News & Views, Volume 10, Number 1, January 1988 Page: 2
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TRC Plans for Better Information Availability
As we approach the 1990s and the
new information age, TRC depends
more and more on vast amounts of
information to fuel its operations.
But, the information you need to
do your job is not always so easy to
get.
To meet the ever-increasing need
for information concerning TRC
activities in every part of the
Commission, officials have assembled
a task 'force to develop a strategic
data plan for the agency.
The plan will ultimately ensure that
TRC employees have ready access to
information needed to accomplish
each agency activity with an
appropriate level of support through
automation.
A 15-member task force charged
with structuring the plan began
meeting January 4. Chosen for their
analytical and problem-solving
abilities, task force members
represent a cross section of Central
Office departments.
For task force members, regular
duties have been suspended so they
can devote full attention to
developing the plan in daily sessions
lasting until April 29.
Kay Arnold, systems analyst for the
Commission and coordinator of the
task force, is hopeful of coming up
with a plan which will make access
to information much quicker and
easier for TRC employees. "It has to
be useful to employees who need
information to carry out their jobs,
she says.
Here's how the task force will
arrive at a strategic data plan:
Building on the findings of such
previous work groups as the TRC
Planning Committee, the
Modernization Task Force and the
Select Committee, the task force will
first identify all TRC functions. It will
then determine what information is
needed to perform each of these
functions, and, finally, recommend
the best way to make the
information available.
Task force members are already
interviewing TRC employees to
establish what kinds of data needs
exist in various Commission offices.
"It is farsighted and visionary for
the Commissioner's office toThe task force for strategic data planning uses smaller think tank teams to focus on
specific issues. Here, Rick Payson, systems analyst (left), works through a problem with
Jackie McPhail, business systems analyst, and Donna Harris, systems analyst. Kay
Arnold, task force coordinator, says the group is guarding against the perils of
"analysis paralysis" to ensure meeting its April 29 completion date.authorize such an undertaking," says
Dale Place, deputy commissioner for
administrative services. "Less than 3
percent of all organizations in the
country are undertaking such an
effort."
Legislative Updat
FE* Congress gave final approval just
before Christmas to the FY 1988
Continuing Appropriations
Resolution containing $1,379.5
million for Section 110, basic
state grants funding, an increase
of 7.7 percent over FY 1987
funding levels. All other rehabil-
itation service programs also
received increases including state
supported employment services
and centers for independent
living. When signed by the
president, this resolution will
fund all federal rehabilitation
programs through September 30,
1988.Charles Harrison, controller,
agrees. "We are optimistic that
strategic data planning can provide
us the basis for decision making 10
to 15 years into the future," he
states.
eu m m o o m* Representative Claude Pepper
(D-FL), chairman of the House
Select Aging Subcommittee on
Health and Long Term Care
introduced H.R. 3361 which
proposes a National Institute on
Deafness and Other
Communications Disorders. The
NIDOCD would be part of the
National Institutes of Health.
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) has
introduced a Senate version of
the bill saying that the number
of people with hearing disorders
will rise to 12 million in the next
13 years.2 TRC News & Views
January 1988
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Texas Rehabilitation Commission. News & Views, Volume 10, Number 1, January 1988, periodical, January 1988; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1033541/m1/2/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.