State Department Offers Incentive Pay for 1Kx2K Certificate
The Department of State announced a new IT Professional Skills Pilot Program which began on October 1, 1999. The pilot is aimed at retaining employees with critical IT skills and increasing the expertise and stability of the IT workforce through financial recognition for formal certification in certain technical areas.

Accordingly, employees who have received the GSA 1,000 by the Year 2000 Program Certificate will receive a 10 percent retention allowance. The Department established a schedule of incentive/allowance pay to retain employees with special skills and to encourage employees to acquire professional formal certification of certain skills for the Department's benefit. The incentives and allowances, range from five to fifteen percent of base pay for individual certifications. For additional information, contact Annie L. Barr at (202) 208-2780 or
annie.barr@gsa.gov.

The University of Maryland is recruiting for an individual with a Ph.D. to fill a new position. This position will head the "Center for the Study of Public Policy in Information Technology" that is now being established. An individual with Governmentwide Policy experience, with a Ph.D. and with an interest in teaching is being sought. If you or someone you know is interested in this position, please contact Frank McDonough at frank.mcdonough@gsa.gov; or telephone (202) 501-4699. The deadline is drawing near so please contact Frank ASAP if interested.