Deputy Secretary McSlarrow, Administrator Brooks Participate in OA Symposium

Deputy Energy Secretary Kyle McSlarrow and Ambassador Linton Brooks, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Administrator, were the keynote speakers at a two-day symposium that brought together the members of the Office of Independent Oversight and Performance Assurance (OA).

Opening the symposium on September 8, 2003, Deputy Secretary McSlarrow emphasized OA's crucial role in promoting effective management of the Department's various missions. He praised the "professionalism and objectivity" of OA's evaluations, telling the assembled group, "I find myself using OA more, and more, and more." The Deputy Secretary was followed by three additional distinguished speakers who presented their leadership perspective on the OA process: Ms. Karen Evans, DOE Chief Information Officer; Ms. Beverly Cook, Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety and Health; and Mr. Joseph Mahaley, Director of the Office of Security. These speakers offered examples of OA's successes and advice on how OA can enhance its benefit to DOE senior management.

With senior management's perspectives and needs in mind, the OA attendees then broke into groups led by their office Directors to discuss their respective offices' and teams' contributions to continuous improvement, both within the OA process and Department-wide.

The first day of the symposium culminated with a banquet, highlighted by Ambassador Brooks' reflections on the importance of objective, reliable information in national-level decision making. Noting that "You get what you inspect, not what you expect," Ambassador Brooks charged the audience with the task of helping the Department carry out its missions effectively in today's challenging environment.

The many ideas that came from the first day's speakers and discussions were the focus of the second day's session. By combining the insights from its subordinate offices, OA identified a number of initiatives to enhance and streamline the evaluation process and better utilize its human and technical resources. OA will be implementing these initiatives in the coming months to move the Department's independent oversight function to a new level and meet the very high expectations of DOE senior management.