The Baldrige index tracks all Baldrige award recipients from the year they won forward. So, in a sense, it is retrospective. The Program has recommended that the cap on the number of awardees in a given year be lifted. There are some in Congress who worry that if the cap were lifted, there would be a flood of awardees. We in the Program do not share that concern and history would clearly say it wouldn't happen.
Today balancing work life and home life is an important issue.
We are concerned about the high workload of our own staff, and in our internal operations, we are looking for ways to reduce the workload. For example, we are considering whether we can eliminate the eligibility determination by having applicants self-certify that they qualify for their category of application. We are hoping to achieve more national exposure through vehicles such as the satellite broadcasts to schools. Maintaining and improving standards for fundamental electrical metrology is the core of the laboratory and is, therefore, essential. We identify industries that need improved standards, and right now optoelectronics is one such industry.