308.61 – Configuration Management Committee Appendix A

02/28/2018

OPR: Office of Administration

CHARTER

This charter establishes basic operating procedures for the Configuration Management Committee

1. Purpose.

The Configuration Management Committee (CMC) for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is a standing committee under the joint authority of the Associate Director for Office of Administration (AD for OA) and the Associate Chief of Information Officer (ACIO).  The purpose of the CMC is to provide leadership to guide the life cycle of the Bureau’s information systems. The CMC is responsible for reviewing, monitoring and strategically planning the development, upgrades and migration of USGS information systems throughout their lifecycle.  The CMC assures all USGS information systems align with the Department of the Interior’s direction for information management and technology.

2. Roles and Responsibilities.

The goal of the CMC is to recommend priorities for system enhancements ensuring these enhancements are in alignment with policy decisions on the Bureau’s business practices, based on advice received from information system sub-committees.  The CMC will ensure that USGS information systems are developed to maximize efficiency and reporting capabilities throughout the bureau and align with the Department of the Interior’s information management and technology direction, requirements, and policy.

A. Configuration Management Committee.  The objective of the CMC is to provide the AD for OA and the ACIO, the structure for implementing changes or upgrades to USGS information systems.  The CMC works with information system sub-committees to approve requests for enhancements and direct the future development or upgrades of the respective systems.  The CMC is responsible for the following:

(1) Aligning information systems with policy decisions on business practices.

(2) Reviewing and approving requests for new functionality in the system.  Approved requests are forwarded to the AD for OA and the ACIO for final decision.

(3) Recommending priorities for current and future enhancements of information systems, including downloads and/or extracts to other tools, to the AD for OA and the ACIO for final decision.

(4) Monitoring and measuring progress and accomplishments.

(5) Identifying future functionality based on projected need resulting from regulatory, bureau or departmental requirements.

(6) Holding teleconferences, as needed, and meeting face-to-face if a consensus cannot be reached via electronic mail and teleconference.

(7) Meeting face-to-face, as needed, to review the status of system changes, resolve undecided issues, re-evaluate priorities, and vote on the rotation and nomination of members.

(8) Maintaining and distributing meeting minutes, including action items, within 2 days of the meeting to all CMC members.  Final posting on the Web will be accomplished within 7 days.

B.  Information System Sub-Committees.  The Information System Sub-Committees ensure that all enhancements and change requests are tracked, monitored and resolved to satisfactory resolution.  The Information System Sub-Committees evaluate and decide if a change request impacts other Bureau or Department systems.  If so, these types of change requests are discussed with the system owners before proceeding.  The Information System Sub-Committees forward enhancement or change requests to the CMC for decisions on approval or denial of such request and for prioritizing those that are approved for development.  The Information System Sub-Committees are responsible for the following:

(1) Classifying initial Change Requests as “bugs” (deficiencies), or enhancements.

(2) Evaluating unresolved issues for classification as either “Reports Enhancements (RE)” or “Application Enhancement (AE)”.

(3) Providing final approval for bug fixes.

(4) Providing final approval for minor enhancements.

(5) Forwarding requests for major RE or AE enhancements to CMC.

(6) Tracking and monitoring user submitted issues/enhancement requests using Remedy.

(7) Tracking all Change Requests through to resolution.

(8) Reviewing and determining the impact of Change Requests.

(9) Forwarding completed Change Requests to the CMC for consideration and prioritization.

(10) Reviewing all information system entries reported since the last meeting to verify that all reported issues have been resolved.

(11) Monitoring all Change Requests to ensure that requests are prioritized and followed to resolution.

(12) Communicating enhancements or resolutions of “bug fixes” to the application user community.

(13) Maintaining and documenting all proposed enhancements and bug fixes and posting to the Web monthly, to include those that have been approved by the CMC and the AD for OA or loaded into production.

(14) Maintaining ad-hoc requests for system access through the Change Request process to determine system and time requirements.

(15) Coordinating deficiencies or enhancements with information system owners to ensure consistency with the Bureau Official Accounting System (FBMS), where applicable.

The CMC will identify the group or groups of individuals that will assist it in (1) the review of requested new functionality; (2) the prioritization of current enhancements; and (3) the review of the design of future functions.  The CMC may decide to use the (1) Business Leaders Team, (2) specialists from the respective information system staff, the Office of Enterprise Information or other resources, (3) a combination of these, or (4) form a new group as needed. These new groups could be highly dynamic in nature, somewhat similar to a process-action team, assembled to perform a series of tasks and then released.  Most recommendations on enhancements or change requests can be done through electronic mail, telephone or correspondence.

3. Nominations and Membership.

Nominations will be requested from the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) by the AD of OA. Nominations for the CMC will be reviewed and selection made by the AD for OA in consultation with the nominator and working with the co-chairs of the CMC.  For the initial selection, a determination will be made as to which 1/3 has a 1-year term, a 2-year term or a 3-year term. Subsequent membership will be on a rotational basis.

A.  Membership.

(1) The CMC members shall serve for 3-year terms after the initial committee membership is established, with the exception of permanent members (e.g. Deputy AD for Administration).

(2) The 3-year rotation for replacement will be coordinated to ensure that each region and Mission Area is represented.

(3) There will be a 3-year term limit on ELT nominated representatives (consecutive or non-consecutive).

(4) Replacements for the CMC positions vacated out of rotation will complete the term of the outgoing member.

B.  Resignation and Replacement.

(1) Any CMC member may voluntarily resign their duties by submitting their written resignation to the chair of the CMC.

(2) If a member is replaced during their term, the replacement will serve the remainder of the term for the member being replaced.

4. Operating Guidelines.

A. The Co-Chairs set the agenda for each meeting.

B. The use of a substitute when a member cannot attend a scheduled meeting is allowed provided that it was cleared with a Co-Chair prior to the meeting.

C. Decisions will be made by majority vote of those in attendance.

D. The use of a proxy is allowed provided that it was cleared with a Co-Chair prior to the meeting.

E. The Co-Chairs have the authority to poll members or make the decision on High Priority –Time Sensitive issues; this would be used infrequently.  The decision will be communicated to and discussed with committee members.