- 5

information, the Council voted unanimously to recommend to the Secretary that

the Department not fill these positions until after the permanent Director of

QIE 16 selected.

Mr. Shedd later reported in mid-February at a meeting of

United South and Eastern Tribes that there would be sufficient funds to fill

one branch chief job in mid-May and another in early summer with the remaining

Elementary and Secondary Education reflecting the Council's position on this

matter.

It should be noted that Secretary Cavazos responded on February 2 to the

Council's January 4 letter by stating that Department Officials do not believe

that the Council has any statutory role for advising on internal management or

personnel 188ues related to DIE or any other office of the Department.

He

noted

the one exception relating to "the Council's role in nominating a

Director of OIE."

In a follow-up letter on February 23, 1989, the Council

mid-management personnel be selected by the new OIE Director.

In late April and early May, the Acting Director of OIE (who was also an

applicant for the permanent OIE Director position) conducted very hastily

scheduled interviews for the mid-management jobs with one applicant reportedly -6

being told in the morning of an afternoon interview and another applicant

having reported being first telephoned 30 minutes before the interview was

scheduled and held.

Since the Department had waited since Pebruary 14 when

these vacancy announcements had closed, it seemed a little strange to fill

then just prior to what was thought to be the conclusion of the process for

selection of the new OIE Director.

The Council had taken

a position in

January that the OIE mid-management staff should not be selected by an acting

director; that the selection process for the permanent director should be

expedited; and that filling these mid-management positions should be the new

director's first order of business.

The Council felt that the best way to get

the Office of Indian Education off to a good start under Indian preference is

to begin by the top staff being selected by the new

director with the

announced mid-management vacancies, no changes were made in these provisions

in the final director's vacancy announcement.

The vacancy announcement for

the position was posted on February 21, 1989, and closed on March 31, 1989.

The position 18 a Senior Executive Service (SES) position, and the Executive

Resources Board rating panel net on April 19, 1989.

A NACIE Member served on

this panel.

There were initially 25 applications, of which 11 were found by

the Office of Personnel to be at least minimally qualified, 80 the rating

panel scored these 11 applications.

However,

on May 2, the Council

was

-7

advised that 5 additional timely filed applications had been found, of which 3

were at least minimally qualified and had to be scored by the panel.

Scoring

of these were done by express mailing of copies of the applications and faxing

back of the scores.

Shortly after May 18, 1989, the Office of Personnel

candidates who were rated highly qualified by the Executive Resources Board

rating panel.

Office of Personnel had previously provided the applications of

three candidates who were rated as best qualified and one candidate who was

found to be SES reinstatement eligible.

The Council moved quickly to schedule

a meeting

Pursuant to

section 5342(b)(6) of Public Law 100-297 and the

provisions of the NACIE Charter, the Council's Search Committee met in closed

session on May 22, 1989, and the full Council met in closed session on May 23,

1989, to consider candidates for the position of Director, Office of Indian

Education.

Interviews of the 6 candidates were conducted on May 23, 1989, and

Council Member did not participate in the interviews or selection because she

had been interviewed by one of the candidates (Acting QIE Director) for one of

the mid-management positions.

Acting Assistant Secretary Daniel Bonner also

interviewed the candidates on May 23.

On May 24, 1989, a letter, containing

the names of the Council's 3 nominees, was submitted to the Secretary of

Education.

The letter ranked the nominees in order of preference, giving the

top choice and first and second alternates, respectively.

occasions regarding the selection process, and he advised me that he sent his

recommendation for OIE Director to the Secretary on June 14 but did not tell

me who he recommended.

On June 26, he advised me

of the name that the

Secretary had sent to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for clearance,

and this was the individual listed as first alternate on the NACIE list of

nominees.

While it now appears that all of Indian country has since learned

Secretary's choice public until such time as the individual is cleared by OPM

because there have been situations in which OPM determined that the selected

individual did not meet Senior Executive Service qualifications.

Mr. Chairman, this is where the selection process has broken down.

I

understand that there has been some opposition to the Secretary's choice for

Department's Office of Inspector General has called me on several occasions

placed as soon as possible so that he or she can select the top management

staff and the Office of Indian Education

can

move

toward becoming fully

staffed and fully operational.

The Department did not change its negative position regarding sharing of

policy statements with the Council on Indian preference issues, and the Indian

preference and non-Indian preference memoranda of understanding with the labor

representatives, together with everyone else, on September 29, 1989, at a

general meeting held for employees.

It should be noted that expectations of

non-Indian staff within OIE had apparently been raised regarding promotions

Secretary to "give a preference to Indians in all personnel actions within the

Office

of Indian Education."

Consequently, there

has

been hostility by

pon-Indian employees towards implementation of Indian preference and reported

threats of lawsuits to block its implementation.

I understand that morale in

OIE 18 not at its highest.

This is understandable with many of us advocating

Indian preference and non-Indian employees reportedly unsure of their futures,

although there 18 a one-time non-Indian preference to assist them in securing

affirmative action has not worked for Indians in OIE with only four Indian

for

the director,

the initial

for

the