The Census Bureau is headed by a director, appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate. The directorship is a political, not a fixed-term, appointment. In addition to a deputy director, the Bureau’s current organizational chart also includes two principal associate director positions, one of which serves as chief financial officer, and the other of which is designated as principal associate director for programs (the principal associate director positions are currently not filled).

Under these top levels of management, eight associate directors oversee particular aspects of the Census Bureau’s operations. Of these directorates, two are particularly key to decennial census operations:

• Decennial Census: The associate director for decennial census oversees all decisions for census planning, budget, and operations, and all funding for decennial-census-related activities is coordinated under this directorate. Under this directorate, the Decennial Management Division is responsible for planning and coordination as well as liaison with oversight groups such as the U.S. General Accounting Office, the U.S. Department of Commerce Inspector General, and congressional committees. The Decennial Statistical Studies Division develops the statistical methodology for use in census operations, while the Decennial Systems and Contracts Management Office is the primary contracting arm for decennial census operations (including external contracts for such operations as questionnaire printing and data capture). Finally, the Geography Division maintains the Master Address File and TIGER geographic database and administers the Bureau’s other cartographic activities.

• Field Operations: The associate director for field operations oversees the Field Division, which is charged with conducting the actual field enumeration for the census and other survey programs. This directorate also oversees the Bureau’s permanent National Processing Center in Jeffersonville, Indiana, and 12 regional offices; during conduct of the decennial census, hundreds of temporary local census offices also come under this directorate’s purview.

Other directorates include divisions that play key roles in the decennial census:

• Demographic Programs: Until recently, the American Community Survey was administered by the Demographic Surveys Division under the Demographic Programs directorate; this authority was transferred to the Decennial Management Division. A key part of the Demographic Programs directorate is the Population Division, which is responsible for the production of postcensal population estimates between census years.

• Methodology and Standards: The Methodology and Standards directorate is home to the Planning, Research, and Evaluation Division, which administered the suite of evaluations of census operations and data quality in 2000 (see Section 8-A). Additional expertise is provided by the Statistical Research Division and the Computer Assisted Survey Research Office, which assists with the development and testing of electronic questionnaires.