The management practices most critical to a successful telework program are:
But, beyond all these good management practices, one of the primary keys to success of the telework program, according to the survey responses is having an "executive champion" to provide support and guidance.
MEMBERS INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN 2001 CONGRESSIONAL VISITS DAY - IEEE-USA is seeking US IEEE members to join hundreds of other engineers and scientists for 2001 Congressional Visits Day (CVD), 1-2 May in Washington, D.C., USA. The CVD stresses the long-term importance of science and technology to the nation's health and economy through meetings with Congressional decision makers. Meetings for IEEE members will be coordinated through IEEE-USA's Technology Policy Activities. Visit http://www.ieeeusa.org/forum/cvd/index.html or contact Deborah Rudolph, d.rudolph@ieee.org.
IEEE-USA SIGNALS SUPPORT FOR THE FOLLOWING LEGISLATION:
IEEE-USA SUBMITTED STATEMENTS ON RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY for the record of a Feb. 28 hearing by the House Science Committee on The Nation's Energy Future: Role of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency. http://www.ieeeusa.org/forum/POLICY/01feb27.html.
PROVIDING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ADVICE TO CONGRESS - IEEE-USA is joining with Carnegie-Mellon University, Harvard University, AAAS, and other organizations in co-sponsoring a conference on "Creating Institutional Arrangements to Provide Science and Technology Advice to the US Congress." The conference is tentatively scheduled for June 14 in Washington, DC and will bring together a small, hand-picked audience (100-125 people) to discuss the need for, and institutional models for providing Congress with analysis and technical guidance on important issues in science and technology policy. The conference is underwritten by grants from the MacArthur Foundation and the Heinz Endowment.
COMPREHENSIVE RETIREMENT SECURITY BILL TO BE INTRODUCED - Rep. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) are about to reintroduce the Comprehensive Retirement Security and Pension Reform Act in the US House of Representatives. This bill passed the House twice last year by overwhelming bipartisan majorities and a similar proposal was approved by the Senate Finance Committee but did not reach the floor in the press of year end business.
The Portman-Cardin bill will: 1) increase current limits on contributions to IRAs and defined contribution plans [401(k), 403(b), Section 457, Salary Reduction SEPs and SIMPLE plans]; 2) reduce vesting standards for employer matching contributions; 3) facilitate portability of earned benefits among and between defined contribution plans and IRAs; 4) promote expanded coverage by simplifying complex distribution, non-discrimination and top-heavy rules; and 5) allow older workers to make additional "catch-up" contributions of up to $5,000 a year to 401(k) plans and $1,000 a year to IRAs.
Introduction of this year's version of the bill has been delayed by continuing efforts by the House Leadership to persuade the Bush Administration to include some or all of the bill in its tax package and/or 2001 budget proposal as well as to recruit at least 200 original cosponsors. There are currently 167 cosponsors (100 Reps and 67 Democrats).
IEEE-USA is one of nearly a hundred organizations that have communicated their support for provisions of the Portman-Cardin bill, and is enlisting its members in a letter-writing campaign to support its passage after introduction.
NATIONAL SECURITY COMMISSION RELEASES ROADMAP FOR CHANGE - Chartered by Congress, chaired by former Senators Gary Hart and Warren Rudman, and comprised of such notables as John Galvin, Norm Augustine and former Senator Newt Gingrich, the US Commission on National Security in the 21st Century released its phase III report, entitled "Road Map for National Security: Imperative for Change." In its report, the Commission warns "our systems of basic scientific research and education are in serious crisis, while other countries are redoubling their efforts. In the next quarter century, we will likely see ourselves surpassed, and in relative decline, unless we make a conscious national commitment to maintain our edge."
The report also touches briefly on the issue of the high tech workforce, noting that "increasing numbers of the qualified engineers and scientists educated in the United States are coming from outside US borders. Far from being negative, the cycle of their coming and going to and from the United States helps sustains US needs. However, should they stop coming, or further accelerate their return home, the American population alone may not be able to sustain the needs of the US economy over the next decade." See http://www.nssg.gov/.
For another perspective, see "US Competitiveness 2001: Strengths, Vulnerability, and Long-Term Priorities" (US Council on Competitiveness, Feb. 7, 2001) which looks at U.S. economic performance from 1985-2000: what drove U.S. prosperity, where economic performance fell short and why U.S. leadership will be challenged. The report lays out national priorities to sustain America's competitive advantage. http://www.compete.org/pdf/competitiveness2001.pdf (86 pages)
WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH - Celebrate Women's History Month in March along with the IEEE History Center. Visit http://www.ieee.org/organizations/history_center/whm.html to read the life stories of female electrical and computer engineers who have made significant contributions to their fields.
TWO NEW SELF-STUDY COURSES:
For a complete listing of educational products see http://www.ieee.org/organizations/eab/cathome.htm.
IEEE XPLORE: GREAT SERVICE, BUT DON'T ABUSE IT - Last year, IEEE introduced Xplore, a online database of all IEEE publications giving members the opportunity to conduct abstract search on all publications and full article access for those publications to which the member subscribes. The popularity of the service quickly grew, but along with the success, came abuse.
This abuse falls into two categories: 1) systematic downloading of articles in IEEE Xplore in an attempt to recreate all or part of the database; and 2) robot searches in which programs are sent into IEEE Xplore to find and retrieve specific information. These large-scale, frequent and repetitive requests not only cause a drain on server and staff resources, lead to hardware and software damage, and ultimately result in more time and funds having to be invested in research, development and implementation of new systems, they also block legitimate users from IEEE Xplore and have impacted other IEEE web services such as renewal or conference search. As a result, the IEEE is reminding members not to share user names and passwords and that automated search agents are not permitted. Abusers will be notified and their access terminated. Contact Joe Dillon, 732 562 3863, j.dillon@ieee.org.
THEY HELPED MAKE US WHO WE ARE: NOMINATE AN OUTSTANDING PRE-COLLEGE TEACHER FOR NEW IEEE AWARD - Were you inspired by a pre-college teacher to go into engineering? Is there a teacher that has made a difference in your child's education? who has inspired an appreciation and understanding of technology and the engineering process? Nominations are currently being accepted for the new IEEE Educational Activities Board (EAB) Pre-College Educator Award recognizing full time classroom teachers who succeed in making subjects like math, science, and technology come alive to their students. Deadline is 30 April 2001. See http://www.ieee.org/organizations/eab/arc/awards/requirements.htm.
Jean Eason, Editor