prompt_front: You are given two reports by the government agency.



Question: Write a one-page summary of the report 1.



Report 2: NSF relies on two programs for bringing rotators into the agency: (1) the IPA program and (2) the VSEE program  The Office of Personnel Management develops policies on agencies’ use of the IPA program and promulgates program regulations  Rotators in NSF’s IPA and VSEE programs differ in key respects, including their employment status and compensation  IPA rotators  NSF enters into written agreements with rotators’ home institutions for all IPA assignments  The agreements detail rotators’ salaries and health, retirement, and other fringe benefits at their home institutions, as well as the cost-sharing amounts NSF and home institutions are to pay during rotators’ assignments  NSF reimburses its cost-sharing amounts to home institutions, which continue to pay rotators’ full salaries and benefits  NSF does not cap the salaries of IPA rotators; as a result, IPA rotators may receive salaries that exceed the maximum federal salary for the position they hold at NSF  In contrast, if an IPA rotator’s salary is less than the minimum federal salary for the position, NSF will supplement the salary to the minimum rate  VSEE rotators  NSF appoints VSEE rotators as federal employees on a nonpaid leave of absence from their home institutions  VSEE rotators receive their salaries directly from NSF but are not eligible for certain federal benefits, such as retirement; instead, NSF reimburses home institutions for the employer’s share of retirement, life insurance, and health benefits that would otherwise be discontinued  NSF’s policy is to set salaries for VSEE rotators that are generally comparable to the salaries the rotators would receive at their home institutions  In setting salaries, NSF also takes into account other sources of income, such as consulting, and allows for locality pay adjustments applicable to employees in the Washington, D C , metropolitan area  However, because VSEE rotators are federal employees, NSF caps their salaries at the federal maximum for the position they hold at NSF  Both IPA and VSEE rotators are eligible for certain other types of reimbursement  In particular, rotators have the option of having NSF pay their moving expenses to and from Washington, D C , or receiving per diem allowances in accordance with federal travel regulations for up to 2 years  In addition, NSF may reimburse rotators for travel-related expenses related to their participation in NSF’s Independent Research and Development program, which enables NSF staff to maintain their involvement with their professional research and research-related activities at their home institutions  Table 1 shows additional information on IPA and VSEE rotator expenses  Rotators are generally assigned to one of NSF’s seven directorates that support science and engineering research and education (see table 2)  Each directorate is headed by an assistant director and deputy assistant director  Directorates are further subdivided into divisions, offices, or sections  Each division is headed by a division director and typically a deputy division director, and each office is headed by an office director and typically a deputy office director  All these positions are executive positions at NSF  At the staff level, NSF uses program directors—subject matter experts in the scientific areas they manage—to conduct reviews of proposals and recommend which projects the agency should fund  With an annual budget of about $7 5 billion, NSF funds approximately 24 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by colleges and universities in the United States  In 2016, NSF established the Steering Committee for Policy and Oversight of the IPA Program  The steering committee serves as the primary body for considering policy on NSF’s use of IPA rotators and overseeing common approaches to budgeting and implementation of the IPA program  The committee’s membership includes NSF’s chief human capital officer, who serves as the chair, and several other NSF officials  The steering committee has established strategic principles for management of the IPA program  These principles include maintaining a balance between IPA rotators and federal staff and a commitment to ongoing improvement of the program  NSF officials told us that there is no similar steering committee for overseeing VSEE rotators  Instead, each VSEE rotator is individually overseen by his or her respective supervisor  For the agency as a whole, NSF’s Office of Information and Resource Management and its Division of Human Resource Management conduct human capital management  NSF officials stated that the head of the Office of Information and Resource Management serves as the Chief Human Capital Officer and develops and oversees NSF’s human capital approaches and strategies  These officials also told us that the Deputy Chief Human Capital Officer serves as the division director of Human Resource Management and is responsible for administering the division’s day-to-day operations  The Division of Human Resource Management administers the agency’s human capital policies as set forth in NSF’s personnel manual  The numbers of rotators and their costs to NSF in proportion to other staff have remained relatively stable  Most rotators were IPA rotators, and were used in both executive and program director (staff-level) positions  NSF generally used VSEE rotators in program director positions  Most rotators at NSF were IPA rotators, and the proportion of rotators relative to other staff has remained relatively stable over time (see fig  1)  During the 10-year period we reviewed, from fiscal year 2008 through fiscal year 2017, IPA and VSEE rotators comprised about 12 percent and about 3 percent, respectively, of NSF’s total workforce; and the number of IPA rotators ranged from 162 to 190 (about 11 to 12 percent of total staff), and the number of VSEE rotators ranged from 22 to 52 (about 1 to 3 percent of total staff)  NSF primarily used rotators across its seven scientific directorates, using IPA rotators in executive and program director positions and VSEE rotators in program director positions  The agency used rotators in these positions alongside NSF’s permanent staff to perform day-to-day agency operations, including managing the agency’s merit review process for determining which projects to fund  NSF used IPA rotators in executive positions such as assistant director  According to agency officials, individuals in executive positions at NSF are responsible for setting the direction for the scientific area they are assigned, leading scientific and technical matters, establishing an organizational culture, overseeing outreach and collaboration with NSF stakeholders, and contributing to NSF and national policy development and implementation  For example, an executive IPA rotator that we interviewed told us that he emphasized forming partnerships with industry when setting the direction for his directorate, including issuing joint solicitations for research proposals with industry partners  In addition, according to NSF officials, individuals in executive positions provide guidance and team management for staff  The proportion of IPA rotators to federal employees in executive positions within NSF’s seven scientific directorates and other staff offices has generally increased since fiscal year 2012  As shown in figure 4, from fiscal year 2008 through fiscal year 2017, the number and proportion of executive positions filled by IPA rotators ranged from 18 of 98 (about 18 percent) in 2008 to 30 of 108 (about 28 percent) in fiscal year 2016  In November 2017, IPA rotators filled 29 of 88 (about 33 percent) executive positions within NSF’s seven scientific directorates  At that time, the proportion of executive positions filled by IPA rotators varied among directorates, as shown in table 3  For example, IPA rotators filled 4 of 8 (50 percent) of the executive positions in the Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences and 2 of 14 (about 14 percent) of the executive positions in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences  According to NSF officials, NSF often pairs IPA rotators and federal employees at the executive level so that each can benefit from the other’s experience and perspective  For example, in all but one directorate, an IPA rotator filled the assistant director position and a federal employee filled the corresponding deputy assistant director position  Two NSF executives we interviewed, including an IPA rotator and a federal employee, commented positively on the pairing of IPA rotators and federal employees at the executive level  For example, they said that rotators maintain close ties to the research community and federal employees may have more experience with NSF’s institutional history  One NSF executive told us that IPA rotators help keep the agency at the forefront of science because they have deep ties with the research community and regularly publish their own research  Additionally, a federal program director we interviewed told us that in one previous instance in which an IPA rotator filled an executive position without being paired with a federal employee, the rotator’s lack of institutional knowledge of NSF and the steep learning curve for the position caused inefficiencies during the rotator’s first year at NSF  The agency, however, does not require pairing IPA rotators and federal employees at the executive level, according to NSF officials  For example, in November 2017, IPA rotators filled both the division director and deputy division director positions in the Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Science and Division of Undergraduate Education  In our interviews with a nongeneralizable sample of NSF employees and rotators, we found mixed perceptions about the effect of NSF’s use of IPA rotators on opportunities for advancement for permanent employees  For example, in response to a question about this effect, one permanent NSF employee told us that she advanced to an executive position and that opportunities exist for advancement within the agency  In contrast, another NSF employee we interviewed told us that she did not feel there were opportunities for advancement because, in her view, executive vacancies created by the departure of rotators were exclusively filled with other rotators  NSF officials said that the agency has no policy that restricts repeatedly filling certain executive positions with rotators and that such a situation is a common practice  Nevertheless, NSF officials told us 32 of the 88 executives (about 36 percent) in NSF’s seven scientific directorates in November 2017 had held staff-level positions within the agency before becoming executives  NSF uses both IPA and VSEE rotators in program director positions, which are staff-level positions  In fiscal year 2016, NSF had a total of 506 program directors, including 139 IPA rotators (about 27 percent) and 39 VSEE rotators (about 8 percent)  According to NSF officials, program directors are responsible for conducting long-range planning and developing budgets for the areas of science represented by their program and for administrating the merit review process  In particular, IPA and VSEE rotators who serve as program directors help determine the projects that NSF funds  To do so, they review proposals, identify experts in their field to serve as external reviewers, and make funding recommendations to their respective division directors  NSF officials told us that, similar to the pairing of IPA rotators and federal employees at the executive level, permanent and rotating program directors frequently work together on a shared program so that each can benefit from the other’s experience and perspective  For example, a rotating program director we interviewed told us that she worked under the guidance of a program lead, who is typically a permanent employee  Another rotating program director told us that NSF’s permanent federal employees are good at training incoming rotators  Beginning in fiscal year 2017, NSF adopted rotator program cost- management strategies expected to achieve the greatest savings with the least harm to recruitment, but NSF officials said it is too soon to determine the full results because these new strategies are being phased in for new IPA agreements only  NSF considered other strategies to manage rotator costs, but it did not adopt them, generally because NSF anticipated negative effects on rotator recruitment or because it estimated the resulting cost savings would be small  NSF has adopted three strategies to manage rotators’ costs in fiscal year 2017, but, NSF officials said it is too soon to determine the full results because these new strategies are being phased in for new IPA agreements only  All three of these strategies relate to IPA rotators; NSF officials told us that they have not considered or adopted any cost- management strategies related to VSEE rotators  The officials explained that any such strategies could affect NSF’s entire federal workforce because VSEE rotators are federal employees  The three strategies are: (1) obtaining a minimum 10 percent cost-share from each IPA rotator’s home institution, (2) limiting IPA rotators’ paid trips to their home institutions to 12 per year, and (3) no longer reimbursing IPA rotators for consulting income that they forgo while at NSF  NSF officials told us they expect to issue a report with the results of evaluations of all three strategies in December 2018  In October 2016, NSF implemented a cost-sharing pilot program that requires institutions covered by the program—those who entered into negotiations for new IPA agreements in fiscal year 2017—to pay for at least 10 percent of the IPA rotators’ salaries and fringe benefits  Implementing this cost-management strategy, and the other strategies that NSF adopted, was consistent with recommendations from NSF’s steering committee for oversight of IPA rotators  This cost-management strategy targeted NSF’s costs for IPA rotators’ salary and fringe benefits, which constitute the largest component of IPA rotators’ costs  For example, these costs were about $34 7 million, or about 89 percent of IPA rotator costs in fiscal year 2017  Previously, according to NSF officials, the agency requested an optional cost-share amount of 15 percent from rotators’ home institutions, but it typically received less because of variations in the amounts that home institutions provided  According to an October 2016 report from the task force on fiscal oversight, NSF decided on 10 percent for the cost-sharing pilot program because, historically, few home institutions provided the full 15 percent and NSF believed a requirement of 10 percent would not significantly affect its ability to recruit and hire IPA rotators  If a home institution is unable to provide the full 10 percent, the institution may request that NSF waive the cost-sharing requirement  According to NSF officials, such requests must be signed by a senior administrator at the rotator’s home institution and include the rationale for not being able to provide the required amount, the financial impact on the institution if it were to provide the full 10 percent, and associated documentation, among other things  Changes made in implementing this strategy, and the other strategies that NSF adopted, applied to new IPA agreements made in fiscal year 2017  These changes did not apply to IPA rotators with agreements made prior to 2017—even if those agreements are subsequently extended or renewed—or that were being negotiated at the time of the policy change, provided that the rotators’ appointment memoranda were already being reviewed by NSF’s Division of Human Resource Management  NSF officials told us that as of March 2018, the agency had not conducted full evaluations of this strategy or the other strategies because it was too soon to determine their full effects and NSF had not yet collected enough data to do so  Instead, NSF issued reports in January and March 2018 containing its preliminary analyses  In general, these preliminary reports found that the cost-management strategies resulted in savings to NSF  Similarly, our analysis of data from NSF found that cost sharing as a percentage of IPA rotators’ salary and fringe benefits increased from about 7 percent in fiscal year 2016 to about 8 percent in fiscal year 2017  NSF officials told us that of the 55 IPA rotators who were subject to the cost-sharing requirement in fiscal year 2017: the home institutions for 54 rotators met or exceeded the 10 percent cost-share requirement, and of those, 16 exceeded the cost-share requirement; and the home institution for 1 rotator did not cost-share because the rotator was from a Federally Funded Research and Development Center and NSF waived the cost-share requirement because cost- sharing would not decrease the overall federal cost  In November 2017, NSF decided to extend the cost-sharing pilot through at least the end of fiscal year 2018, to ensure a full evaluation could be conducted  In particular, NSF officials told us that they need more data and experience with this pilot program to better understand its effects, such as the ability to recruit potential IPA rotators  For example, one IPA rotator that we interviewed expressed concern with the cost-sharing requirement’s potential effect on small or publicly funded universities, which may lack funds to contribute to the cost of an IPA assignment  According to NSF officials, their evaluation will include an analysis of the cost of IPA rotators under the cost-sharing requirement and its effect on the IPA program, including recruitment  Beginning in fiscal year 2017, for IPA rotators who entered into negotiations for new agreements in that fiscal year, NSF placed a limit of 12 agency-funded trips per year that rotators may take to their home institutions under the Independent Research and Development program  In our analysis of data from NSF, we found that NSF’s costs for IPA rotators under this program decreased from about $1 5 million (about 3 percent of IPA rotator costs) in fiscal year 2016 to $1
Report 2:  Congress provides an overall appropriation for the SBA's ED programs and recommends appropriations for the SBA's other ED programs, typically in the conference agreement or "Explanatory Statement" accompanying the appropriations act  As a result, the following tables refer to appropriations for the SBDC and Microloan Technical Assistance programs and recommended appropriations for other ED programs  Although not legally binding, the SBA has traditionally adhered to these recommended funding amounts  SBDCs provide free or low-cost assistance to small businesses using programs customized to local conditions  SBDCs support small business in marketing and business strategy, finance, technology transfer, government contracting, management, manufacturing, engineering, sales, accounting, exporting, and other topics  They are funded by grants from the SBA and matching funds  There are 63 lead SBDC service centers, at least one in each state (with four in Texas and six in California), the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa  These lead SBDC service centers manage more than 900 SBDC outreach locations  As shown in Table 6 , appropriations for SBDCs have increased from $84 179 million in FY2000 to $131 000 million in FY2019  This increase has exceeded the rate of inflation  In addition, as shown in the table, SBDCs received an additional $50 million in temporary funding in FY2010, which was spent over two fiscal years  The SBA reports actual and anticipated expenditures for its ED programs in its annual budget justification document  SBDC expenditures in FY2000-FY2018 and anticipated SBDC expenditures in FY2019 are presented in the table's last column for comparative purposes  The SBA's Microloan lending program is designed to address the perceived disadvantages faced by women, low-income, veteran, and minority entrepreneurs and business owners in gaining access to capital for starting or expanding their business (see P L  102-140 , the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1992)  Under the Microloan program, the SBA provides direct loans to qualified nonprofit intermediary Microloan lenders who, in turn, provide "microloans" of up to $50,000 to small business owners, entrepreneurs, and nonprofit child care centers  The SBA's Microloan Technical Assistance program is part of the SBA's Microloan program but receives a separate appropriation  It provides grants to Microloan intermediaries to offer management and technical training assistance to Microloan program borrowers and prospective borrowers  There are currently 147 active Microloan intermediaries, serving 49 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico  As shown in Table 7 , the Microloan Technical Assistance program's appropriations have varied over the years  Overall, Microloan Technical Assistance Program appropriations have increased from $23 112 million in FY2000 to $31 000 million in FY2019  This increase has been less than the rate of inflation  Microloan Technical Assistance expenditures in FY2000-FY2018 and anticipated Microloan Technical Assistance expenditures in FY2019 are presented in the table's last column for comparative purposes  Women Business Centers (WBCs) provide financial, management, and marketing assistance to small businesses, including start-up businesses, owned and controlled by women  Since its inception, the program has targeted the needs of socially and economically disadvantaged women (see P L  100-533 , the Women's Business Ownership Act of 1988)  Currently, there are 121 WBCs located throughout most of the United States and the territories  As shown in Table 8 , WBC's recommended appropriations have increased from $8 966 million in FY2000 to $18 500 million in FY2019  This increase has exceeded the rate of inflation  WBC expenditures in FY2000-FY2018 and anticipated WBC expenditures in FY2019 are presented in the table's last column for comparative purposes  The SBA provides financial assistance to SCORE (formerly the Service Corps of Retired Executives) to provide in-person mentoring and online training to small business owners and prospective owners  SCORE's 320 chapters and more than 800 branch offices are located throughout the United States and partner with more than 11,000 volunteer counselors, who are working or retired business owners, executives and corporate leaders, to provide management and training assistance to small businesses "at no charge or at very low cost " As shown in Table 9 , SCORE's recommended appropriations have increased from $3 487 million in FY2000 to $11 700 in FY2019  This increase has exceeded the rate of inflation  SCORE expenditures in FY2000-FY2018 and anticipated SCORE expenditures in FY2019 are presented in the table's last column for comparative purposes  The Program for Investment in Microentrepreneurs (PRIME) provides grants to nonprofit microenterprise development organizations or programs that have "a demonstrated record of delivering microenterprise services to disadvantaged entrepreneurs; an intermediary; a microenterprise development organization or program that is accountable to a local community, working in conjunction with a state or local government or Indian tribe; or an Indian tribe acting on its own, if the Indian tribe can certify that no private organization or program referred to in this paragraph exists within its jurisdiction " As shown in Table 10 , PRIME's recommended appropriations have varied, starting at $14 964 million in FY2001 (the program's first recommended appropriation) and falling to $2 million in FY2006 and FY2007  PRIME has received $5 0 million since FY2015  PRIME expenditures in FY2001-FY2018 and anticipated PRIME expenditures in FY2019 are presented in the table's last column for comparative purposes  The Obama Administration argued that PRIME overlaps and duplicates the SBA's Microloan Technical Assistance program and recommended in its FY2012-FY2017 budget requests that PRIME receive no appropriations  As shown in the table, in FY2013, the Obama Administration eliminated PRIME's appropriation as part of the SBA's sequestration process  The Trump Administration recommended in its FY2018 and FY2019 budget requests that the PRIME program receive no appropriations  The SBA's Office of Veterans Business Development (OVBD) administers several management and training programs to assist veteran-owned businesses, including the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities Consortium of Universities, which provides "experiential training in entrepreneurship and small business management to post-9/11 veterans with disabilities" at eight universities; the Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship (V-WISE) program, which is administered through a cooperative agreement with Syracuse University, offers women veterans a 15-day, online course focused on entrepreneurship skills and the "language of business," followed by a 3-day conference (offered twice a year at varying locations) in which participants "are exposed to successful entrepreneurs and CEOs of Fortune 500 companies and leaders in government" and participate in courses on business planning, marketing, accounting and finance, operations and production, human resources, and work-life balance; the Operation Endure and Grow Program, which is administered through a cooperative agreement with Syracuse University, offers an eight-week online training program "focused on the fundamentals of launching and/or growing a small business" and is available to National Guard and reservists and their family members; the Boots to Business program (started in 2012), which is "an elective track within the Department of Defense's revised Training Assistance Program called Transition Goals, Plans, Success (Transition GPS) and has three parts: the Entrepreneurship Track Overview—a 10-minute introductory video shown during the mandatory five-day Transition GPS course which introduces entrepreneurship as a post-service career option; Introduction to Entrepreneurship—a two-day classroom course on entrepreneurship and business fundamentals offered as one of the three Transition GPS elective tracks; and Foundations of Entrepreneurship—an eight-week, instructor-led online course that offers in-depth instruction on the elements of a business plan and tips and techniques for starting a business"; the Boots to Business Reboot program (started in 2014), which assists veterans who have already transitioned to civilian life; and the Veterans Business Outreach Centers (VBOC) program, which provides veterans and their spouses management and technical assistance training at 15 locations, including assistance with the Boots to Business program, the development and maintenance of a five-year business plan, and referrals to other SBA resource partners when appropriate for additional training or mentoring services  Prior to FY2016, Congress recommended appropriations for VBOCs and, in FY2014 and FY2015, for the Boots to Business initiative ($7 0 million in FY2014 and $7 5 million in FY2015)  Funding for the OVBD's other veterans assistance programs were provided through the SBA's salaries and expenses account  Starting in FY2016, Congress has recommended appropriations for OVBD's programs as a whole: $12 3 million in FY2016, FY2017, and FY2018, and $12 7 million in FY2019  This increase has not kept pace with inflation  OVBD expenditures in FY2015-FY2018 and anticipated OVBD expenditures in FY2019 are presented in the table's last column for comparative purposes  Recommended appropriations for VBOCs from FY2000-FY2015 are presented in Table 12 for historical comparisons  As the data indicate, recommended appropriations for VBOCs increased from $0 613 million in FY2000 to $3 000 million in FY2015  This increase has exceeded the rate of inflation  OVBD expenditures in FY2000-FY2015 are presented in the table's last column for comparative purposes  The SBA's 7(j) Technical Assistance Program provides "a wide variety of management and technical assistance to eligible individuals or concerns to meet their specific needs, including: (a) counseling and training in the areas of financing, management, accounting, bookkeeping, marketing, and operation of small business concerns; and (b) the identification and development of new business opportunities " Eligible individuals and businesses include "8(a) certified firms, small disadvantaged businesses, businesses operating in areas of high unemployment, or low income or firms owned by low income individuals " As shown in Table 13 , recommended appropriations for the 7(j) Technical Assistance Program have varied since FY2000, with increases in some years and decreases in others  Overall, the SBA's 7(j) Technical Assistance Program's recommended appropriations have decreased from $3 584 million in FY2000 to $2 800 million in FY2019  7(j) Technical Assistance Program expenditures in FY2000-FY2018 and anticipated 7(j) Technical Assistance Program expenditures in FY2019 are presented in the table's last column for comparative purposes  The SBA's Native American Outreach (NAO) program provides management and technical educational assistance to American Indians, Alaska natives, native Hawaiians, and "the indigenous people of Guam and American Samoa … to promote entity-owned and individual 8(a) certification, government contracting, entrepreneurial education, and capital access " The program's management and technical assistance services are available to members of these groups living in most areas of the nation  As shown in Table 14 , the NAO program's recommended appropriations have varied somewhat since FY2003 (the first year it received recommended appropriations), ranging from $1 0 million to $2 0 million  The program's recommended appropriations have not kept pace with inflation  NAO program expenditures in FY2003-FY2018 and anticipated NAO expenditures in FY2019 are presented in the table's last column for comparative purposes  The National Women's Business Council (NWBC) is a bipartisan federal advisory council created to serve as an independent source of advice and counsel to the President, Congress, and the SBA on economic issues of importance to women business owners  The council's mission "is to promote bold initiatives, policies, and programs designed to support women's business enterprises at all stages of development in the public and private sector marketplaces—from start-up to success to significance " As shown in Table 15 , the recommended appropriation for the NWBC has increased from $0 598 million in FY2000 to $1 500 million in FY2019  This increase has exceeded the rate of inflation  NWBC expenditures in FY2000-FY2018 and NWBC anticipated expenditures in FY2019 are presented in the table's last column for comparative purposes  The HUBZone program helps small businesses located in designated Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZones) to compete for federal contracts  Federal agencies may award contracts directly to HUBZone-certified small businesses through a sole-source contract, limit contact competitions to HUBZone-certified firms through a contract set-aside, or provide HUBZone-certified firms a price evaluation preference in full and open competitions  The HUBZone program was initially funded through the SBA's salary and expenses account  As shown in Table 16 , Congress started recommending an appropriation for the program in FY2004  This recommended appropriation remained relatively stable until FY2015, when it increased to $3 0 million  With this increase, the HUBZone program's recommended appropriations have exceeded inflation  The HUBZone program's expenditures in FY2000-FY2018 and the HUBZone program's anticipated expenditures in FY2019 are presented in the table's last column for comparative purposes  The SBA reports that "regional innovation clusters are on-the-ground collaborations between business, research, education, financing and government institutions that work to develop and grow a particular industry or related set of industries in a particular geographic region " The SBA has supported regional innovative clusters since FY2009, and the initiative has received recommended appropriations from Congress since FY2010  As shown in Table 17 , funding for the Entrepreneurial Development Initiative (Regional Innovation Clusters) has been reduced from a recommended appropriation of $10 0 million in FY2010 to $5 0 million in FY2019  The table's last column indicates that the SBA's expenditures for the initiative have often been less than the amount appropriated  The Trump Administration recommended in its FY2018 and FY2019 budget requests that the Entrepreneurial Development Initiative receive no appropriations  The SBA's Entrepreneurship Education initiative offers high‐growth small businesses in underserved communities "a seven‐month executive leader education series" consisting of "more than 100 hours of specialized training, technical resources, a professional networking system, and other resources to strengthen their business model and promote economic development within urban communities " At the conclusion of the training, "participants produce a three‐year strategic growth action plan with benchmarks and performance targets that help them access the necessary support and resources to move forward for the next stage of business growth " As shown in Table 18 , the Entrepreneurship Education initiative received its first recommended appropriation from Congress in FY2014 ($5 0 million), $7 0 million in FY2015, $10 0 million in FY2016, FY2017, and FY2018, and $3 5 million in FY2019  The SBA describes growth accelerators as "organizations that help entrepreneurs start and scale their businesses " Growth accelerators are typically run by experienced entrepreneurs and help small businesses access seed capital and mentors  The SBA claims that growth accelerators "help accelerate a startup company's path towards success with targeted advice on revenue growth, employee growth, sourcing outside funding and avoiding pitfalls " As shown in Table 19 , the Growth Accelerator initiative received its first recommended appropriation from Congress in FY2014 ($2 5 million), $4 0 million in FY2015, $1 0 million in FY2016, FY2017, and FY2018, and $2 million in FY2019  It provides $50,000 matching grants each year to universities and private sector accelerators "to support the development of accelerators and their support of startups in parts of the country where there are fewer conventional sources of access to capital (i e , venture capital and other investors) " The Trump Administration recommended in its FY2018 and FY2019 budget requests that the Growth Accelerator Initiative receive no appropriations 

ground_truth: The United States is a member of the OAS, PAHO, IICA, and PAIGH, which promote democracy, health care, agricultural development, and scientific exchange. GAO was asked to review U.S. assistance to these four organizations. In this report, GAO (1) assesses the extent to which the organizations' strategic goals align with those of U.S. agencies; (2) examines how the organizations oversee the use of their funds and the extent to which U.S. agencies have supported those efforts; (3) assesses the extent to which U.S. agencies included key monitoring provisions as part of assistance agreements; and (4) assesses the extent to which U.S. agencies had documentation of monitoring activities, including those called for by these provisions. GAO analyzed documents and interviewed officials from State, USAID, HHS, USDA, and the organizations. GAO also analyzed a nongeneralizable sample of 12 of the 60 assistance agreements that were awarded by State, USAID, HHS, and USDA to OAS, PAHO, and IICA and were active during calendar years 2014 through 2016. For each agency, GAO selected three agreements with the lowest, median, and highest dollar value. GAO found that strategic goals of the Organization of American States (OAS), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), and the Pan-American Institute of Geography and History (PAIGH) are predominantly aligned with the strategic goals of the Department of State (State), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). For example, IICA's strategic goals of a productive agricultural sector, enhancing agricultural development, and food security are aligned with USDA's foreign assistance goals. State, USAID, HHS, and USDA fund activities in the form of assistance agreements (e.g., grants and cooperative agreements) with OAS, PAHO, and IICA, which in 2016 totaled $32 million. According to agency officials, the agencies employ mechanisms to ensure that these agreements align with U.S. strategic goals. OAS, PAHO, IICA, and PAIGH have established mechanisms for overseeing their use of funds, such as external auditors, internal audit boards, and anti-fraud and ethics policies. State and USDA have directly supported these mechanisms. For example, State engaged in the selection process for OAS's Inspector General. GAO's review of 12 selected assistance agreements found that USDA included no financial or performance monitoring provisions in one of its agreements and that State did not include two key monitoring provisions in one of its agreements, called for by applicable guidance. GAO found that the remaining 10 agreements it reviewed contained all key monitoring provisions and that State has since taken corrective action. GAO found that U.S. agencies did not have full documentation of 18 of the 42 monitoring activities required by the 12 assistance agreements GAO reviewed (see table). For example, USDA did not have full documentation, such as for financial reports, of any of its 10 required monitoring activities and USDA officials did not explain their lack of documentation. USAID officials explained that their lack of full documentation was due, in part, to grant officers not always following their document management policies. State and HHS have since taken corrective action. If an agency does not have full documentation of monitoring activities, it may lack information needed to make appropriate budgetary and programmatic decisions. GAO recommends that (1) USDA ensure inclusion of all monitoring provisions as part of agreements and (2) USAID and USDA ensure full documentation of monitoring activities. USDA and USAID concurred with GAO's recommendations.

prompt_front: You are given two reports by the government agency.



Question: Write a one-page summary of the report 2.

Report 1: The U S  government engages with the governments of other countries in the Western Hemisphere through various inter-American organizations including the OAS, PAHO, IICA, and PAIGH  According to State, the OAS is the primary inter-American political forum through which the United States engages with other countries in the Western Hemisphere to promote democracy, human rights, security, and development  PAHO serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization, the United Nations agency on health  IICA supports agricultural development and rural well-being through technical cooperation and the execution of agricultural projects throughout the hemisphere  PAIGH specializes in regional cartography, geography, history, and geophysics and has facilitated the settlement of regional border disputes  According to U S  agency officials, the organizations’ regional knowledge and technical expertise make them effective implementing partners for projects serving U S  national interests and priorities throughout the hemisphere  Member states collectively finance these organizations by providing assessed and voluntary contributions (see table 1)  For each organization, its member states’ assessed contributions are intended to finance the organization’s regular budgets, which generally cover the organization’s day-to-day operating expenses, such as facilities and salaries  Member states also finance certain OAS, PAHO, and IICA activities and projects through voluntary contributions  According to U S  officials, the United States provides voluntary contributions to the OAS, PAHO, and IICA primarily through assistance agreements for specific projects from State, USAID, HHS, and USDA  The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) provides the framework for international organizations to oversee funds such as the assessed contributions provided by member states to OAS, PAHO, IICA, and PAIGH  The institute’s authoritative guidance, International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing, includes mandatory performance standards that describe the nature of internal audit activities and provide criteria for evaluating these activities  Organizations are required to subscribe to these IIA standards, according to PAIGH officials and OAS, PAHO, and IICA documents  Assistance agreements are a critical tool the U S  government uses to achieve important national objectives  As we have previously reported, effective oversight and internal control are important to provide reasonable assurance to federal managers and taxpayers that assistance agreements are awarded properly, recipients are eligible, and federal funds are used as intended and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations  State, USAID, HHS, and USDA oversee funds provided to OAS, PAHO, and IICA through assistance agreements using monitoring activities such as financial and performance reports  Within each of these agencies, various bureaus and offices are responsible for awarding and managing assistance agreements to these inter-American organizations, including State’s Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, USAID’s Office of U S  Foreign Disaster Assistance, HHS’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its Food and Drug Administration, and USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service  The documentation of these monitoring activities as called for by federal standards for internal control enables the agencies to determine the effectiveness of the agreement activity  We found that the strategic goals of the four inter-American organizations are predominantly aligned with the high-level strategic goals for the Western Hemisphere documented by State, USAID, HHS, and USDA  According to officials, the agencies all consider U S  strategic goals when deciding which projects to fund at OAS, PAHO, and IICA  State, USAID, HHS, and USDA have goals for foreign assistance to the Western Hemisphere, as shown in table 2  For example, four of the five goals in State and USAID’s Joint Strategy correspond with goals at the OAS, IICA, and PAIGH  U S  agencies, on an ongoing basis, evaluate each inter- American organization to ensure U S  and organization goals are aligned  Officials from all four agencies provided examples of how they help to ensure alignment of U S  strategic goals when funding projects at OAS, PAHO, and IICA  State: According to State officials, State created an Annual Performance and Budget Review process in 2014 specifically to review entities, such as the OAS, that receive voluntary contributions funded through the International Organization and Programs account  This process examines performance of State-funded activities relative to those activities from the previous year and the extent to which the activities advance U S  priorities and objectives  State officials further noted that the Annual Performance and Budget Review helps inform State’s decision-making on what to include in the following year’s budget request  For example, during the 2016 review for the OAS Development Assistance Program, State reported the program’s significant activities, funds expended, and achievements such as training government officials on successful small business policies in the United States  USAID: According to USAID officials, USAID’s project design and approval policies and procedures ensure that all USAID-funded activities are linked to applicable U S  and USAID strategies  USAID’s agency guidance requires, at a minimum, that each project or activity must be formally approved in writing by the relevant Mission Director or Principal Officer for a given program  Officials stated that this approval memo and supporting documentation address a number of planning considerations, including how the proposed activity aligns with broader strategies  Furthermore, officials stated that USAID’s lawyers review project approval documentation prior to final approval and verify that the activity complies with all applicable statutes, regulations, and policies  HHS: According to HHS officials, HHS engages with PAHO on its Biennial Work Plans, which are operational planning instruments that PAHO uses to identify activities that it can implement within each of its member states  HHS officials noted that they use PAHO’s Biennial Work Plan to strengthen U S  approaches on issues of common concern and to advance U S  priorities within the region  According to HHS officials, proposals for technical cooperation projects are required to correspond to one of the technical priorities in PAHO’s strategic plan for 2014–2019 and to be aligned with the HHS global strategy and U S  priorities  USDA: USDA officials said that they compare the U S  strategic goals with IICA’s goals and objectives when they formulate project proposals with IICA to ensure that the projects are aligned with U S  priorities for the region  Additionally, USDA officials told us that USDA helped shape and influence IICA’s recent 10-year strategic plan, ensuring that IICA’s strategic objectives were closely aligned with U S  strategic goals  OAS, PAHO, IICA, and PAIGH have established mechanisms for overseeing their use of assessed and voluntary contributions, such as external auditors and internal audit boards as required by IIA standards  State and USDA have directly supported these oversight mechanisms  OAS, PAHO, IICA, and PAIGH have oversight mechanisms, as shown in table 3  The four organizations follow the internal control standards of the IIA, codified in the International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing, according to PAIGH officials and OAS, PAHO, and IICA documents  All four organizations have internal and external auditors, as required by these standards  Furthermore, OAS, PAHO, and IICA have additional oversight mechanisms, such as anti-fraud policies and program evaluation processes  The officials we interviewed from State, USAID, HHS, and USDA expressed confidence in the four organizations’ management of their assessed and voluntary contributions  All four organizations document the status of their financial and internal control activities in audit reports posted on their public websites  For example, the OAS Office of the Inspector General’s April 2017 Annual Report included an update on its five ongoing audits and investigations  The report also outlined progress made against prior recommendations  U S  agency officials support budget and administrative subcommittees in three of the four organizations and promote the participation of U S  experts on independent audit committees, as shown in table 4  For example, according to officials, State plays a significant role in promoting policies on oversight and accountability at the four organizations through formal engagement in deliberations and decision-making of each organization’s governing body and through informal engagement with other member states and the secretariat by recommending best practices in governance, management, and oversight  State and USDA are also directly involved in implementing some of the additional oversight mechanisms at the organizations  For example, a USDA official serves as a member of IICA’s Audit Review Committee  Additionally, an IICA official told us the United States was involved in defining IICA’s Convention and Rules of Procedure for its governing bodies, which established the requirement for internal and external auditing  According to State officials, the United States led efforts to strengthen oversight at several of the organizations under review in recent years, such as advocating for the creation of an ethics officer position at PAHO, proposing language to strengthen the authority and independence of the OAS’s Office of the Inspector General, and encouraging the creation of audit committees at both organizations  In addition, State has played a lead role in supporting the ongoing reform of the OAS administration, which includes improved oversight and accountability, according to officials from the OAS and the U S  Mission to the OAS  We reviewed 12 selected assistance agreements that the four U S  agencies awarded to OAS, PAHO, and IICA that were active during calendar years 2014 through 2016, and found that two agencies did not consistently include all key monitoring provisions in their agreements  While HHS and USAID implemented applicable guidance by including all key monitoring provisions in their agreements, USDA and State did not do so  USDA and State agency officials did not explain why USDA and State did not include these monitoring provisions in their agreements  However, State has since taken corrective action to ensure that they are included in future agreements, according to State officials  Applicable agency guidance calls for agencies to conduct monitoring activities as part of their oversight of their agreements  Each of the four agencies has established agency-specific guidance that outlines the monitoring activities for assistance agreements  In some cases, the agency-specific guidance may mandate additional monitoring activities beyond those called for in applicable federal regulations, such as risk assessments  For example, State’s guidance calls for the creation of a monitoring plan  Federal standards for internal control require that agencies include in agreements all key provisions delineating the parties’ responsibilities  For the 12 agreements we reviewed, the number of total key monitoring provisions per agreement varied—including within one agency—depending on when the agency issued and updated its guidance relative to when the agreements were approved  Federal standards for internal control call for agencies to document internal controls, transactions, and significant events  Specifically, internal control standards state that agency management should include internal control activities (e g , monitoring activities) in policies or directives for transactions such as assistance agreements  For the 12 assistance agreements we reviewed, USDA and State did not include provisions implementing 6 of the 55 total (11 percent) applicable monitoring activities required by applicable guidance to carry out required monitoring activities (see table 5)  State took corrective action in 2015 by issuing a standard operating procedure  USDA: USDA did not include 4 of the 13 key monitoring provisions implementing the applicable guidance for the three USDA agreements we reviewed (see table 6)  Two of the agreements and supporting documentation each included all four key applicable monitoring provisions  However, Agreement 2 in the table did not include 4 of the 5 monitoring provisions in the agreement or work plan, which documents the monitoring provisions  The agreement partially included performance goals, because it included objectives for the agreement’s activities, but did not include time frames to complete all of the activities  The USDA grant official did not explain why the work plan did not adhere to applicable federal regulations when it was drafted and approved  State: State did not include 2 of the 21 key monitoring provisions implementing the applicable guidance for the three State agreements we reviewed (see table 7)  Two of the agreements and supporting documentation we reviewed included the 7 monitoring provisions implementing the requirements in the applicable agency guidance  However, one agreement awarded in 2012 did not include 2 of the provisions: a risk assessment and a monitoring plan  That office that awarded this agreement took corrective action in 2015 by issuing a standard operating procedure requiring that risk assessments and monitoring plans accompany its grants and cooperative agreements  USAID: USAID included both key monitoring provisions implementing the applicable guidance for the three USAID agreements we reviewed (see table 8)  USAID’s Automated Directives System 308, Standard Provisions for Cost-Type Awards to Public International Organizations contains two key monitoring provisions for agreements  USAID incorporated the monitoring provisions nearly verbatim into the agreements we reviewed, using templates from this guidance for required terms and conditions  HHS: HHS included the 15 monitoring provisions implementing the applicable guidance for the three HHS agreements we reviewed (see table 9)  None of the agencies provided us with full documentation to demonstrate their adherence to the required monitoring activities called for in all of their agreements that we reviewed, including the previously mentioned key monitoring provisions that we reviewed  State and HHS have taken corrective actions to address the gaps we found in documentation for the agreements we reviewed  Agency officials told us that they use these monitoring documents, such as financial and progress reports, to inform future budgetary and programmatic decisions  Therefore, they may lack information needed to make such decisions if they do not have access to complete monitoring documentation  According to federal standards for internal control, each agency is to include key monitoring provisions as part of its agreements  In the individual assistance agreements, the agencies specify the requirements to fulfill these activities, such as requiring financial reports on a quarterly basis or including specific information in performance reports  Grants officers at times, if they deem it necessary or appropriate, include additional monitoring provisions requiring activities beyond those required by the applicable guidance, such as site visits  Federal standards for internal control call for agency management to design monitoring activities, such as financial and performance reporting, so that all transactions are completely and accurately recorded  Recording these activities maintains their relevance and value to management in controlling operations and making decisions  Without access to complete monitoring documentation, the agencies risk weakening the effectiveness of these controls  None of the four U S  agencies had full documentation of all of the monitoring activities required by their agreements we reviewed (see table 10)  The agencies did not have full documentation of monitoring activities for 9 of the 12 agreements we reviewed  For the 42 monitoring activities identified across all of the individual agreements, the four agencies did not have full documentation of 18 of the activities (43 percent)  However, State took corrective action in May 2017 to address its gaps in documentation, and according to HHS officials, the Food and Drug Administration addressed its gap in documentation by implementing its agreement monitoring program in fiscal year 2018  USDA did not have full documentation of any of the 10 monitoring activities we identified (see table 11)  USDA demonstrated that it had partially documented 2 of the 10 monitoring activities (20 percent) by providing us with some, but not all, quarterly performance reports  For one of the agreements, USDA had no documentation of the monitoring activities for that agreement  For its other two agreements, USDA did not have full documentation of the required monitoring activities  USDA officials did not explain why they did not have full documentation  Without full documentation of the required monitoring activities, USDA may not have the information it needs to make appropriate budgetary and programmatic decisions  USAID did not have full documentation of 2 of the 11 total monitoring activities (18 percent) we identified across the three agreements we reviewed (see table 12)  USAID had partial documentation of those 2 monitoring activities  For example, USAID provided us with some, but not all, records such as financial reports required by the terms of the monitoring activities in the agreements  According to USAID officials, the agencies’ lack of complete monitoring documentation was in part due to agency officials not following some of their agency’s requirements for managing agreement documents, such as placing all documents in a shared document management system  For example, for one of the agreements we reviewed, USAID officials stated that they stored some agreement documentation electronically—such as modifications, correspondence with the agreement recipient, and quarterly financial reports—but primarily maintained paper files  USAID officials told us they use the monitoring documents of these agreements, such as financial and progress reports, to inform future budgetary and programmatic decisions  For example, according to USAID officials, USAID uses monitoring documents to identify and address potential project delays or other “red flags ” For one of the agreements we reviewed, USAID officials stated these monitoring reports also assist them in determining whether to award additional funds and establish new indicators in subsequent agreements  Without full documentation of the required monitoring activities, USAID may not have the information it needs to make appropriate budgetary and programmatic decisions  State did not have full documentation for 5 of the 16 monitoring activities (31 percent) we identified across the three agreements we reviewed (see table 13)  However, State had partial documentation of 4 of those 5 monitoring activities  For example, State had some, but not all, records such as standard reporting metrics, required by the terms of the monitoring activities in one of the agreements  State did not have documentation of one of the monitoring activities (site visits)  According to State officials, the agency’s lack of complete monitoring documentation was in part due to agency officials not following some of the agency’s requirements for managing agreement documents, such as placing all documents in a shared document management system  For example, according to State officials, for one of the agreements we reviewed, the grants officer mistakenly had saved site visit reports and similar documents to personal folders because the officer did not know how to use State’s grant document storage system  As a result, neither the current grants officer nor other State officials could retrieve these documents  In May 2017, after awarding the agreements we reviewed, State took corrective action by issuing the Federal Assistance Directive to establish internal guidance, policies, and procedures for all domestic and overseas grant-making bureaus, offices, and posts within the department when administering federal financial assistance  The directive notes that State implemented a grant management system for domestic and overseas grants to resolve its “significant deficiency in the management of Federal financial assistance ” In addition, the directive indicates that officials from State’s Bureau of Administration, Office of the Procurement Executive, Federal Assistance Division will evaluate compliance with risk assessment requirements and review documentation for selected agreements each fiscal year  One of the stated purposes of these reviews is to mitigate risk by strengthening management and oversight of awards, including grants  According to a State Office of Inspector General report, State should complete the full deployment of this system for overseas grants in fiscal year 2019  HHS did not have full documentation of 1 of the 5 applicable monitoring activities (20 percent) we identified across the three agreements we reviewed (see table 14)  HHS had partial documentation of the semiannual progress report activity for one of its agreements, required by the terms of its agreement  HHS officials did not explain why they did not have full documentation for this monitoring activity  HHS had full documentation of all applicable monitoring activities for the other two agreements we reviewed  According to agency officials, the Food and Drug Administration, which administered one of the HHS agreements we reviewed, has taken corrective action to evaluate its agreement documentation and address deficiencies  According to HHS officials, the Food and Drug Administration developed a pilot program intended to provide an additional layer of oversight to ensure adherence to the terms of each agreement  Under the pilot, officials said, a grant monitoring specialist reviews the agreement documentation and monitoring reports to identify agreements that need additional assistance  According to HHS officials, the Food and Drug Administration implemented this program in fiscal year 2018 and will eventually include all Food and Drug Administration agreements  U S  assistance agreements for projects with inter-American organizations further U S  strategic goals in the Western Hemisphere, but State, HHS, USAID, and USDA did not consistently include all key monitoring provisions as part of their assistance agreements or demonstrate that they had full documentation of monitoring activities for the agreements we reviewed  Of these four agencies, USAID and USDA have not taken corrective actions  Monitoring the implementation of U S  assistance agreements and fully documenting the results of such monitoring are key management controls to help ensure that U S  agreement recipients use federal funds appropriately and effectively  The agencies risk weakening the effectiveness of these controls by not including all key monitoring provisions called for by applicable agency guidance  Further, if the agencies do not have full documentation of the agreements’ required monitoring activities, they may not be able to effectively manage federally funded projects that support U S  strategic goals  In addition, agencies may not have all the information they need to make budgetary and programmatic decisions  We are making a total of three recommendations: one to USAID and two to USDA  The USAID Administrator should ensure that USAID officials have full documentation of required monitoring activities in agreements with inter- American organizations  (Recommendation 1) The Secretary of Agriculture should ensure that USDA includes all key monitoring provisions specified by applicable guidance as part of agreements with inter-American organizations  (Recommendation 2) The Secretary of Agriculture should ensure that USDA officials have full documentation of required monitoring activities in agreements with inter- American organizations  (Recommendation 3) We provided a draft of this report for comment to State, USAID, HHS, and USDA  USDA concurred with our recommendations in an e-mail  In its written comments, reproduced in appendix IV, USAID stated that it has policies, procedures, and training in place for the officials who manage these agreements  In response to our recommendations, USAID stated that it will issue an agency notice to remind all such officials of these responsibilities, including the requirement to maintain complete files for each agreement  State and HHS did not provide formal comments  They did provide technical comments, which we incorporated as appropriate  As agreed with your offices, unless you publicly announce the contents of this report earlier, we plan no further distribution until 30 days from the report date  At that time, we will send copies of this report to the appropriate congressional committees, the Secretary of State, the Administrator of the U S  Agency for International Development, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Secretary of Agriculture  In addition, the report is available at no charge on the GAO website at http://www gao gov  If you or your staff have questions about this report, please contact me at (202) 512-9601, or melitot@gao gov  Contact points for our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page of this report  GAO staff who made key contributions to this report are listed in appendix V  Congressional requesters asked us to review several issues related to the Organization of American States (OAS), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), and the Pan-American Institute of Geography and History (PAIGH)  In this report, we (1) assess the extent to which the organizations’ strategic goals align with those of U S  agencies; (2) examine how the organizations oversee the use of their funds and the extent to which U S  agencies have supported those efforts; (3) assess the extent to which U S  agencies included key monitoring provisions as part of their assistance agreements; and (4) assess the extent to which U S  agencies had documentation of monitoring activities, including those called for by these provisions  To address the first objective, we gathered documentation and interviewed officials from the four U S  agencies and the four organizations to determine the U S  strategic goals for foreign assistance to the Western Hemisphere and the goals of the four organizations  According to Department of State (State) and U S  Agency for International Development (USAID) officials, the strategic document that underpins their foreign assistance priorities for the region is The Department of State’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs’ and USAID’s Bureau for Latin American and Caribbean Affairs’ Joint Regional Strategy  Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials said that HHS’s relevant strategic document is The Global Strategy of the U S  Department of Health and Human Services  U S  Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) strategic goals for foreign assistance, according to officials, are outlined in the United States Department of Agriculture Strategic Plan FY2015–2018  The OAS outlined its strategic goals in the Comprehensive Strategic Plan of the Organization, adopted on October 31, 2016  PAHO’s goals are laid out in Strategic Plan of the Pan American Health Organization 2014–2019  IICA’s strategic document is the IICA 2010–2020 Strategic Plan, which took effect in October 2010  PAIGH’s strategic document is the Declaration and Guide for the Pan American Agenda 2010-2020  We compared the strategic goals articulated by the four organizations against U S  strategic goals to assess the extent to which the organizations’ goals contribute to U S  interests in the region  We then interviewed officials from the four agencies and reviewed relevant documentation on efforts they undertake to ensure that U S -funded activities align with U S  strategic goals  To address the second objective, we reviewed documentation of the organizations’ internal control mechanisms and confirmed our findings with the organizations  We identified mechanisms to include policies, directives, rules, practices, and organizational structures that can have an oversight role in the use of the organizations’ funds  We also interviewed officials from State, USAID, HHS, and USDA to discuss their support of these mechanisms  To address the third objective, we identified 60 active assistance agreements that these agencies oversaw with OAS, PAHO, and IICA during calendar years 2014 through 2016 and selected a nongeneralizable sample of 12 agreements, three each from State, USAID, HHS, and USDA  To determine which agreements we would review for each agency, we selected the three agreements with the lowest, median, and highest dollar value  If any of an agency’s agreements supported the same country or activity or were for one-time projects such as seminars, we selected the next appropriate agreement based on dollar value  For these selected agreements, we then identified the applicable agency guidance for monitoring activities in the agreements, which we define as all documents related to each agreement provided to us by the agencies, such as monitoring reports  The number of key monitoring provisions varied—even within each agency—depending on when agency guidance was issued and updated relative to when the agreements were approved  USDA did not have applicable internal agency-specific guidance for monitoring of assistance agreements at the time it awarded the agreements we reviewed; thus, with USDA’s input, we used the applicable sections of the Code of Federal Regulations, which together have five key monitoring provisions for agreements  However, USDA approved two of the agreements in 2012 and the third agreement in 2016, and this third agreement was subject to an amended version of the Code of Federal Regulations, which added an additional provision for performance goals  State’s four applicable grants policy directives have seven key monitoring provisions for agreements that were applicable at the time the agreements we reviewed were approved  USAID’s Standard Provisions for Cost-Type Awards to Public International Organizations (PIOs): A Mandatory Reference to ADS Chapter 308 has two key monitoring provisions for agreements: audits and records, and the organization’s adherence to their rules  HHS’s grants policy has five key monitoring provisions for grant documentation  We identified key monitoring provisions for agencies to include as part of agreements to ensure oversight of the use of funds, such as financial and progress reports  For the 12 agreements in our sample, we analyzed the assistance agreements from the four agencies, and then determined the extent to which the agencies’ agreements included key monitoring provisions implementing monitoring activities called for by applicable agency guidance  We did not include subsequent amendments to these 12 agreements in our review of key monitoring provisions  We interviewed officials from State, USAID, HHS, and USDA (1) to confirm we were applying the appropriate federal or agency guidance and (2) to discuss instances in which the agreements did not include key monitoring provisions  To address the fourth objective, we reviewed the 12 selected assistance agreements and guidance to identify specific required monitoring activities, such as financial and program reports, site visits, and other forms of oversight  The agreements specify the requirements for these activities such as requiring financial reports on a quarterly basis  For these 12 agreements, we reviewed all the documentation provided to us by the agencies, then determined the extent to which the agencies had full documentation of key monitoring activities as specified in the assistance agreements, including those called for by key monitoring provisions, as well as those called for by guidance when the monitoring provisions were absent  We did not include subsequent amendments to these 12 agreements in our review of monitoring activities  We interviewed officials from State, USAID, HHS, and USDA to discuss instances in which the agency did not have full documentation of key monitoring activities  We also discussed how State, USAID, and HHS agency officials manage their agreement documentation and use the information in the agreements’ required monitoring documentation  We conducted this performance audit from July 2016 to December 2017 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards  Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives  We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives  The Organization of American States (OAS), Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), and the Pan-American Institute on Geography and History (PAIGH) have established mechanisms for overseeing their use of funds  Tables 15–18 show the mechanisms (oversight policies and oversight committees and organizations) for each of these inter-American organizations, as confirmed by the organizations’ officials  To oversee the execution of their agreements, the Department of State (State), the U S  Agency for International Development (USAID), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and U S  Department of Agriculture (USDA) are to conduct monitoring activities called for by applicable federal regulations or agency guidance and document these provisions in assistance agreements as called for by federal standards for internal control  We identified key monitoring provisions implementing the applicable agency guidance for State, USAID, HHS, and the applicable regulations for USDA, as shown in table 19  For both the agency guidance and the federal regulations, those listed are the ones that were in effect when the agreements in our sample were approved  Some of the agency guidance and regulations have since been amended or superseded  In addition to the contact named above, Pierre Toureille (Assistant Director), Julia Jebo Grant (Analyst-in-Charge), Leslie Stubbs, and Paul Sturm, Alana Miller, and Shirley Min made key contributions to this report  In addition, David Dayton, Martin de Alteriis, Neil Doherty, Jeff Isaacs, and Alex Welsh provided technical assistance 


Report 2: 1 million (about 3 percent of IPA rotator costs) in fiscal year 2017  NSF officials told us that the new limit applies only to an IPA rotator’s trips to their home institution and does not limit travel to other locations for fieldwork or scientific conferences, among other things  These officials explained that NSF chose not to limit trips to these other locations because they are considered fundamental to IPA rotators’ research and are infrequent—occurring one to three times per year, on average, per IPA rotator  Additionally, rotators are permitted to use annual leave, leave without pay, or flexitime to take trips using non-NSF funds for activities performed on a rotator’s own time  In adopting this cost-management strategy, NSF sought to balance the benefits of IPA rotators’ travel with the travel costs  According to the Task Force on Fiscal Oversight’s October 2016 report, NSF’s support for travel benefits the agency by providing a way for program directors and executives to stay current in their scientific fields, conduct outreach with scientific communities, and provide oversight and stewardship of NSF’s programs and awards  NSF officials told us that the agency sought to control travel costs under the Independent Research and Development program by setting a reasonable limit to NSF-funded trips that would cause the least harm to rotators’ research so as not to discourage them from coming to NSF  As a result, NSF decided on a maximum of 12 trips per year under this program because, historically, more than 80 percent of the IPA rotator participants traveled to their home institution less than once per month  In fiscal year 2017, for IPA rotators who entered into new agreements in that fiscal year, NSF ended reimbursements for consulting income that the rotators forgo as a result of their assignment to NSF  Previously, when an IPA rotator discontinued consulting activities during an IPA assignment, NSF would reimburse the rotator up to $10,000 a year  IPA rotators who entered into negotiations or agreements with NSF prior to this change may still receive this reimbursement  In fiscal year 2017, NSF’s cost for lost consulting reimbursements to IPA rotators was $150,000  This amount represented a decrease of about $160,000, or about 52 percent, from fiscal year 2016  NSF made this change because it determined that doing so would not negatively affect the IPA program  In particular, NSF found that other federal science agencies typically did not reimburse IPA rotators for lost consulting income and it concluded that IPA rotators typically do not expect NSF to offer reimbursement  In addition to the three adopted strategies, NSF’s Task Force on Fiscal Oversight identified other potential cost management strategies for the IPA program  The task force reviewed various data on the costs that make up the IPA program, such as the number of IPA rotators who received a particular form of compensation or who would be affected by the potential strategies  In addition, the task force took into account anecdotal and other evidence on how IPA rotators might react to the strategies  Using input from the task force, NSF opted against the other potential strategies because it either (1) expected the resulting cost savings to be small or (2) anticipated potential negative effects from implementing them, such as increased difficulty in hiring IPA rotators  These potential cost-management strategies primarily related to IPA rotator compensation, as described below  Capping IPA rotators’ salaries  NSF decided against establishing a salary cap for IPA rotators at various levels between about $185,000 and $240,000 annually  The task force found that salary caps at lower levels would have greater cost savings because of the higher number of individuals covered by the cap, but that the caps would also pose a significant risk to NSF’s ability to recruit IPA rotators  In particular, the task force found that salary caps at lower levels would disproportionately affect IPA rotators in two of its directorates—the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering and the Directorate for Engineering—because of the higher salaries of individuals in positions associated with those fields  As a result, the task force recommended that NSF first assess the effects of its cost-sharing pilot program before proceeding with any cap on IPA rotators’ salaries  Reducing or eliminating IPA rotators’ supplemental pay  NSF decided against reducing or eliminating the supplemental pay that IPA rotators receive when their salary at their home institution is below the minimum for their NSF position  In fiscal year 2017, NSF’s cost for IPA rotators’ supplemental pay was $1 0 million (about 3 percent of IPA rotator costs)  The task force recommended against this potential cost-management strategy because it would disproportionately affect IPA rotators in two of its directorates—the Directorate for Biological Sciences and the Directorate for Geosciences  In addition, the task force expected that any cost savings associated with this strategy would be small  Reducing IPA rotators’ per diem payments  NSF decided against reducing or eliminating per diem payments for lodging (excluding taxes), meals, and incidental expenses incurred during the length of rotators’ assignments  In fiscal year 2017, NSF’s cost for per diem payments was $3 1 million (about 8 percent of IPA costs)  The task force concluded, based on its analysis of per diem costs and anecdotal evidence, that many IPA rotators would opt to depart NSF if NSF did not provide per diem payments  As a result, the task force recommended against this strategy  As of June 2018, NSF had not developed an agency-wide workforce strategy for using rotators, as its IPA program steering committee recommended  In addition, NSF has not fully evaluated or developed plans to evaluate both IPA and VSEE rotator program results in terms of progress toward NSF’s human capital goals or programmatic results  As of June 2018, NSF had not developed an agency-wide workforce strategy that includes use of rotators, as NSF’s IPA program steering committee had recommended  In an August 2016 report on the IPA program, the steering committee stated that NSF did not have an agency- wide workforce strategy; instead, each directorate made decisions on its own about when and how to use IPA rotators in executive and program director positions  According to the report, an agency-wide framework would enable NSF to ensure an optimal balance of federal and rotator executives and program directors, which is a strategic principle that the steering committee developed for the IPA program  In February 2017, the committee issued an internal report to agency leadership that recommended expanding what was originally envisioned as a workforce strategy for the IPA program into a comprehensive agency-wide workforce strategy  The report stated that expanding the scope of the workforce strategy would have the greatest impact across the agency and would help NSF leadership in making strategic human capital decisions  The report outlined a process for developing a workforce strategy with various steps, including the following: Job analyses  The report recommended job analyses to review the roles and responsibilities of executive and staff-level positions and to identify the skills and capabilities required for successful performance of the work  According to the report, the steering committee’s working group for developing a workforce strategy found, based on its initial efforts to review position descriptions and roles and responsibilities, that some functions may be better served if performed by permanent federal employees and other functions by rotators  However, the working group concluded that NSF should obtain additional input and evidence before initiating large-scale changes in its workforce  Analysis of workforce gaps and surpluses  The report stated that identifying gaps and surpluses in the demand and supply for federal and rotator scientific staff would inform opportunities to optimize recruitment and retention efforts  The report recommended separate analyses for executive and scientific staff- level positions  Development of strategies to close workforce gaps and address surpluses  According to the steering committee’s report, examples of strategies include succession planning and rebalancing the mix of permanent federal staff and rotators to ensure an optimal workforce with the skills, experience, and capabilities to accomplish NSF’s science-related work  According to NSF officials, the agency’s Division of Human Resource Management was responsible for implementing the steering committee’s recommendation  In particular, it undertook an effort to work with senior leadership to develop a broad strategic workforce plan for the agency  However, in June 2018, NSF officials told us that they shifted their focus from developing a separate workforce strategy in order to focus instead on (1) development of a human capital operating plan, which agencies are required to develop and approve annually, and update as needed, under OPM regulations that went into effect on April 11, 2017; and (2) an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memorandum issued in April 2017 directing agency heads to develop reform plans that identify ways to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability of their respective agencies  The NSF officials explained that they recognized the value in having a workforce strategy, but they did not consider it appropriate for the Division of Human Resource Management to develop a workforce strategy at the same time that the agency was completing the OPM and OMB plans  NSF did not specify how its efforts to complete the OPM and OMB plans would address the need the steering committee identified for an agency- wide framework that would enable NSF to ensure an optimal balance of federal and rotator executives and program directors  In particular, NSF’s human capital operating plan, which it approved in April 2018, does not discuss NSF’s use of rotators or include information on balancing the agency’s use of rotators with permanent staff  Furthermore, NSF has not yet determined how it will address its use of rotators as part of its agency reform plan  In particular, NSF officials told us in June 2018 that they may address the agency’s use of rotators under the workforce focus area of its reform plan, but that they were only just beginning to identify and select initiatives under this focus area and that these initiatives have not yet been finalized  The process the NSF steering committee laid out in its internal report, when implemented, would align with two key principles GAO has identified for effective strategic workforce planning  Specifically, it would align with the principles of (1) determining the skills and competencies that are critical to successfully achieving missions and goals, and (2) developing human capital strategies to address gaps and enable the contribution of critical skills and competencies needed for mission success  By incorporating the NSF’s steering committee’s recommendation for a workforce strategy—and the process outlined by the steering committee for developing this strategy—into its human capital operating plan or agency reform plan, NSF could better manage its use of rotators and balance them with its permanent staff  We have previously found that high-performing organizations recognize the fundamental importance of measuring both the outcomes of human capital strategies and how these outcomes have helped the organizations accomplish their missions and programmatic goals  However, as of May 2018, NSF had not fully evaluated and did not have plans to evaluate the results of its IPA and VSEE rotator programs in terms of progress toward human capital goals and the contributions the programs made toward achieving programmatic results  One of GAO’s key principles for effective strategic workforce planning states that agencies should monitor and evaluate progress toward the agencies’ human capital goals and the contribution that human capital results have made toward achieving programmatic results  In particular, we previously found that evaluation activities can improve the effectiveness of workforce strategies by identifying shortfalls in performance and other improvement opportunities  OPM also requires agencies to develop a human capital operating plan that will support the evaluation of the agency’s human capital strategies  In March 2014, NSF published a summary of the results of focus groups with IPA rotators and their supervisors  This summary outlined benefits and challenges of the program from the perspectives of both groups, such as the benefit of bringing fresh perspective and new ideas to NSF and the challenge of recruiting and retaining qualified IPA rotators  However, the summary did not provide the agency’s assessment of progress towards programmatic results and human capital goals  For example, it summarized the benefits of the program from the standpoint of rotators and did not provide NSF’s assessment of how individual IPA rotators or the program as a whole contributed to NSF’s scientific mission  In addition, the summary did not provide an assessment of the extent to which the current workforce balance of federal and rotator executives and program directors is aligned with NSF’s work  In our semistructured interviews with federal staff and rotators in executive and staff-level positions at NSF, most were comfortable with the current balance, but three individuals raised concerns about the use of rotators in executive positions, suggesting that NSF could benefit from further analysis of its balance of rotators and federal staff  In April 2018, NSF adopted its human capital operating plan which identifies specific, short-term actions that the agency will take to achieve its human capital goals  In its plan, NSF identified strategies derived from NSF’s commitment to ongoing improvement, such as reviewing and realigning its workforce to meet future needs  Also, NSF’s process for developing a workforce strategy, outlined in the steering committee’s February 2017 internal report, included recommendations to conduct an assessment of the outcomes of workforce strategies and the impact of these outcomes on helping NSF accomplish its scientific mission and related programmatic goals  However, plans for this assessment did not include an evaluation of the agency’s rotator programs  Moreover, neither the steering committee’s February 2017 internal report nor NSF’s April 2018 report committed to conducting such an evaluation or specified how assessments described in its reports would address NSF’s rotator programs  For example, neither report specified how NSF would evaluate the extent to which the rotator programs have achieved NSF’s objectives, which we identified through our review of NSF documentation and interviews with NSF officials  These objectives include: bringing fresh perspectives from across the country and across all fields of science and engineering supported by NSF; helping influence new directions for research in science, engineering, and education, including emerging interdisciplinary fields; providing scientific leadership and management of NSF’s research and education programs; and providing opportunities for researchers to gain first-hand knowledge of the philosophy and mechanisms of federal support for research and bring this knowledge back to their home institutions  According to NSF officials, the agency has not separately evaluated the results of its rotator programs in part because rotators are blended into its permanent federal workforce, making it difficult to evaluate the results of its rotator programs separately from those of its overall workforce  In our December 2003 report on key principles for effective strategic workforce planning, we found that federal agencies in general have experienced difficulties in defining practical and meaningful measures that assess the effects human capital strategies have on programmatic results  However, without an evaluation of the extent of the rotator programs’ contributions toward NSF’s human capital goals or programmatic results, NSF is limited in its ability to demonstrate the programs’ benefits to external stakeholders, such as the Congress, and to adjust the programs, if warranted  Such adjustments could include increasing or decreasing the use of rotators overall or in certain types of positions, such as executive or staff-level positions  In recent years, NSF has recognized the need to think more strategically about its use of rotators and has taken positive steps to manage its rotator programs  For example, beginning in fiscal year 2017, NSF adopted several strategies to manage the cost of rotators  However, as of June 2018, NSF had decided against developing a separate agency-wide strategy for balancing its use of IPA rotators and federal staff, as NSF’s steering committee for the IPA program recommended in February 2017  NSF officials said that they recognized the value in having a workforce strategy but wanted to focus instead on addressing OPM and OMB requirements related to workforce planning  By following through on the steering committee’s recommendation for a workforce strategy, NSF could better manage its use of rotators and balance them with its permanent staff  Moreover, as of June 2018, NSF had not fully evaluated the results of the rotator programs, as called for by key principles for effective strategic workforce planning  NSF officials told us they have not done so, in part, because rotators are blended into NSF’s permanent federal workforce, making it difficult to evaluate the results of its rotator program separately from those of its overall workforce  However, without an evaluation of the extent of the rotator programs’ contributions toward NSF’s human capital goals or programmatic results, NSF is limited in its ability to demonstrate the programs’ benefits to external stakeholders, such as the Congress, and to adjust the programs, if warranted  We are making the following two recommendations to NSF: The NSF Director of Human Resource Management should complete the development of an agency-wide workforce strategy for balancing the agency’s use of IPA and VSEE rotators with permanent staff as part of NSF’s current agency reform planning efforts or updates to its human capital operating plan  (Recommendation 1) The NSF Director of Human Resource Management should evaluate the contributions of the IPA and VSEE rotator programs toward NSF’s human capital goals and the contributions the programs have made toward achieving programmatic results  (Recommendation 2) We provided a draft of this report to NSF for comment  In its written comments, which are reproduced in appendix I, NSF concurred with our recommendations and stated that implementation of the recommendations will enhance efforts to fulfill the agency’s mission and strengthen its workforce  NSF also provided technical comments, which we incorporated as appropriate  We are sending copies to the appropriate Congressional Committees, the Director of the National Science Foundation, and other interested parties  In addition, the report is available at no charge on the GAO website at http://www gao gov  If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please contact me at (202) 512-3841 or neumannj@gao gov  Contact points for our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page of this report  GAO staff who made key contributions to this report are listed in appendix II  In addition to the individual named above, Joseph Cook (Assistant Director), Nkenge Gibson, Kathryn Smith, and Douglas Hunker made key contributions to this report  Also contributing to this report were Antoinette Capaccio, Serena Lo, Timothy Guinane, Cynthia Norris, and Sara Sullivan 

ground_truth: NSF has identified potential benefits and challenges associated with its use of rotators. Benefits include fresh perspectives and close connections to the scientific community, while challenges include staffing turnover and higher costs for some rotators compared with permanent employees. GAO was asked to review NSF's use and management of the IPA and VSEE rotator programs, among other things. This report examines (1) the number, costs, and uses of NSF rotators for fiscal year 2008 through fiscal year 2017; (2) the strategies NSF has used to manage rotator costs and the results of these efforts; and (3) the extent to which NSF has a workforce strategy for using rotators and has evaluated the results of its rotator programs. GAO analyzed summary-level data on NSF's rotators; reviewed key documents; interviewed NSF officials; conducted semistructured interviews with a nongeneralizable sample of rotators and permanent federal employees selected from different scientific directorates within NSF; and compared NSF's management of the program to key principles for effective strategic workforce planning. The numbers of rotators—outside scientists, engineers, and educators on temporary assignment—at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and their costs in proportion to other staff remained relatively stable in fiscal years 2008 through 2017. Most rotators joined NSF under its Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) mobility program. IPA rotators comprised about 12 percent of NSF's workforce and 17 percent of staff costs on average and were not subject to a federal salary cap. They remain employees of their home institutions, with NSF reimbursing the institutions for most of their salaries and benefits. The remaining rotators are considered temporary federal employees under the Visiting Scientist, Engineer, and Educator (VSEE) program; their salaries could not exceed the federal maximum for their positions. Beginning in fiscal year 2017, NSF adopted IPA rotator program cost management strategies expected to achieve the greatest savings with the least harm to recruitment, but NSF officials said it is too soon to determine the full results. For example, for new IPA rotators who had not yet begun negotiating their assignments, NSF began requiring their home institutions to pay for 10 percent of the rotators' salary and benefits. NSF officials told GAO they expect to issue a report evaluating the strategies in December 2018. NSF's IPA program steering committee recommended developing a workforce strategy for balancing the agency's use of rotators with federal staff, but as of June 2018, NSF had not developed a strategy or fully evaluated the IPA and VSEE rotator programs' results, as called for by GAO's key principles for effective strategic workforce planning. NSF officials said they recognized the value of a workforce strategy but were focusing instead on other workforce planning efforts, and they had not fully evaluated program results in part because rotators are blended into the agency's permanent workforce, making a separate evaluation difficult. Without a workforce strategy and evaluation of results, NSF is limited in its ability to manage and, if warranted, adjust its use of rotators. GAO recommends that NSF develop an agency-wide strategy for balancing the agency's use of rotators with permanent staff and evaluate the contributions of its rotator programs toward NSF's human capital goals and programmatic results. NSF agreed with GAO's recommendations.