Archive

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Document Name: App B: Text of Cus. Svc. Stnds: The Research & Acad. Comm. (19 of 23) Part I
Date: 09/01/74
Owner: National Performance Review
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Title: App B: Text of Cus. Svc. Stnds: The Research & Acad. Comm. (19 of 23) Part I

Author: Vice President Al Gore's National Performance Review

Date: September, 1994

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The Research and Academic Community

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Department of Agriculture

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Economic Agencies

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Economic Research Service, World Agricultural Outlook Board, and

National Agricultural Statistics Service

Provide information and analyses for improving the performance of

agriculture and the well-being of rural America.

We will:

--- Respond to each customer in a courteous and helpful manner.

--- Accurately direct you to the person or agency with the

information you need.

--- Provide complete, accurate information about our programs,

products, and services in plain language.

--- Make it easy to find and order reports.

--- Deliver promised information promptly.

--- Explain why, when we cannot meet your request.

--- Deliver services without discrimination on the basis of race,

color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political

beliefs, and marital or family status.

Service you can expect from the ERS-NASS sales desk:

--- Your call will be answered promptly and courteously by a

knowledgeable operator. Occasionally, the volume of calls may require

that your call be placed on hold for a short time, but we won't

forget you!

--- If you are calling for the first time, the operator will ask for

your name and address and will give you a customer ID number to

expedite your next order.

--- Orders for monographs, electronic data products, and single

copies of periodicals will be mailed first-class within five working

days.

--- Payment choices include MasterCard or Visa, or check or money

order (U.S. funds only).

--- You will receive two renewal notices before subscriptions expire.

--- ERS-NASS operators can answer your questions regarding the

current status of your account, including payment, issues due,

billing, and other questions. Errors will be corrected promptly.

--- You can request expedited shipment of your order via Federal

Express at your expense.

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Department of Commerce

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Bureau of Economic Analysis

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Provides economic data on the U.S. economy and its position in the

global market.

--- BEA will meet its published annual calendar of news release

dates. Any changes in these dates will be announced as far in advance

as possible.

--- BEA will provide access to news releases on the EBB (Economic

Bulletin Board), EBB FAX, and recorded telephone messages at the time

of release.

--- BEA staff will respond to customer correspondence within five

business days.

--- BEA staff will return customer phone calls within one business

day.

--- BEA will ship off-the-shelf products within three business days.

Bureau of the Census

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Data Users Services Division

Provides a variety of products and services based on Census data.

--- Phone calls. We will answer phone calls to the standard Customer

Services telephone number (301-763-4100) within one minute after the

introductory message ends.

--- Shipping orders. We will ship items for off-the-shelf orders

within one working day.

--- Custom orders. We will ship orders for custom products as stated

by the customer service representative.

--- Courtesy. Our telephone reference staff will be courteous,

knowledgeable, and businesslike.

--- Guarantee. We guarantee that you will be happy with our product

or you can return it for a full refund within 30 days.

--- Complaints and questions. Customers phoning or faxing a complaint

or inquiry will receive an initial response within three hours. All

problems will be resolved within one working day.

Economics and Statistics Administration

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

STAT-USA

Provides business, trade, and economic information.

Files on the Economic Bulletin Board (EBB):

--- We will post all files on the EBB within 30 minutes of receipt

from the originating agency.

Order fulfillment:

--- We will ship CD-ROM orders by first-class mail the next business

day after we accept the order.

--- If we do not ship your order on the next business day, we will

send you one CD-ROM free.

Technical assistance:

--- All technical assistance calls will be resolved within 24 hours.

If the problem requires more time to resolve, we will keep you posted

of our progress.

--- If you forgot your EBB password, please give us 24 hours to

identify it. We will call the owner of the account back with the

information.

--- We will do our best answer your questions. If we do not know the

answer, we will direct you to someone who does.

Billing:

--- For our CD-ROM subscription services, you will receive a reminder

to renew the subscription 45 days in advance of the subscription

expiration date. If we do not receive payment from you, we will stop

the subscription.

--- For our EBB subscription service, we will include renewal charges

in your trimesterly bill. We will also send you additional reminder

notices. You will have 90 days after the date of the first bill to

return payment to us. If you cannot return payment to us within this

time period, we reserve the right to deactivate your account.

However, please contact us if you need additional time and we will

extend the grace period.

You can expect us to:

--- Give you our name when we answer the phone or write to you.

--- Be polite, considerate, open, and honest.

--- Give you accurate information about our products and services.

--- Apologize if we get things wrong, explain what happened, and make

things right.

--- Deliver our services fairly and to the same high standards to all

our clients regardless of sex, race, disability, religion, and age.

Person to person:

--- We will regularly ask our clients what they think of our services

-- and we will share those results with you.

--- STAT-USA wants to hear from you, whether it's good news or bad.

All of our managers can be reached by mail, telephone, or e-mail.

National Institute of Standards and Technology

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Develops and distributes Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) for use

in the control of production processes and in measurement assurance

programs.

--- We will deliver SRMs to you within 24 hours of order upon

request.

--- Your call to order SRMs will be answered within 30 seconds.

--- We will work with our customers to ensure that SRMs permit you to

attain more accurate measures; serve as an industrywide standard for

commerce; and are highly characterized materials useful to science,

industry, and government.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Aeronautical Charts and Related Data

Provides aeronautical chart products and services.

We promise:

--- To provide you products with no defects.

--- To work closely with the Federal Aviation Administration and the

Defense Mapping Agency, through the Interagency Air Cartographic

Committee, to maintain and develop aeronautical chart specifications

for your existing and emerging charting needs.

--- To preserve our perfect record of meeting all print cycles and to

continue to meet our high-quality, printed image standards of +.003

accuracy.

--- To deliver aeronautical and nautical products to you who are our

domestic customers within two weeks of receiving your order.

--- To ensure we have appropriate stock quantities of products, while

minimizing costly condemnation of obsolete products.

--- To reply to your inquiries in a timely manner by:

-- responding, the same business day, to your telephone inquiries

about obtaining our products;

-- responding to your recorded messages on our 24-hour toll-free

customer service lines within three working days; and

-- responding to written correspondence (other than orders for

products) within three weeks.

--- To promote our understanding of your needs and your awareness of

our products and services by:

-- continuing to hold a workshop for NOS Chart Agents

approximately every 18 months;

-- actively participating in a wide variety of conferences,

committees and workshops;

-- marketing our products and services at air shows and technical

conferences;

-- conducting professional surveys as needed; and

-- continuing our outreach program to aviation schools, flying

clubs, and the general public.

--- To always be polite, considerate, and honest, and to ensure our

products and services meet or exceed your expectations.

--- To apologize to you when things go wrong, explain what happened,

and do our very best to correct the problem promptly.

Geodetic Data and Related Products

Provides geodectic data, aerial photographs, applications software,

and related publications and services.

We will be:

--- Working closely with the Federal Geodetic Control Subcommittee of

the Federal Geographic Data Committee to develop standards and

specifications to guide you in conducting geodetic and

photogrammetric surveys.

--- Using the highest standards of quality, service, and integrity to

improve our responsiveness to user requests. We will investigate,

evaluate, and pursue, where feasible, the newest developments in

surveying technology, database systems, and telecommunications, as

well as programs for the transfer of technology, to enable our

customers to accomplish their missions in a more efficient and cost-

effective manner.

--- Delivering geodetic data products to our domestic customers

within one week of receiving your order.

--- Ensuring we have appropriate stock quantities of products.

--- Responding the same business day to your telephone requests for

our products.

--- Responding to your telephone messages within one working day.

--- Supporting professional workshops on geodetic surveying and

related activities nationwide through cooperative arrangements with

universities, professional societies, and state license boards.

--- Participating in a wide variety of conferences, committees, and

technical workshops.

--- Continuing our outreach program to schools, professional

societies, and the general public.

--- Being polite, considerate, and honest, and ensuring our products

and services meet or exceed your expectations.

--- Doing our best to correct a problem promptly if things go wrong.

Grants Management

Awards grants and cooperative agreements for a variety of scientific

and environmental projects.

--- Applicant notification: Applicants for NOAA grants and

cooperative agreements will be notified within two weeks after

receipt of the application by the Grants Management Division.

--- Application processing: Complete fundable applications approved

by program offices with funds available will be processed and awarded

within 60 days after receipt by the Grants Management Division.

--- Simplified requirements: Application paperwork and budget

justification requirements will be kept to a minimum.

--- Responsive communications: Responses to written communications

from grantees requesting approval for budget revisions, etc., will be

mailed within one month after receipt. Requests for information by

telephone or by electronic mail will be answered within 24 hours.

--- Recipient training: Annual workshops will be conducted, providing

opportunities for NOAA program staff, applicants, and recipients to

exchange information and upgrade grants and cooperative agreement

administration skills.

--- Timely close-out: Within 90 days after an award expires and

unexpended funds are returned to NOAA, a close-out letter will be

issued.

National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service

Gathers and distributes the nation's environmental satellite and

oceanographic data.

We will serve you in the area of data quality by:

--- Addressing the accuracy of measurements and the probability that

any observation is consistent with this accuracy.

We will serve you in the area of data continuity by:

--- Addressing the compatibility between past and present data

relative to a homogeneous and continuous record.

--- Improving climate and ocean prediction through access to NOAA's

quality databases.

--- Improving business decisions using NOAA's national and

international data holdings.

We will serve you in the area of customer service by:

--- Hosting workshops and data advisory groups twice a year.

--- Hosting user-based demonstrations and validations twice a year.

--- Improving access to data and information via on-line services, as

opposed to telephone requests; will improve response time by one day

to two weeks.

--- Providing response to standard customer orders in fewer than 14

working days and rush orders in fewer than five working days.

Space Environment Laboratory

Reduce adverse effects of solar-terrestrial disturbances on human

activities.

We continually strive to improve our forecasts by constantly

assimilating data to:

--- Continuously monitor, analyze and forecast the environment

between Sun and Earth providing forecasts once a day, updated every

three hours, and continuous real-time data and nowcasts.

--- Conduct research in solar-terrestrial physics, developing

techniques for forecasting solar and geophysical disturbances. On

average 30 new techniques per year have been implemented.

--- Improve the timeliness and accuracy of SEL's data by using new

instruments and observing techniques. Incremental increases are

marked every solar cycle.

--- Take a leading role in advocating and designing new data systems

that will fly on government satellites, including three types of

sensors on GOES, one on TIROS, the future Solar X-ray Imager on GOES,

and vital satellite instrumentation at the L1 position.

--- For every manned space flight, provide mission support to protect

astronauts from changes in the solar environment.

National Technical Information Service

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

FedWorldTM On-line System

Acts as an information clearinghouse.

--- Your access to FedWorld will continue to be provided at no

charge.

--- Products you order by credit card for download will be delivered

within 30 seconds.

--- Your calls to the Help Desk will be answered by a person, not a

recording, 24 hours a day.

--- We will continue to make information accessible in whatever

electronic formats meet your needs and expectations.

Patent and Trademark Office

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Examines and issues patents and trademarks.

--- We will treat our customers with courtesy each time they contact

us and, if appropriate, will direct them promptly to the proper

office or person.

--- If an employee being called is not available, they will return

the call by the next business day or, if requested by the caller, an

alternate point of contact will be provided.

--- We will ensure that our written communications clearly set forth

the technical, procedural, and legal position of patent examiners and

trademark examining attorneys.

--- Our correspondence with customers will be legible and of good

print quality.

--- We will widely disseminate information about changes in practice

and procedures to ensure that both employees and our customers know

about changes prior to their effective date.

--- We will respond to status letters within 30 days from the date

received.

Patent standards:

--- We will deliver facsimile transmission of properly addressed

papers marked "Informal" or "Draft" to the examiner within one

business day. Facsimile transmissions of properly addressed formal

amendments after final rejection will be matched with the appropriate

files and delivered to the examiner within three business days of

receipt.

--- We will correctly generate and mail a notice indicating the

application number, date of filing, and the title of invention for

complete, standard applications. These notices will be mailed within

19 calendar days of receipt of the application.

--- We will conduct a thorough search of relevant U.S. patents,

foreign patent literature, and non-patent literature contained in our

search files and, where appropriate, a reasonable search of other

non-patent literature during the patent examination process.

Trademark standards:

--- We will correctly generate and mail filing notices within 30 days

of receipt with a goal of reducing the processing time to 14 days by

September 30, 1995.

--- We will examine new applications and provide a written first

communication regarding registration within three months of the

filing date.

--- We will make a determination of the registrability of trademarks

within 13 months of receipt of the application in the PTO.

--- We will issue correct Notices of Abandonment within 45 days of

the date the file was abandoned.

--- We will issue correct Notices of Publishment within 30 days of

the date the file is approved.

--- We will mail correct certificates of registration within seven

days of the date of registration.

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Department of Education

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Ensures equal access to education and promotes education excellence

nationally.

Anyone we deal with can expect:

--- You will receive individual attention and prompt, professional

service. You will be valued.

--- We will seek to meet your needs and expectations. We will build a

relationship with you.

--- We will provide information that is timely, dependable, and

accurate. We will serve you.

--- You will have easy access to services and information. We will

use the latest technology to enhance your access.

--- We will provide you every opportunity to give input and feedback.

We will listen to you.

Goals 2000: Educate America Act

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The Goals 2000 Act, which focuses the nation's attention on

challenging academic and occupational standards, was passed with

input from a wide range of bipartisan supporters including state

governors and legislators, educators, researchers, policy makers, and

parents. To be considered for funding, states complete only a short,

simple grant application. We respond in writing to all applications

within 15 days.

This act is a cornerstone of the department's improvement agenda. The

Act establishes the National Education Goals for the year 2000. They

are as follows:

--- School readiness: All children in America will start school ready

to learn.

--- School completion: The high school graduation rate will increase

to at least 90 percent.

--- Student achievement and citizenship: All students will leave

grades 4, 8, and 12 having demonstrated competency over challenging

subject matter, including English, mathematics, science, foreign

languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, and

geography; and every school in America will ensure that all students

learn to use their minds well, so they may be prepared for

responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive employment

in our nation's economy.