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Department of State
U.S. Agency for Global Media
The Bureau of Consular Affairs should fill the deputy director position for the Office of Consular Systems and Technology.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs should implement a plan to expedite the filling of staff vacancies in the Office of Consular Systems and Technology.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs should designate a system owner for ConsularOne who is responsible and accountable for all aspects of the system throughout its life cycle.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs should create a system security plan for ConsularOne.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs should create a contingency plan for ConsularOne.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs should require all its directorates and offices to assign dedicated staff to support ConsularOne, employing a shared services concept where appropriate.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs should publish scheduled system maintenance outages, including weekly maintenance windows and periodic longer outages, in which the Office of Consular Systems and Technology has complete authority to take systems offline.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs should require the Office of Consular Systems and Technology, with assistance from its Office of Policy Coordination and Public Affairs, to design a plan for communication with consular users that would promote understanding of the stages, timeline, and content of the consular systems modernization program.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs should require the Office of Consular Systems and Technology to convey information from its division directors meeting to its staff.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs should require the Office of Consular Systems and Technology to update its internal procedures and policies.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs should redesign its trouble-shooting websites for improved effectiveness and relevance.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs should require the Office of Consular Systems and Technology to assign a dedicated team to manage the office’s records management program.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs should require the Office of Consular Systems and Technology to implement an action plan with milestones for monitoring the performance of Information System Security Officer required duties at its locations.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs, in coordination with the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, should require the Office of Consular Systems and Technology to implement closing hours checks for its designated areas.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs should require the Office of Consular Systems and Technology to include a review of the organizational structure, staffing, policies, and procedures in its assessment for the annual Management Control Statement of Assurance, and to document this review.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs should require the Office of Consular Systems and Technology to include the reporting of internal deficiencies in attachment 4 of the annual Management Control Statement of Assurance, including control deficiencies in organizational structure, staffing, and procedural management controls.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs should require the Office of Consular Systems and Technology to conduct and document a review of its labor service contract in accordance with the annual Management Control Statement of Assurance, to include the reporting on the status of the acquisition plan, funding, and oversight of this contract.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs should require the Office of Consular Systems and Technology to report reviews on its annual Management Control Statement of Assurance that are limited to the current year.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs should establish a financial management position in the Office of Consular Systems and Technology.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs should require the Office of Consular Systems and Technology to separate the performance of acquisition and contracting duties from financial management duties in the position descriptions of the office.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs should designate an employee in the Office of the Comptroller as the contracting officer’s representatives on the financial management services contract.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs should require the Office of Consular Systems and Technology to reassign the contracting officer’s representative roles for its contracts to multiple qualified personnel to achieve a reasonable division of labor.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs should require the Office of Consular Systems and Technology to develop standard operating procedures for its contract and acquisition processes, including contract close-outs, processing prior year unliquidated obligations, and SharePoint records.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs should direct the Office of Consular Systems and Technology to review the $18.54 million of unliquidated obligations for contracts that require close out and document justifications of remaining prior year balances.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs should require the Office of Consular Systems and Technology to establish a contract monitoring process to ensure contract close outs are processed in a timely manner.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs should require the Office of Consular Systems and Technology to request the Contracting Officer to modify the financial management contract to include required monthly meetings.
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OIG recommends that the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs develop and implement written procedures for all awards to ensure performance indicators meet the Performance Management Guidebook standards for indicator appropriateness and include appropriate baseline data and performance targets. These written procedures should be incorporated into the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs Office of Assistance Coordination Grants Management Policies and Procedures Manual.
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs provide standard procedures and training to its personnel on developing appropriate indicators.
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs establish and implement additional policies and procedures to require that award monitoring plans include assessments of progress toward achieving the goals, objectives, and expected outcomes of awards and the technical assistance that may be provided. These written procedures should be incorporated into the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs Office of Assistance Coordination Grants Management Policies and Procedures Manual.
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs establish and implement additional written policies and procedures to require performance monitoring during site visits and provide a template on how that monitoring should be conducted. These written procedures should be incorporated into the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs Office of Assistance Coordination Grants Management Policies and Procedures Manual.
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs establish and implement additional written policies and procedures to require documentation of the review of quarterly performance reports to ensure that progress is being made toward achieving award objectives. These written procedures should be incorporated into the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs Office of Assistance Coordination Grants Management Policies and Procedures Manual.
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration a) recalculate the post allowance rate for Berlin to correctly apply data related to the value added tax and sales tax and b) update the post allowance rate for Berlin and other applicable posts within Germany accordingly.
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration, in coordination with the Bureau of the Comptroller and Global Financial Services, determine the amount saved (for at least the first pay period after application of the recalculated allowance), which over a 2-year period OIG estimated to be $1.1 million for Embassy Berlin and $44,000 for Consulate General Dusseldorf.
OIG recommends that the Under Secretary for Management consolidate and codify all current Syria vetting policies issued by the Department and bureaus into one detailed guidance explaining specifically how the vetting process should be carried out for Syrian awards. This consolidated guidance should be distributed to all bureaus once completed.
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs distribute the consolidated vetting guidance from Recommendation 1 to implementing partners to make them aware of Department vetting requirements.
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs develop and implement internal controls to verify that its implementing partners are submitting information on required individuals for vetting in accordance with the consolidated vetting guidance from Recommendation 1.
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs include in future award agreements the vetting requirements for Syria programs.
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor distribute the consolidated vetting guidance from Recommendation 1 to implementing partners to make them aware of Department vetting requirements.
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor develop and implement internal controls to verify that its implementing partners are submitting information on required individuals for vetting in accordance with the consolidated vetting guidance from Recommendation 1.
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor include in future award agreements the vetting requirements for Syria programs.
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration, Office of the Procurement Executive, establish a policy to award new Syrian non-lethal assistance through cooperative agreements so that the bureaus involved will be better positioned to monitor the vetting of implementing partners’ staff and assistance recipients.
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration, Office of the Procurement Executive, notify the bureaus to include needed Risk Analysis and Management vetting time in grant performance periods when awarding grants for non-lethal Syrian assistance and incorporate this instruction within its consolidated vetting guidance in Recommendation 1.
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration, Office of Logistics Management, Office of Acquisitions Management, in coordination with the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations, Office of Construction, Facility, and Security Management, Office of Facility Management, include contract performance standards that are specific, objective, clear, and measurable in the statement of work for the new worldwide operations and maintenance contract.
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations, Office of Construction, Facility, and Security Management, Office of Facility Management, in coordination with Embassy Kabul, (a) maintain one position for the deputy facility manager at post and (b) create a separate, new position at post that will perform the contracting officer’s representative duties for the operations and maintenance contract in Afghanistan.
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations, Office of Construction, Facility, and Security Management, Office of Facility Management, in coordination with the Bureau of Administration, Office of Logistics Management, Office of Acquisitions Management, identify and assign an alternate contracting officer’s representative for the operations and maintenance contract in Afghanistan.
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration, Office of Logistics Management, Office of Acquisitions Management, in coordination with the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations, Office of Construction, Facility, and Security Management, Office of Facility Management, identify and include all anticipated operations and maintenance needs for overseas posts in the worldwide operations and maintenance base contract.
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration, Office of Logistics Management, Office of Acquisitions Management, in coordination with the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations, Office of Construction, Facility, and Security Management, Office of Facility Management, ensure that any additional services added to the worldwide operations and maintenance contract be appropriately aligned with the base contract’s statement of work and within the scope of the operations and maintenance base contract.
OIG recommends that the Under Secretary for Management, Office of Management Policy, Rightsizing, and Innovation, develop and disseminate formal guidance regarding registering, approving, and reporting conferences in compliance with Federal requirements.
OIG recommends that the Under Secretary for Management, Office of Management Policy, Rightsizing, and Innovation (M/PRI), ensure that all guidance is consistent with respect to registering, approving, and reporting conferences on M/PRI’s website.
OIG recommends that the Under Secretary for Management, Office of Management Policy, Rightsizing, and Innovation, develop and implement a communications strategy to periodically keep Department of State personnel informed of conference registration, approval, and reporting requirements to ensure the integrity of the data is accurately reported and errors are corrected in a timely manner.
Embassy Zagreb, in coordination with the Bureau of Administration’s Office of the Procurement Executive, should complete risk assessments and develop monitoring plans for all Federal assistance awards using Department-approved formats.
Embassy Zagreb should require and train employees to transmit official record correspondence using State Messaging and Archive Retrieval Toolset archive record emails, in accordance with Department guidance.
Embassy Zagreb, in coordination with the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, should identify funding to hire an additional driver and implement procedures to limit ambassadorial driver’s duty time to the 10-hour daily maximum.
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration, Office of Logistics, Critical Environment Contracting Analytics Staff develop a process to ensure that the risk mitigation plan for each high-risk area identified in a risk assessment has a mitigating action, as required by Section 846 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013.
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration, Office of Logistics, Critical Environment Contracting Analytics Staff develop a control that ensures each risk mitigation plan includes measurable milestones for implementing each planned risk mitigation or risk reduction measure and a process for monitoring, measuring, and documenting progress in mitigating or reducing risk in accordance with Section 846 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013.
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Note: The information includes all open recommendations from reports that were issued October 1, 2014. Potential Monetary Benefits values are as stated in reports—subsequent Department and USAGM management decisions and actions may result in different values.
