The Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act, for fiscal year  2001, authorized the Secretary of Defense to carry out at least three pilot  programs—one at a military department and two at DOD agencies. The act exempts the  programs from EEOC’s procedural requirements or restrictions. The Three Programs Emphasize ADR Techniques, Share Common Implementation Strategies, and Report Low Case Activity

Although features of the three programs vary by agency and focus on  different stages of the complaint process, they all emphasize the use of  ADR techniques available under the current federal EEO process. RESOLVE is managed by DLA’s General  Counsel. The first step of CORE involves mediation. In our review of the programs and subsequent  discussions with DOD and program officials, DeCA and USAF conducted  some level of outreach to program-eligible employees to inform them about  the programs. At the end of the first  year, program officials reported continued low program activity. Although Containing Some Strengths, Limitations in Its Evaluation Plan Will Hinder DOD’s Ability to Assess Pilot Program Results

Our initial assessment of DOD’s evaluation plan for the pilot program found  both strengths and limitations. Without  such features, DOD will be limited in its ability to conduct an accurate and  reliable assessment of the programs’ results. Officials from DOD’s pilot program oversight entities have acknowledged  shortcomings and have indicated a willingness to modify the plan. Well-developed  evaluation plans, which include key evaluation features, have a number of  benefits, perhaps most importantly, increasing the likelihood that  evaluations will yield methodologically sound results, thereby supporting  effective program and policy decisions. In addition, although authorized to operate outside of  current EEOC regulations, to a large extent, two of the three programs  have been designed by DOD to operate within the requirements of current  regulations. Recommendations for Executive Action

To improve the performance and results of the pilot program, we  recommend that the Secretary of Defense direct the Deputy  Undersecretary of Defense for Civilian Personnel Policy, the Deputy  Undersecretary for Equal Opportunity, and the Civilian Personnel  Management Service to take the following actions: Establish regular intra-agency exchanges of information on outreach  strategies, training, and electronic data collection from which the pilot  programs could achieve potential benefits that would not be available if  working separately. Develop a sound evaluation plan to accurately and reliably assess the pilot  programs’ results, including such key features as  well-defined, clear, and measurable objectives;  measures that are directly linked to the program objectives;  criteria for determining pilot program performance;  a way to isolate the effects of the pilot programs;  a data analysis plan for the evaluation design; and  a detailed plan to ensure that data collection, entry, and storage are  reliable and error-free. In its response, DOD also commented on our observation that to a large  extent two of the three pilot programs were designed and are operating  within existing EEOC requirements. The Equal  Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is responsible for enforcing  all of these laws. Figure I illustrates the EEO complaint process.
Why GAO Did This Study

Delays in processing of equal employment opportunity (EEO) complaints have been a long-standing concern. In 2000, as part of the Department of Defense's (DOD) fiscal year 2001 authorization act, Congress authorized DOD to carry out a 3-year pilot program for improving processes to resolve complaints by civilian DOD employees by testing procedures that would reduce EEO complaint processing times and eliminate redundancy, among other things. The act requires two reports from GAO--90 days after the first and last fiscal years of the pilot program's operation. In December 2005 and January 2006, we provided briefings on our initial review of the pilot program. This report (1) describes key features and status of the three programs and (2) assesses DOD's plan for evaluating the effectiveness of the pilot program.

What GAO Found

In August 2004, the Secretary of Defense authorized 2-year programs in (1) Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), (2) the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA), and (3) components of the U.S. Air Force (USAF) which became operational in fiscal year 2005. While the legislation stated that the pilot program is exempt from procedural requirements of current Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) regulations, to a large extent two of the three programs were designed and are operating within existing EEOC requirements, with a specific emphasis on alternative dispute resolution (ADR) as encouraged in DOD's memo soliciting pilot program proposals. ADR techniques include, but are not limited to, conciliation, facilitation, mediation, or arbitration and usually involve the intervention or facilitation by a neutral third party. After the first year, program officials reported low case activity and stated that they plan to request approval from the Secretary to continue their respective programs for a third year. To carry out the programs, officials used similar strategies--outreach to inform eligible staff about the pilot programs, staff training, and the use of electronic data collection--but implemented them differently. Our assessment of DOD's evaluation plan for the pilot program found both strengths and limitations. A sound evaluation plan contains such features as criteria for determining program performance and measures that are directly linked to program objectives. Such key features increase the likelihood that the evaluation will yield sound results, thereby supporting effective program and policy decisions. Lacking these key features, DOD is limited in its ability to conduct an accurate and reliable assessment of the program's results, and Congress is limited in its ability to determine whether features of the overall program have governmentwide applicability. Officials from DOD's pilot program oversight entities have acknowledged shortcomings and have indicated a willingness to modify the plan.