NASA Advisory Council Recommendation 

Broadening the Employment Base for NASA Centers 

2011-03-04 (C-Ol) 

Recommendation: 

The Council recommends that NASA Centers further broaden recruitment for new engineers and 

scientists beyond their local colleges and universities to increase the diversity and quality ofthe 

workforce. 

Major Reasons for the Recommendation: 

Data supplied to the NASA Advisory Council show that hiring ofscientists and engineers at 

NASA Centers is heavily biased toward local colleges and universities, perhaps because ofthe 

practice ofhiring largely through the Cooperative Education (Co-op) program at the Centers. 

While this is a natural and even laudable practice, the lack of an equal effort to recruit across the 

Nation can deprive the Centers ofthe best engineers and scientists emerging from the country's 

most highly rated institutions. 

Consequences of No Action on the Recommendation: 

NASA will not enjoy the benefits of a geographically diverse workforce and may miss 

opportunities to hire the most talented and creative scientists and engineers. This could mean 

missed opportunities in future development and innovations. 

NASA Response: 

NASA concurs with this recommendation. NASA is highly committed to diversity recruitment, 

to include geographic diversity. NASA's current decentralized recruitment structure provides 

Centers with the flexibility to identify their individual Center's needs and conduct targeted 

recruitment to fill their positions. However, with this flexibility, Centers have relied on 

recruiting at the institutions that have proven successful in the past to obtain their science, 

technology, engineering, and math (STEM) talent. 

The Office ofHuman Capital Management (OHCM) recognizes that NASA's current 

recruitment structure should be modified to revitalize our recruitment efforts. Accordingly, 

OHCM is currently in the process ofreviewing the Agency's recruitment program, with a special 

focus on determining the Agency's personnel and competency skills gaps that require increased 

attention. 

Through a strategic review ofNASA's recruitment program, OHCM will identify the most 

advantageous and effective recruitment structure for the Agency. We will examine our current 

decentralized method, explore a corporate-centralized approach, and possibly blend those two 

recruitment approaches in order to develop a more effective strategy that will produce a high­

, quality, diverse STEM talent pool for NASA. 

During this transitional phase for NASA, it is imperative that we aim to cast a wider net to 


capture the most talented and creative STEM applicants. OHCM will collaborate with NASA 


Enclosure 
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Centers, along with the Office ofEducation and the Office ofDiversity and Equal Opportunity, 

as we move forward in our strategic recruitment planning. Our strategies will include working to 

broaden our recruitment base and include those high-quality STEM institutions from which 

NASA may not have recruited in the past. 

Additionally, OHCM will need to align its efforts consistent with various Government-wide 

drivers that will impact our future recruitment programs. Recent initiatives include the 

Presidential Executive Orders instituting the Pathways Programs and increasing the focus on 

diversity and inclusion in Federal personnel programs. 

Pathways Programs: 

NASA will use the new Pathways Programs (the Internship, Recent Graduate, and Presidential 

Management Fellows Programs) to hire talented students and recent graduates as part of an 

overall workforce planning strategy. These new programs will allow NASA to bring students on 

board in structured developmental programs that will inspire their interest in seeking a more 

permanent service with the Agency. One ofthe key components ofthe new programs is the 

requirement for agencies to broaden their public notice of student opportunities to reach a wider 

range of candidates. Broadening recruitment efforts beyond local colleges and universities will 

be an effective strategy to meet this requirement. 

Diversity and Inclusion: 

To eliminate demographic group imbalances and improve our workforce diversity NASA's 

diversity and inclusion recruiting strategies will include a greater focus on underrepresented 

populations in the STEM fields. OHCM will assess how NASA attracts qualified candidates 

where the diversity of the STEM applicant pool is less than desirable; specifically with regard to 

women and minorities. Students' exposure to peers with diverse backgrounds and views 

provides them with greater personal development and challenge, broadens their perspectives, and 

helps develop the great minds ofthe "NASA ofthe Future."