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The comprehensive review of BIA's management
and organization found that BIA does not have the capacity
to effectively "perform basic federal functions of accounting,
property management, human resources management, procurement,
and information resources management." Although the report
reveals an "organization under siege," it lays out
detailed solutions to BIA's problems that if undertaken will
put the agency back on a "path to meeting the needs and
aspirations of Native Americans."
According to the panel, chaired by Academy
Fellow Royce Hanson, many of BIA's missteps can be traced
to the inadequately staffed Office of the Assistant Secretary-Indian
Affairs. The critical first step in rectifying these problems,
according to the panel, is for the assistant secretary to
"immediately establish a Policy, Management, and Budget
Office" to include a comptroller unit, plans and policy
unit, human resources unit, information resource unit, and
an equal opportunity employment unit. Only with such staff
capabilities will the assistant secretary be able to exercise
effective managerial responsibility of the BIA and "
lead the Bureau in achieving its goals and objectives."
Further complicating matters at BIA, the
report states, is the fact that staff do not receive adequate
training. Moreover, strategic planning, yearly performance
reviews, and program analysis are not institutionalized. The
Academy panel pointed out the need for more managerial discipline
and additional administrative personnel to help remedy these
problems.
"This is an agency in need of fundamental
management improvements," said Hanson. "If the Bureau
of Indian Affairs can ge the fundamentals right, then it can
become an effective agency serving one of the nation's most
important constituencies."
While the panel found serious management
and administrative deficiencies at BIA, it points out that
the agency is showing hopeful signs of improvement. The "Bureau
does appear eager to tackle problems and to position itself
to respond to future opportunities. As it approaches the next
millennium, it hopes to renew its commitment to improving
the lives of Native Americans." Senior managers realize
that in order to keep pace with the expanding needs and interests
of the population it serves, they must first address BIA's
administrative and management shortcomings, enhance its effectiveness,
and improve its efficiency.
The panel cautioned that requests for increased
funding to service programs "cannot be addressed effectively
and credibly until the management and administrative recommendations
of the panel have been put in place." The panel also
developed a set of management milestones and specific plans
for the achievement of tangible results and recommended that
the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs prepare an annual report
to the Secretary of Interior and to the Congress on the implementation
of the changes made pursuant to the panel's recommendations.
A Study of Management and Administration:
The Bureau of Indian Affairs, Order # 99-11, is published
by the National Academy of Public Administration. Copies may
be purchased for $20.00 plus shipping by calling NAPA Publications
at 301-617-7801. The media may obtain complimentary copies
by contacting the Academy's Office of Communications.
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