under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 as amended. These particular negotiations were on the topic of Accreditation and Innovation, including TEACH grant requirements, Distance Learning and Faith-Based Institutions. The meetings were live-streamed and open to the public with time at the end of each day for public comment. In April 2019, FMCS and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) officially committed to work together to resolve federal workplace disputes by utilizing ADR as a means of efficiently reducing the backlog of federal sector charges, In June 2019, FMCS and the Federal Labor Relations Authority (Authority) announced a new commitment to work together to provide labor organizations and agencies with an opportunity to resolve negotiability appeals before they are considered by the Authority's Members for a decision. In August 2019, representatives of FMCS mediated negotiations between the State of Alaska and the Inlandboatmen's Union, ending a nine-day strike. In August 2020, representatives from Bath Iron Works and International Association of Machinists Local S6 signed an agreement with FMCS’ assistance to end the shipyard worker strike in Bath, Maine. The 63-day strike drew national attention against the backdrop of a global pandemic and in an election year. Shared Neutrals program In 2019, FMCS began administrative management of the Federal Shared Neutrals Program, an interagency collaborative effort in support of alternative dispute resolution, formerly operated as Sharing Neutrals by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). FMCS administers the program in the National Capital Region, in coordination with participating federal agencies that contribute to, and make use of, a pool of collateral-duty federal employees to mediate cases outside their own agency. In many regions of the country, Federal Executive Boards (FEBs) have created individual programs modeled after the DC-based program but run through each FEB. These programs continue separate operations, except for those who may wish to have FMCS administer their regional Shared Neutrals program. Annually, the Shared Neutrals Program provides workplace mediation services for hundreds of cases across more than 50 participating agencies and sub-agencies, supported by a pool of more than 250 collateral-duty federal employees who are dedicated to assisting in the resolution of workplace disputes. Awards and accolades FMCS received the top ranking among small Federal agencies as a Best Place to Work in the Federal Government, according to the 2018 rankings by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service and Boston Consulting Group. With