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Appendixes
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A
Charge to the Board and Panels
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tIOV 2 1 2002
APPENDIX A
o4~; N - ,
UNITED STATED DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Inetitute of Standarde and Technology
Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899
OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR
MEMORANDUM FOR Board on Assessment of NIST Programs and its Panels
From:
Subject:
Arden L. Bement, Jr.
Director
Charge to the National Research Council Board on Assessment of NIST Programs
for the FY2003 Evaluation
I am extremely grateful to the members of the Board on Assessment and its panels for the time,
effort, and expertise that all of you devote to evaluating the technical quality of NIST's
laboratory programs. Your findings are a central component of our performance evaluation
system, and help NIST remain a top-quality science and technology agency serving the nation's
measurement needs. NIST highly values your hard work and insights in assessing our laboratory
programs, and we look forward to working closely and productively with you in FY2003.
NIST's mission is to develop and promote measurement, standards, and technology to enhance
productivity, facilitate trade, and improve the quality of life. The NIST Laboratories conduct
research to anticipate future metrology and standards needs, to enable new scientific and
technological advances, and to continuously improve and refine existing measurement methods
and services.
For FY2003, I ask that the Board on Assessment continue your longstanding focus on assessing
the technical merit of NIST's laboratory programs. I also ask the Board to continue your focus
on assessing the relevance of NIST work to the needs of our current and future customers.
Potential demand for NIST measurements and standards will always exceed our limited
resources. We ask the Board to continue to help us maximize the impact of our laboratory
programs by focusing on the most significant needs of our customers.
In summary, I ask the Board on Assessment to focus its FY2003 assessment of the NIST
Laboratories on three factors:
the technical quality and merit of the laboratory programs relative to the state-of-the-art
worldwide;
the relevance of the laboratory programs to the current and future needs of customers; and
the effectiveness with which the laboratory programs are carried out and the results
disseminated to customers.
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APPENDIX A
As part of its assessment of these three factors, I ask the Board and its Panels to consider the
adequacy of the Laboratories' facilities, equipment, and human resources to enable the
Laboratories to fulfill their mission and meet their customers' needs. At the October 16
Workshop, NIST and the Board briefly discussed possible indicators of performance for each ot-
the factors that may provide guidance to the Board and its Panels in the assessment process. I
look forward to discussing these indicators and their potential use with the Board in more detail
at the December meeting.
With its mix of experts from industry, academia, and government agencies, the Board is well
positioned to help NIST evaluate its laboratory programs on each of these factors. As in past
years, your findings will be used by NIST internally for continuous improvement in each area of
evaluation and externally for reporting to key stakeholders on the quality, relevance, and
performance of the NIST laboratories. NIST's key stakeholders, including the Department of
Commerce, the Administration, and Congress, use your findings to help ensure an optimal return
on the public's investment in NIST. The Board's reports, statements, and briefings based on
independent and comprehensive expert peer review are a cornerstone of NIST's perfonnance
evaluation system and are featured prominently in our reports to the Administration and
Congress under the terms of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) and the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) R&D investment criteria. The Board's annual
published assessment is a thorough and comprehensive document of great value to NIST and our
stakeholders. I am pleased that the Board agreed at the October 16 Workshop to provide a brief
"Stakeholder's Statement" document as part of the FY2003 assessment that will address issues
the Board believes should be of interest to NIST's key stakeholders. This document will be
valuable in helping to more broadly disseminate the Board's key findings.
Thank you again for contributing your time and expertise to assess the quality and relevance of
NIST's laboratory programs. Your expert, objective appraisal is crucial to helping NIST
continuously improve its programs and effectiveness.
cc: Senior Management Board
Program Office
Scott Weidman
283
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
nist laboratories
