AFSANET from the USAID Vice President

December 6 , 2007

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

Last Chance for Survey: The 2007 AFSA member survey will close to submissions on midnight, December 9, 2007.  This is your last chance to complete the survey. Please take a few minutes to give us your opinions.  The results will be published in the February Foreign Service Journal for all to see. Management will be paying attention to what you have to say and this may have a significant effect on your future benefits and the direction the agency will take. So, let us know what you think and provide me with suggestions on how to improve the agency. The web-based, anonymous survey takes only about ten minutes to complete and the results should be very interesting. 

Crossing Over : The Agency recently released a roster of positions available to USAID officers at the State Department through the Crossover Assignment Program. We urge you to look at these, as they may be a perfect fit for any number of USAID folks. The details are included in the Agency notice dated December 3.

On a Related Note: Speaking of assignments, the major listing of positions was released on November 27. Now that all the CPC jobs have been addressed – happily without any recourse to directed assignments – the big list is out and we hope you are all in the process of identifying your next possible assignment. The listing is available on the Agency's intranet. Click on HR, select the “FS Assignments” link, and finally go to “2008 Major Listing.”

Hold the Date: The Agency’s Annual Awards Ceremony has been scheduled for Wednesday, January 30, at 1:30 pm in the RRB Amphitheatre. Let’s hope this date sticks.

Hold the Date, Part 2: We encourage all to attend the launch event for the new Asian American Foreign Affairs Association (AAFAA), to be held at the State Department’s Delegate Lounge at 1:15 pm on December 10. USAID Administrator Henrietta Fore and Ambassador Sichan Siv will be in attendance. If you wish to attend, please contact ChiangBX@state.gov.

Liability Insurance: If you haven’t yet signed up for AFSA’s professional liability insurance, you should. This is especially important for controllers, contracting officers, and those in management positions. You can sign up for this great benefit by visiting [http://www.afsa.org/mbr/insur.cfm#liability], and please take a look at the October issue of the Vanguard to see why this insurance is a good idea for you.

AFSA Scholarships : Don’t lose out on your child’s chance to win or be eligible for AFSA Scholarships! AFSA Scholarship Applications are now 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.

Happy Holidays : Other than a new Vanguard scheduled to come out next week, this will be the last AFSAnet of the year from the USAID office. We wish you all a happy and peaceful holiday season, and hope that you all get some time to spend with your families. Our attendance will be a bit spotty over the holiday period. I will be away December 17 through January 2. Doug will be away during the holiday week, and Asgeir will be away December 17-January 7. We will still be monitoring our e-mail and voice messages, so please feel free to get in touch with us at any time.