The Foreign Service Journal, May 2007

58 F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L / MA Y 2 0 0 7 would be considered a fair-share bidder. The DG’s proposal to replace the cur- rent 6/8-year rule for domestic servicewith a 5/8-year rule would mean that Foreign Servicemembers could only serve amax- imum of five consecutive years domesti- cally, andwould thenneed to seek awaiv- er to remain longer. Approval for such waivers would be a discretionary decision byHR, and the criteria for approval of such waiverswouldbe narrowed. For example, the current nearly automatic practice of granting waivers for employees with a teenager finishing his or her senior year of high school would end. Inpractical terms, formost people, the newrulewouldmean a maximum of four consecutive years in Washington: twonormal two-year assign- ments. No grandfathering provision for those already assigned domestically has been offered. AFSA Response AFSA transmitted a message to all ForeignServicemembers onMarch21, the same day the DG’s cable was sent. AFSA stated its agreement with the DG’s belief that it is important for themembers of the ForeignService tocontinue tovolunteer for all of thehardshipanddanger-paypositions that must be filled overseas, but offered another perspective on the proposals and requested immediate input from AFSA members worldwide. In itsmessage, AFSA stated: “Over the past six months, active-duty members worldwide havemade it clear toAFSA that they want to be consulted on such pro- posed changes, which directly affect their ability tomanage their careers. Whilemost members have expressed support for greater enforcement of fair-share rules and limitations on domestic service, a strong majority attached tremendous importance to the principle of fairness—and to pre- serving flexibility and family-friendliness in the Foreign Service. We believe these newproposals would have an undeniable impact on these principles. We are there- fore seeking your feedback, whichwill help theAFSAGoverningBoarddecide how to respond to the director general.” Results of themember poll were not in by press time, but will be reported in an upcoming edition of AFSA News. Early indications show great concern about the proposed changes among members. Hundreds immediately responded to the survey, and e-mail messages are flooding in to AFSA from members around the world. Many of these messages focus on the retroactive nature of the proposed rule changes as a key concern. AFSA intends to takemembers’ views intoaccountwhen formulating a response tomanagement on the proposals. A F S A N E W S Assignment Rules • Continued from page 53 AFSA NEWS BRIEFS Want to Run a Nonprofit? Tales Seeks CEO The Web resource for Americans living abroad, Tales from a Small Planet , is seek- ing a new CEO to start immediately. Tales ( www.talesmag.com ) is a nonprofit organization/Webzine that was started by a group of Foreign Service spouses in 2000. Tales features over 1,000 Real Post Reports — honest opinions on life in 340 cities around the world. In addition, the site is an online literary magazine, sponsors newsgroups and message boards and offers links to overseas schools. In 2006, Tales won a “Best of the Web” award from Forbes magazine. Tales has a talented, dedicated staff, and is seeking a CEO with energy and vision to take the organization to a new level of sustainability. The ideal candidate has vision and management skills, international living experience, and is not daunted by working entirely online with the board and staff. The new CEO will help provide leadership for Tales regarding Web content as well as fundraising and PR. The position is part-time, and currently pays a monthly stipend, but includes room for salary growth based on successful fundraising efforts. This is a great job for a self- starter with a business degree and/or business experience who wants to set his or her own hours and take a nonprofit, online corporation to the next level. Please contact Francesca Kelly at francesca@talesmag.com for more information. Transportation Offices Move As the summer transfer season approaches, please be aware that despite strong objections fromAFSA, State management has moved the transporta- tion offices out of the service corridor to a new temporary location in the Truman Building: Rooms 4527, 4535 and 4634. Stay tuned for further infor- mation on a possible next interimmove to SA-3. Lab in Bulgaria Named for FAS Attaché A new laboratory on the Black Sea coast was named in March for Brian Goggin, a former U.S. agricultural attaché in Bulgaria. The Foreign Agricultural Service office in Sofia was honored by the Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture for its important contributions to the pre- vention and control of avian influen- za in that country. Susan Reid, the current agricultural attaché in Sofia, gave a speech at the naming ceremo- ny extolling Goggin’s work. Amar- ble plaque with Brian Goggin’s name in gold letters is mounted at the lab entrance. FAS/Sofia provided significant resources to create the new facility and train laboratory staff. The office’s work continues with the lab andVeterinary Service, including training of 11 leading local experts in the United States.