather as their favorite thing about summer. Vacation wasn't too far behind. Fishing, eating outdoors, and attending outdoor concerts rounded out the top 5.
Thanks so much for participating in the Week in Review poll. To share ideas for future polls, send us an email. Check back next week for another one and have a great weekend (hopefully taking part in one of your favorite summer activities)!
|
New: Check Out the New RPA Google Site
The RPA team has a new internal Google Site! We are excited to share with you about our latest automations, introduce you to our team, and keep you in the loop on news and updates.
Be sure to explore our automation inventory, where you can learn more about how we have used RPA to solve challenging problems across GSA business lines. We also have a new form to submit your ideas to eliminate, optimize, and automation OCFO processes! Check out the site today!
|
Reminder: OCFO Night at Nats Park!
OCFO is again sponsoring a Nationals outing for those in the D.C. area. The game is on Wednesday, August 31, 2022, at 7:05 versus the A’s. Tickets are approximately $20. If interested, please indicate your desire for tickets by August 15 by adding your name to this spreadsheet. Send questions to Evan Farley. Thanks (and go, Nats)!
|
Welcome to the OCFO Analytics Corner! Each week, the Analytics Community of Practice (A-CoP) team will be sharing events, training, resources, and more. Complete this Google Form to receive more information about the A-CoP or to get involved.
Looking for GSA Systems Information?
Need an overview of Pegasys? Want to find an expert on REXUS? The Analytics Hub recently updated its pages for GSA Systems & Applications based on feedback from OCFO analysts. If there's information missing on a system you think should be added, feel free to let us know!
|
Every week we will feature OCFO colleagues who have been recognized by their peers for their great work and character. This is a quick, easy, and fun way to acknowledge and thank one another. To recognize one (or more) of your peers in the next Week in Review, use the OCFO Shout Outs Google Form. |
|
 |
Shout out to Brittany Piotrowski, Carolina Molina, Steve Mauser, Jon Bauer, Jeff Miller, Keith O'Hara, Lauren Franklin, and Mike Montenegro (all BGF)!
I would like to give a shout out to these individuals for always being ready willing and able to jump in and provide support whenever needed. This week a large data request was received after hours and everyone made themselves available to gather the information required! These reviews had a quick turn around and due to the commitment of our team, we were able to meet the requests! I just want to say thank you for support you all provide!
Submitted by: Francie McCabe (BGF)
Shout out to Derek Blanchard (BGF)!
Kudos to Derek for knocking down the FEDSIM outstanding refund list by 75%, maintaining oversight of new refunds for fast processing, and always helping with the audit documentation.
Submitted by: Lauren Franklin (BGF)
Shout out to Steve Mauser (BGF) and Jonathan Bauer (BGF)!
I want to commend your excellent teamwork in reviewing the FEDSIM UDO data call and TECO order results, assigning the proper accrual overrides, and reconciling them back to the UDO so the monthly financials are as accurate as possible.
Submitted by: Lauren Franklin (BGF)
Shout out to Natalie Cotter (BR2C)!
I would like to thank Natalie for her assistance and guidance. In my opinion, she went above the call of duty and went out of her way and her team to help me resolve my issue. Thank you and you are appreciated.
Submitted by: Regina E. Norvell (BR2B)
Visit the Mandatory Training page on GSA's InSite for mandatory training deadlines and watch the Announcements section for training reminders.
Looking for enterprise-wide training opportunities? Check out the FY22 course list.
New: Apply for the Data to Decisions Data Science Practitioner Training Cohort!
In this program, open to all GSA employees, you’ll build technical skills and learn how to create intuitive dashboards. The program includes:
- Thirteen data science classes to gain better business insights from data
- A capstone project to apply your skills to a real-world business problem
- Self-study with Python, SQL and Tableau to further your learning
Apply to participate by filling out this Google Form.
|
New: OCFO Records Management Update
I want to take this moment and introduce myself as your Records Manager. My goal is to assist you with obtaining all the information you require to maintain your records and expedite our record dispositions within OCFO.
As an update and per the OMB/NARA Memorandum M-19-21, after December 31st of this calendar year (2022), NARA Federal Records Centers will no longer be accepting physical records for storage or accessioning (taking custody of permanent Agency records). However, after this deadline, the records NARA Federal Records Centers hold will continue to be managed for agencies as they have always been. For example, when done, GSA may continue to recall records for viewing and return them to the federal records center. NARA will continue disposing of stored temporary records and accessioning stored permanent records upon their disposition dates.
The question for many at GSA today is how this situation affects our office. The good news is that the overwhelming majority of records created in recent years are digital. They’ve been developed in IT Business Systems, word processing applications, or other types of software and exist as electronic files. These files must be appropriately managed and disposed of according to the records retention schedule that applies to them.
In the weeks that follow, I will send out byte-size information to assist in guiding us and keep us up to date with certain records management deadlines such as this update.
To begin our journey in Records Management, please click on this link so we can explore what a record is and the differences between temporary and permanent records.
If you have any questions, please reach out to me at Les.Painter@gsa.gov.
Reminder: Register for Treasury's 2022 Government Financial Management Conference
Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service is pleased to announce that the 2022 Government Financial Management Conference (GFMC) is open for registration. The GFMC is a free virtual conference which provides up to 10 NASBA continuing professional education (CPE) credits. All educational sessions will be led by federal financial management experts and select business partners.
To learn more about the conference, which will take place August 24-25, 2022, visit the GFMC site. To register, visit: https://cvent.me/18Woo2. Registration closes on Friday, August 19, 2022.
|
August Enterprise-wide Training Opportunities
Check out these enterprise-wide course offerings:
For a full listing of courses available this month and throughout the year, check out the enterprise-wide course offerings list.
|
