Here is your update from USAID Vice President Francisco Zamora. Please send any comments and questions to fzamora@usaid.gov .

1.   Fourth Annual USAID Member Survey: For the fourth year in a row, we are sending out our survey of member opinion for the USAID constituency. This quick, anonymous survey helps us to lay out our agenda for the upcoming year, which is particularly important this year given the lack of political leadership at the Agency. We want to have your input regarding what matters most to you as we engage with management. We ask that you please take 10 minutes of your time to complete this survey, which is web-based and generally consists of multiple-choice questions, with ample opportunity for comment. The survey will remain open through mid-December, and the results will be detailed in the Vanguard newsletter in early 2010. The survey may be accessed via this link: http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB229SL4ZHCGJ. Please note that this survey is for active-duty USAID members only; other constituencies will be polled separately.

2. More USAID Representation:  I am happy to report that since we have maintained a USAID membership of over 1,000 paid members for three consecutive months, we are now entitled to an additional USAID Representative to the AFSA Governing Board according to the AFSA by-laws.  During the board’s November meeting, it appointed Glenn Rogers to this position. Glenn is currently the Office Director for Democracy, Governance and Social Transition (DGST) in the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia (E&E).  We welcome Glenn to our board and thank him for volunteering his time and talents to represent your needs and concerns. Feel free to get in touch with Glenn at grogers@usaid.gov to congratulate him or, more importantly, to communicate any issues of which he should be made aware.

3.  New Law on FERS Sick Leave: On October 28, 2009, President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act (P.L. 111-84). This bill contained provisions that will benefit federal employees in several was, two of which of are particularly important for the Foreign Service. First, the bill permits Federal Employee Retirement System and Foreign Service Pension System employees to count unused sick leave towards years of service while calculating their annuities, which Civil Service Pensions System and Foreign Service Retirement and Disability system are already able to do. This provision will be phased in, so that members retiring from the date of enactment through December 31, 2013, will be able to count 50% of their unused sick leave towards their annuity. From January 1, 2014 and onward, 100% of the unused sick leave will be counted. Second, the bill would also benefit employees who had previously retired from FERS and FSPS and had waived retirement credit for their years of federal service. Upon re-employment with the federal government, these retirees will be permitted to redeposit the annuity contributions they had withdrawn plus interest. It is important to note that while AFSA's interpretation of the law is that both the unused sick leave and redeposit relief apply to the Foreign Service Pension System, the foreign affairs agencies have not yet issued any guidance. It should be pointed out that AFSA played an important role in advocating for both of these provisions, and we have joined in public support along with other federal employee unions.

4. AFSA Scholarship Applications Are Now Available: Information, instructions and scholarship applications for children of Foreign Service employees are now available for download at www.afsa.org/scholar. AFSA offers two categories of awards: MERIT AWARDS - Current FS high school seniors can compete for top prizes of $1,800 in AFSA's Academic and Art Merit Awards Program which are bestowed in May. FINANCIAL AID SCHOLARSHIPS - Scholarships ranging from $1,000-$3,500, based on need, are open to tax-dependent FS undergraduate college children. These are awarded in August 2010 for the 2010/2011 school year. Students need to re-apply every year for these awards. We urge all eligible FS students to consider applying, and we at the USAID AFSA office particularly exhort USAID members to consider this option. The submission deadline for all materials is February 6, 2010. You may direct all inquiries to Lori Dec, AFSA’s Scholarship Director, at dec@afsa.org or 202-944-5504.

5. Health Plan Information: The average Federal Employee Health Benefits premium will increase by 8.8 percent for the 2010 plan year, the second straight year of substantial increases. The average increase for vision coverage under the FEDVIP program will be 4.2 percent: for dental coverage the figure will be 2.4 percent. The cost of premiums varies significantly, so it is important to carefully compare the costs and benefits of plans when making a decision about whether to continue with your existing plan or change to another. In this connection, AFSA is pleased to offer access to the Consumer Checkbook Guide to Health Plans again this year. To gain access to the Guide, go to www.afsa.org/retiree and click on the “Consumers Checkbook” icon.

6. Volunteer Opportunity: AFSA is looking for a USAID representative to volunteer their time to serve on AFSA’s Committee on Education, which oversees the AFSA scholarship program. The time commitment is limited, but the person does need to be stationed in Washington during their time on the committee. Further information on the committee’s work and the time involved may be found here: http://www.afsa.org/scholar/committee.cfm . If you are interested in serving, please contact Lori Dec at dec@afsa.org or 202-944-5504.

7. The End of Summer Migration: Now that the transfer season is mostly over, please make sure that we know where you are. AFSA tries its best to keep tabs on members, but we do not receive updated address information from your home agency. Therefore, we rely on you to update your address regularly. Please visit www.afsa.org/addressChange.cfm or e-mail member@afsa.org to do so.