Announcements
IN MEMORIAM - Lara Kathryn Street Roberson
Our
friend and coworker Lara Roberson passed away on September 12 after a valiant
battle with cancer. Lara was a 2006 summa cum laude graduate of the
University of Portland. Lara joined NIST as a 2005 SURF Researcher with
Division 815. In 2006, she became a Protiro
contractor. In her spare time, Lara enjoyed reading, knitting, ice skating, playing the guitar and piano, and volunteering
to tutor immigrant children. Lara is survived by her husband Daniel
Roberson, and by her parents Tom and Nan Street. Lara will be remembered
for her keen intellect, her indestructible spirit, her brilliant smile, and her
deep and abiding faith. A funeral service was held in Seattle on
September 20. A memorial service will be held in Boulder on September 27,
at 5 p.m., at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 14th and Aurora, Boulder.
Immediately following the mass there will be a reception/potluck.
If you plan to attend, please RSVP to Daniel (daniel.r.roberson@gmail.com) or Shellee Dyer
(sdyer@boulder.nist.gov). In lieu of flowers, it was Lara's wish that
charitable donations be made in her honor to a women's shelter. Details regarding the shelter to follow.
NARFE MEETING, 55TH ANNIVERSARY LOCAL CHAPTER 293,
Special Date, October 11
The National Active and Retired Federal Employees will meet for a
special celebration of the 55th Anniversary of Local Chapter 293 on Saturday,
October 11, 2008, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., at the Outlook Hotel on 28th St.,
Boulder. Lunch, consisting of soup, salad and cookies is offered for
$10.00. The entertainment begins immediately following lunch. This month the
program features a performance by NIST's own Erin Presley-Foemke,
and an update from the National Conference. RSVP by October
1. To RSVP and make your advance payment, contact: Winston Scott,
303-494-6752, Jan Falcon, 303-499-9583, or Pedro Trofaya,
303-543-8176.
FLU SHOTS
The Employee Health Unit hopes to receive their full order of flu
vaccine by the second week of October. The vaccine clinics are scheduled
as follows:
October 8, in the DSRC, Employee Health Unit, GB 101, 1-3:30 p.m.
October 15, in Building 1, back door lobby, west side of the building, 11
a.m.-1 p.m.
October 9, while supplies last, flu shots will be available Monday-Friday,
1-3:30 p.m., in the DSRC, Employee Health Unit, GB 101. Remember: afternoons
only, please.
The flu shots are free and all Boulder Labs employees, affiliates and
contractors are welcome to come and get a flu shot.
DSRC LACTATION ROOM AVAILABLE
The lactation room in the DSRC is now open.
It's a quiet, private place for nursing mothers to pump (or nurse). It is
available to any nursing mother in any building on campus. The room itself
is located DSRC, 3C202. It's a controlled-access room with a keypad to
ensure privacy. Please contact the Employee Health Unit, ext. 3801, for
further information, or contact Sarah Thompson, ext. 6024 or Jennifer Fox, ext.
4769.
HR4U: FROM THE HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICE
TSP TAX DEFERRAL LIMIT GUIDELINES
This message serves as a reminder that Section 402
of the Tax Code limits the amount of income that you may elect to defer under
all cash or deferred arrangements during a tax year. The total amount of
employee contributions to the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) for 2008 cannot exceed
the elective deferral limit of $15,500. When the elective deferral limit
is reached, your employee contributions must be suspended for the remainder of
the year. The TSP will not accept any contributions that exceed this limit
unless you are over age 50, in which case your contributions cannot exceed the
sum of the Internal Revenue Code elective deferral limit plus the
"catch-up" contribution limit for that year. The catch-up contribution
limit for 2008 is $5,000.
For those employees covered under the Federal Employees Retirement System
(FERS), your agency matching contributions are also suspended when the elective
deferral limit has been reached. As a result, you will not get the full
amount of agency matching contributions that you could have received if your
own contributions had been slightly less each pay period. Although the
automatic one percent agency contribution will continue, once lost, matching
contributions cannot be recouped.
FERS employees are encouraged to use the TSP on-line calculator at http://www.tsp.gov/calc/contributions/index.html
to ensure that they receive the agency matching contributions throughout the
year without hitting the elective deferral limit. If you have any
questions, please contact your servicing human resources office.
NIST-ALTERNATIVE PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (APMS) PAY FOR PERFORMANCE
PRESENTATION
New changes starting in FY 2009
The Human Resources Management Division has posted an employee briefing on the
NIST APMS Pay for Performance process at: http://www-i.nist.gov/hr/ under "What's new in Human
Resources". The presentation covers roles and responsibilities,
element ratings and summary performance ratings, how performance pay increases
and bonuses are determined, and other related topics.
LEAVE AND EARNINGS STATEMENT CHANGE
The National Finance Center (NFC) recently issued a notice that, effective
September 14, 2008, it will fully mask Social Security Numbers (SSN) on
Earnings and Leave (E & L) statements. This is part of the NFC’s
ongoing effort to safeguard personal identification information (PII).
For E & L statements that are printed and mailed by NFC, the full SSN will
be masked; no part of it will be shown. Please note that the full SSN
will continue to appear on E & L statements that are printed from the
Employee Personal Page. Please contact your servicing HR Assistant if you
have any questions.
FEDERAL BENEFITS OPEN SEASON
The 2008 Federal Benefits Open Season for the 2009
plan year begins on November 10, 2008, and runs through December 8, 2008.
The NIST HR Office and the NOAA Workforce Management Office will co-host this
year's Benefit Fair on November 17, 2008 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. in 1-1103/5.
Employees may make four benefit choices during the upcoming Open Season.
Employees may:
-Sign up for a flexible spending account for health or dependent care under the
Federal Flexible Spending Account Program (FSAFEDS),
-Enroll in or change an existing enrollment in a dental plan under the Federal
Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP),
-Enroll in or change an existing enrollment in a vision plan under the Federal
Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP), and
-Enroll in or change an existing enrollment in a health insurance plan under
the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program.
Last year we changed the focus and name of the annual FEHB Program Open Season
to the more inclusive Federal Benefits Open Season. Since two benefit programs,
FSAFEDS and FEDVIP, have been added, employees need to understand the
relationship among the four choices before making decisions during Open Season.
You can find more information about these programs at www.opm.gov/insure. OPM
will post FEDVIP and FEHB premium costs for 2009 soon. You will find specific
Federal Benefits Open Season information on this website during the first week
of November.
EXTRA COPIES AVAILABLE: SI and Uncertainty Guides and Metric Poster
The NIST Publications office has a few extra copies of the following
publications available for distribution (while they last!). Please e-mail
kotary@boulder.nist.gov if you would like a copy.
- Guidelines for Evaluating and Expressing the Uncertainty of NIST Measurement
Results, Barry N. Taylor and Chris E. Kuyatt, NIST
Tech Note 1297
- Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SI), Barry N. Taylor,
NIST Special Pub. 811
- Interpretation of the SI for the United States and Federal Government Metric
Conversion Policy, Barry N. Taylor, NIST Special Pub 814 (1998 Edition)
- Metric Poster: NIST Special Pub. 304
MANDATORY ANNUAL SECURITY BRIEFING FOR NOAA
Everything you wanted to know about
security procedures for the site will be briefed and questions addressed. For more information, contact, Keith Turbitt,
ext. 4332. The final briefings for NOAA will be:
September 29 at 1 p.m., DSRC GC 402.
September 29 at 2 p.m., DSRC GC 402.
AGENCY OWNED VEHICLES AND GSA VEHICLES
FLEET CARD EXPIRATION NOTICE
All of the current fleet cards expire November 29,
2008. GSA Fleet has chosen Citibank, who has teamed up with Wright
Express (WEX), to provide your fleet card needs effective November 30,
2008. The new contract provides you with the same services as today (fuel
and maintenance) and includes enhanced features such as: The number of
merchants accepting the card will be nearly 500,000 - up from the 80,000
merchants today. This will make it easier for you - especially when in
remote areas that don't accept the current card. Transactions can be
reviewed on-line in real time - providing better and more
timely support. I will keep you apprised of all the new changes
but if you have any questions please do not hesitate to call Sheila Carver,
Fleet Manager, ext. 3766.
VEHICLE CUSTODIAN GUIDANCE
The DOC Personal Property Manual requires that contract employees be
authorized to operate government vehicles. Vehicle custodians must
authorize contractors each year. Please send your list of authorized
contractors for FY09 to Sheila Carver, ext. 3766 by October 31, 2008.
NOAA GIFT SHOP MONTHLY SPECIAL
The NOAA Gift Shops monthly special for September: $1 off for every
$10 spent on items on the center table. Normal hours are 12-1 p.m.,
Tuesday-Thursday. The shop is located in room 1C307 in the DSRC.
The NOAA Gift Shop is looking for additional volunteers to work at least one
lunch hour per month. This is a fun opportunity to meet visitors and
other employees. The majority of the current volunteers are your fellow
scientists. Volunteers also get a discount on shop merchandise and a free lunch
once a year. Please contact Joan Brundage, ext.6895
(joan.brundage@noaa.gov) or Kevin Brundage, ext.7246
(kevin.brundage@noaa.gov) if you are interested.
NIST GIFT SHOP
The NIST store is located under the lobby
stairs near the Building 1 cafeteria. If you would like to purchase any
NIST merchandise, please call ext. 5453, ext. 3832, ext. 3988, or ext. 3378.
See pictures of their NIST t-shirts, hats, post cards, and more at the BLEA web
site by clicking "sales" - http://blea.doc.gov/
EMSS NEWS
Questions?
Please call the below listed contacts or call ext. 3191 or email:
svcdesk@boulder.nist.gov.
REMINDERS:
* The chain link & orange construction warning barriers
(fencing) that you see on site are there for your safety. Please do not
remove or knock them down.
* If you do need to enter a construction zone, you must have the minimum
required Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
PLANNED PROJECTS
Building 1
1. . EMSS, with the contractor Diamond Hills, is still doing renovation and
reconstruction work in the Museum and rooms (1-1201, 1201A, 1203, 1203A)
September 8-October 15, 2008. EMSS has a large trash dumpster for
construction debris east of the mail room dock next to the caged trash bins.
Contact: Dale Thoele ext. 4009.
2. Site Improvement Project (Road & Parking Lot Project): The contractor is
completeing the installation of the new storm sewer
along the north side of Building 1 (outside Wing 1, 3, & 5). The next major
undertaking will be the asphalt paving. This is going to impact as many
employees as the project progresses.
Building 1 North Parking Lot: The north parking lot will be closed to all
parking from October 1-6 for cleaning, application of top coat of asphalt, and
parking spot striping. Parking will be available in the parking lots west of
Building 1 and in the parking lot of Building 2.
Circulation Road From Wing 5 to Front of Building
1: Access around the north and front of Building 1 is going to be blocked
to all traffic from September 23-October 8. The contractor will prepare this
area for the asphalt paving. No vehicular traffic is going to be allowed along
this section of the circulation road.
Wing 2 Dock Access: A temporary access road will be installed from the road off
Broadway that leads to the medical building, across the parkway, and to the new
south circulation road. This temporary road is going to be for the Post Office
and Police Department only. No other vehicles will be allowed. All deliveries
need to go the west entrance of Building 1. Contact: Joe Carbone, ext.
3114.
3. EMSS will be epoxy sealing the floor in 1-3570, September 22-29. Ventilation
will be provided to maintain a negative pressure in the space. Contact: Bill Seader, X6314
4. The CUP Phase 2 contractor continues with landscaping work on Lawrence Road;
steam, chilled water and compressed air lines are being run into Building 1
between Wings 2 & 4. There will also be activity in Building 1, Wing 4 at
the intersection of the spine as chilled water lines are being replaced with
larger lines. Contact: Bryan Faktor, ext. 7841.
Building 8 & 12
1. NTVI will continue to work on the Hydrogen facility at Building 8.
They are doing electrical work and may start painting by the end of the week.
No disruption to the technical community is expected. Contact: Jack Schneider,
ext. 4676.
Site Wide
1. Continuation of the Fiber Optic Backbone work for
the Access & Alarms Group (EMSS) until November 2008. There should
be no noticeable impact to the site occupants. Contact: John Grosvenor, ext.
5533.