FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 6, 2002
FY02-30
ORAU Presents ACAP Awards to Employees
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. - Oak Ridge Associated Universities awarded almost $60,000 to 89 employees (15 teams and 3 individuals) at a recent ceremony in Pollard Auditorium. ORAU's Achievement Cash Award Program (ACAP) provides cash bonuses and recognizes exemplary contributions and achievements of individual employees and teams directly related to ORAU's strategic goals. Among the winners were the following three teams.
The Bioterrorism Team exhibited grace under pressure in assisting the Centers for Disease Control following the events of September 11, 2001. This team responded quickly to assist with Smallpox Preparedness by developing training materials and exercise scenarios for CDC and State Health Department personnel and assisting with the Smallpox Response Plan. In addition, members of this team trained CDC facilitators to conduct small-group tabletop exercise scenarios, collected comments from states on the Plan, and developed Web-based training for Clinicians on how to recognized symptoms of the disease and administer vaccinations.
In an effort to make information accessible to all, the Science Engineering and Education Website Team revamped and updated the SEE Education Web site. This team went above and beyond to create a Web site with technological savvy that has increased Web traffic from 1,200 visitors to nearly 5,000 per month. As a result of the new site, programs, such as those sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control, received a larger number of applicants than expected, postage and printing costs to mail information were reduced, and responsiveness to audience requests for information is significantly improved. With improved accessibility, the site also allows greater access by students from minority-serving institutions and other institutions that focus on undergraduate teaching.
The U.S. Climate Reference Network Team developed and implemented a new climate observing network for the National Climatic Data Center to what has been described as the most significant climate research in the U.S. in more than 15 years. With initiative, ingenuity, and dedication, this team succeeded in integrating the climate observing hardware and developing the calibration, operating, maintenance, and troubleshooting procedures for this system, which will run for 50 to 100 years in mostly rural locations. The customer stated that, if the U.S. Climate Reference Network program had done anything right, it was to get this team involved.
ORAU is a university consortium leveraging the scientific strength of 86 major research institutions to advance science and education by partnering with national laboratories, government agencies, and private industry. ORAU manages the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education for the U.S. Department of Energy.