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Date of last assessment: October 2002
Departmental Overview
The Stanford Linear Accelerator Center is the lead Department of Energy (DOE) laboratory for electron-based high energy physics. It is dedicated to research in elementary particle physics, accelerator physics and in allied fields that can make use of its synchrotron radiation facilities—including biology, chemistry, geology, materials science and environmental engineering. Operated on behalf of the DOE by Stanford University, SLAC is a national user facility serving universities, industry and other research institutions throughout the world. Its mission can be summarized as follows:
Identification of Self-Assessment Report Staff
Names, titles, affiliations of participants
Jerry Jobe, Associate Director, BSD
Doug Kreitz, Assistant Director, BSD
Ziba Mahdavi, Performance Based Management Project Manager, BSD
Scope of Self-Assessment
Status of Goals from FY 2002 Review
Conduct a successful renegotiation of SLAC’s prime contract
DOE informed the University that there would be a delay in the renegotiation of
Stanford’s prime contract SLAC is informed that DOE will extended the contract,
without prejudice, for an additional year (expiration December 31, 2004).
Improve communications between SLAC’s business functions and the DOE Site
Office/Oakland functional managers
The DOE Oakland Operations Office experienced significant and accelerated staff re-assignment and turnover during FY 2003. This meant that several of our counterparts were not as available as in the past. Despite the changes at DOE/OAK, we are pleased to report that the communications between SLAC’s business functions and the Site Office functional managers have increased and improved. Many potential problems encountered because of the DOE/OAK changes were mitigated by the positive and responsive work of the DOE Site Office staff.
Continue to maintain the outstanding performance in the areas so noted, and continue to improve in those areas where improvement opportunities exist
The following summaries and self assessments throughout this report describe our progress in the various areas noted.
Discussion of Individual Performance Objectives
A Special Note of Introduction to this Section
It should be noted that the myriad successes and significant improvements we are reporting for Fiscal Year 2003 were accomplished in spite of severe budget constraints, voluntary retirements (reduction-in-force) for (4) days without pay for all HEP supported staff, and enforced use of accrued annual vacation for 100% of SLAC staff. These “strains on the system” required additional effort in all areas. We are pleased to report on our documented accomplishments for this rating period in the face of these major restrictions on resources.
SLAC managers communicated with their DOE/OAK counterparts several times this past year to discuss performance objectives for their functional areas, and to encourage operational awareness – this process was somewhat hampered by the significant changes in staffing levels and re-assignments at DOE/OAK. The Self-Assessment Report that follows is based on those agreed-upon performance objectives. The next section entitled “Overall Performance” is a sampling of the many, but certainly not all, accomplishments during this performance period.
Overall Performance
BSD and other SLAC Divisions performed self-assessments based on performance objectives agreed upon between SLAC and DOE/OAK. The results of the self-assessments follow.
In accordance with performance-based management principles, the practice of continuing process improvement and improved communication continue to be the emphasis of our SLAC departments and functional areas. SLAC managers seek to increase the quality of communication with their counterparts in the DOE/OAK Field Office and strive to ensure DOE/OAK awareness of SLAC processes and procedures.
The Business Information System (BIS)
In FY 2003, we once again were successful in providing accurate financial data to users by the 5th working day (or sooner) of each month. In addition, we saw a further 5.3% increase in volume in the use of the BIS to 155,635 average requests per month – a clear indication of the value of this service for information delivery to the SLAC community. Many services were added to BIS this fiscal year and this area remains responsive to user comments. Changes are instituted as quickly as possible to accommodate the business requirements.
The “Gateway to SLAC Resources”
The “Gateway to SLAC Resources” saw a significant (72%) growth in usage to 2,468 visits per month. This site is continuously updated to ensure that users are given the most up-to-date information available about how to get the job done in the vast non-scientific side of SLAC operations.
SLAC Financial Data Warehouse
We made major progress in FY 2003 in implementing the financial data warehouse for SLAC. Our efforts in this area for the past fiscal year were to address the data robustness and quality issues. A Business Data Oversight Team (BDOT) was formed in early FY 2003 and has done significant work in unearthing some major data modeling issues and recommending solutions to address them. Thanks to these efforts, we will have a working “proof of concept” data mart operational by mid-FY 2004.
Integrated Safeguards and Security Management (ISSM)
SLAC continued its very successful ISSM program this fiscal year by combining its resources with those of the Environmental Safety and Health (ES&H) Division to form an “Integrated Management” program which fully meets all requirements established by the Office of Science for its laboratories. The Integrated Management program furthers the concept of the importance of integrating safety and security into everyone’s daily activities. Details on this successful program are contained in the Safeguards and Security section of this self-assessment.
Improved Management of the SLAC Purchase Card
We switched purchase card providers (banks) in February 2003 so we could provide better service and increased management capabilities of the purchase card for both the holder of the card and their managers.
Professional Development in Purchasing
All groups (Buying, Inventory Control, Stores, Accounts Payable, Expediting) within the Purchasing Department were given increased training opportunities through low cost instruction courses taught both on-site and off-site by experts in their profession.
Property Control Achieved 99.97% Find Rate for Equipment in FY2003
This outstanding find rate is the result of our campaign to get property custodians to continue to take full responsibility for government property and to inform Property Management of any custodian changes.
Documented Improvement in Administrative Practices and Processes
Improved Communications within the Laboratory
The Laboratory continues excellent internal communications with the ongoing publication of “The Interaction Point” (TIP) on a bi-weekly basis. As planned, TIP has replaced several other newsletters and other publications as the official source of information for updates on policies and procedures as well as current news items. The TIP is simultaneously published on the web.
The new web portal page called “SLAC Today” was introduced at the end of FY 2003. Although this page does not allow for formatting by the user, it does contain many improved links to vital pages such as “The Gateway to SLAC Resources” and other up-to-date and useful links.
Efforts In Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) During FY 2003
Customer and employee satisfaction, cost efficiency, and contract compliance continue to be important in all functional areas. Actions carried on by these individual functional areas are addressed in the following self-assessment report. Specifically, we have actively pursued CQI through a number of Focus Group sessions and other activities. These actions are listed in the attached document.
Documentation
Additional documentation is available on request in any specific area of interest.
Problem Analysis
Root-Cause Analysis
SLAC continues to mature in its experience and knowledge regarding the Performance-Based Management self-assessment process. Our knowledge and understanding has grown and we are committed to continuing this positive trend in the future.
Barrier(s) to Improvement
BSD will continue to analyze and evaluate baseline and functional data in an effort to continuously improve performance. Surveys, interviews, reports, and/or comparison data will continue to be sought in order to address customer service, cost/efficiency, and compliance in meaningful ways. Severely restricted laboratory funding is the single greatest barrier to SLAC’s improvement efforts.
Improvement Action Plan/Goals
Recognized areas of improvement
The SLAC Business Information System (BIS) continues to operate successfully with its many on-line forms and electronic functionality which helps accomplish a myriad of administrative tasks. This on-line system for retrieval of data and for doing business continues to be a forward-looking and innovative use of web-based technology.
Business Services Division and other Divisions continue with ongoing communications with DOE/OAK functional area leaders. BSD will continue its positive efforts to achieve cost efficiency through process improvement and appropriate staff development.
Goals for FY 2004
· Work closely with the DOE on a smooth transition of DOE oversight away from the DOE/OAK Operations Office.
For Questions or comments, Please contact Ziba Mahdavi, Last Updated 10/30/02