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PROGRAM IDENTIFICATION AND EVALUATION

Messrs. Brooks, Wheeler, Kier and Sadik presented viewpoints on the topic of program identification and evaluation.  During the presentations and the discussions, steps which have been taken in the recent past to improve the central and bureau management processes were reviewed.  These included central budget control on all funds, development of the audit function, creation of additional Assistant Secretary positions and a Director of Support Activities, establishment of the Council of Directors, focusing of management studies on troublesome areas, and decentralizations and reorganizations to strengthen bureau heads' ability to manage.  

Some suggestions for continuing to refine the program decision process were discussed.  Among the comments and conclusions reached during the session were the following:

1.  Priority-setting for the Institution does work insofar as budget presentation is concerned, as witnessed by the success to date of the FY 1975 budget which presented several important Institutional priorities to the Executive and Congressional branches of government.  There are other equally important reasons for setting priorities, not the least of which is the need for effective management and application of existing resources.

2.  There is a strong and growing need for the development, exchange, and review of good information on present and planned activities.  This need stems from the increasingly complex job bureau managers have of administering growing organizations, from the needs of the Assistant Secretaries in order for them to counsel their bureaus and offices as well as the Secretary, and from the benefits that managers can get from the experiences of others.  To some extent information must be developed along consistent and common lines to facilitate the review and decision-making process.  There must be compromises, however, in order that each bureau or office head may feel that the information he produces and submits for his programs has a reasonably comfortable fit with reality.