The Foreign Service Journal, September 2005

SEPTEMBER 2005 • AFSA NEWS 7 strong management experience.” TheAFSAsentimentwas sharedbymany of the rank-and-file in the department. A number of officers, who wanted to remain anonymous due to the sensitivityof the issue, confirmed that the so-called “Baby DAS” assignments had caused an uproar. As one FSOput it: “Naming an FS-1 or -2 to a DAS slot is very upsetting to those invested in the system. Aside fromthe symbolismof having amore juniorperson incharge, it haspractical implications for senior officers trying tokeepmovingup—howis it going towork for them to go to an FS-2 DAS for help in getting jobs?” AFSA’s position is that the appointments negate the cumulative nature of the Foreign Service career, as demonstrated by the core precepts, whichare created inconsultationwithAFSA. AFSAasked managementwhatmessage these appointments sendabout the “fair share” assignments standards that AFSA fought hard for and that Statemanagement adopted. Fair share includes ahardship require- ment for FS-1s to become senior officers. AFSA supported the strengthening of fair share and the rest of the new career develop- ment requirements recently established for crossing the threshold, inpart tocounter cynicismin the Service and the impression in Congress that some indi- viduals are able to burrow into a succession of Western European postings or lengthy Washington assignments while others are repeatedly assigned togreater hardshipduty. SecretaryRicenotedduringher June town hall meeting with State employees that: “There are times when because of extraordi- nary service or because of extraordinary tal- ent, people may end up a couple of steps ahead.” OneofficialwhometwithAFSAon thematter asserted that “the promotion system is broken,” in justifying going outside the regular system on the DAS assignments. But if the system is bro- ken and people who deserve to be promoted at an accelerated pace arenot beingpromoted fast enough, ismanagement lookingatways to fix it? It is indeed the case that one of the newmid-level DASes has been in the Foreign Service for 17 years. Perhaps we should be asking why someone who’s been doing a great job in the Foreign Service for 17 years is not a senior officer already. TheDASappointmentsdidgothrough,despitetheprotests. AFSA will bemonitoring future appointments andwill speak out as war- ranted. r Assignments • Continued from page 1 I n June, Ambassador Marc Grossman and his wife, Mildred Patterson, with generous support fromfriends and col- leagues, established a perpetual AFSA Financial Aid Scholarship. This need- based scholarship will serve to celebrate their distinguished careers and contribu- tions to the Foreign Service. Donations made at Amb. Grossman’s retirement reception at AFSA inMay supported the creation of the new scholarship, whichwill be given to the child of a Foreign Service employee each year. The first recipient — Jonathan Christensen, a freshman at BrighamYoungUniversity—will receive funds for the upcoming academic year. Because only the interest from the orig- inal donation amount will be bestowed as the scholarship, it will continue in per- petuity. Marc Grossman entered the Foreign Service in 1976 and served for 29 years. From 1994 to 1997, he served as ambas- sador to Turkey. Following this appoint- ment, he servedas assistant secretaryof State for the Bureau of European Affairs; DirectorGeneral of theForeignService and Director ofHumanResources; andUnder Secretary of State for Political Affairs, the position he held until he retired in April 2005. MildredPatterson entered the Foreign Service in 1976, as well. She served in Copenhagen, Brussels, Washington and Ankara. She retired inNovember 2002 fol- lowing an assignment as deputy executive director of the Bureauof ConsularAffairs. For more information on the AFSA ScholarshipProgramor tomake a contri- bution to this scholarship, please contact Lori Dec at dec@afsa.org or toll-free (800) 704- 2372, ext. 504. r NEW AFSA FINANCIAL AID SCHOLARSHIP Marc Grossman and Mildred Patterson Scholarship Established BY LORI DEC, AFSA SCHOLARSHIP ADMINISTRATOR AFSA Assists FAS Grievants AFSA recently assisted FAS Foreign Service officers in grievances regarding Senior Foreign Service pay that resulted in the agency’s agreement to rectify a long- standing disparity in calculating the salaries of officers newly promoted into the Senior Foreign Service. For a number of years, FAS had been using a calculation process different than the one enunciated in the FAM when calculating rates of pay for these new promotees. The FAM uses a 6-percent pay increase when computing base pay upon promotion. FAS was applying only a two-step increase, resulting in a disparity in pay for some similarly-ranked officers with- in FAS. FAS agreed to settle the grievances in favor of the employees, agreeing to use the 6-percent pay increase when calculating base pay upon promotion. Moreover, the agreement extended to include others in the class promoted at the same time. Subsequently, FAS expanded this remedy to include those who were affected by the disparity as far back as 1999. Continued on page 9 AFSA NEWS BRIEFS Briefs • Continued from page 3