AFSANET from the USAID Vice President

October 26 , 2007

Please send any questions or comments to AFSA/USAID Vice President Francisco Zamora at fzamora@usaid.gov.

In the Vanguard: The October issue of The Vanguard is out! Please click here http://www.afsa.org/usaid/102607vanguard.pdf to read our sixth edition, which is chock-full of information for your use. Included are articles on employee blog postings, professional liability, an official rejoinder to last months’ article on consolidation, and so much more.

We Ask, You Answer: Do you want to know what the morale is like at USAID? Whether things are getting better or worse? What the priorities are for employees? What people think of our new acting Administrator? What benefits FSOs feel are lacking? Well, so do I. So, please take a few minutes to fill out this year’s member survey. We still need input from all USAID FSOs before we can publish the results. The information you provide is vitally important for us to work on your behalf. If you feel you are too busy to fill out such surveys, fill this one out and let me know! The survey can be accessed by going to this site: http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB226ZGUN4GAS.

AFSA Scholarships: Don’t lose out on your child’s chance to win or be eligible for AFSA Scholarships! Beginning November 1, AFSA Scholarship Applications will be available for Foreign Service employees’ high school senior and undergraduate college children to apply for competitive merit awards and need-based financial aid scholarships. This year AFSA will offer more than $200,000 in aid, which is an increase of $50,000 over last year! Awards range from $1,500 - $4,000. Don’t have your child miss out on this scholarship money. The submission deadline is February 6, 2008. Go to http://www.afsa.org/scholar/ for all the details or contact Lori Dec at 202-944-5504 or 1-800-704-2372, ext. 504.

AFSA and the CFC: Consider supporting AFSA with a Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) gift! By designating #11759 and/or #10646 on your CFC pledge card you can support AFSA! The American Foreign Service Association Scholarship Fund (#11759) provides scholarship money to Foreign Service children to help pay for their college education. The Fund for American Diplomacy (#10646) explains to high school and college students, business leaders, media, and the general public that U.S. diplomacy is our nation’s first line of defense. Through our education programs we show how the Foreign Service helps strengthen America’s national security and economic prosperity. For more information, go to http://www.afsa.org/CFCFAD.cfm.

Liability Insurance: If you haven’t yet signed up for AFSA’s professional liability insurance, you should. Turn to this month’s edition of The Vanguard to see why. You can sign up for this great benefit by going here: http://www.afsa.org/mbr/insur.cfm#liability.

Come on By: We always welcome visitors here in the AFSA office, located in RRB 2.10-C. I’m always available either by e-mail at fzamora@usaid.gov or by phone at 202-712-1631. Senior Labor Management Advisor Doug Broome is at dbroome@usaid.gov or 202-712-0947. The main office number here is 202-712-1941.