During the last week in June, inspectors from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) began their first onsite inspection of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Records Management (RM) Program by visiting the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center (MMAC). Their first inspection was done virtually, involving the Agency Records Officer (ARO) and his team.
As explained by Carmela Wynn, NARA Lead Inspector, and Cindy Smolovik, Supervisor, Inspection Team Lead, NARA has the responsibility to ensure that federal agencies are compliant with the statutes and regulations regarding the management of records and with carrying out this responsibility. NARA plans to inspect the FAA National RM Program. The inspection is specific to the FAA National RM Program, not just the MMAC. Richard Mattison, the Agency Records Officer (ARO), Policy and Administration (ASP-110) and three of his staff members attended the inspection and provided answers to specific FAA program questions posed by NARA.
During MMAC’s inspection, NARA inspectors briefed the Center Management Team and interviewed managers and records personnel from the MMAC Quality Systems Business Resources Staff, the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute, (CAMI), the FAA Academy, the Enterprise Services Center, (ESC) and the Civil Aviation Registry. The NARA inspectors also received a tour of the Aeronautical Center and visited the CAMI Library.
During visits at each organization, the inspectors were shown specific RM improvements and given examples of how each organization is trying to meet the necessary deadlines, as outlined in the December 23, 2022, Office of Management and Budget Presidential Mandate M-23-07 Update to Transition to Electronic Records. The NARA inspectors interviewed records personnel capturing their perspective of the FAA’s RM Program. The obtained response indicated that personnel feel that even though the program is still in a transitional phase, they believe the ARO and staff overall are improving the FAA RM Program.
The NARA representatives were very impressed with the advancements in RM at the Aeronautical Center and pointed out specific processes they would like others to adopt. Two items that the inspectors noted were the RM Self-Assessment that Onekia Smallwood conducted for CAMI, and the Digitization Process which ESC implemented. They were so impressed with these processes that they asked if they could use the Self-Assessment as a Best Practice with other agencies.
They requested that ESC present their Digitization Process briefing at one of the upcoming Federal Agencies’ RM Bridge meetings. The NARA Bridge Meetings are for Agency Records Officers who represent all federal agencies. NARA also requested the ARO present what is currently being accomplished at FAA and then have the MMAC’s ESC staff present information about the digitization effort; after which the ARO will close the meeting out. The FAA ARO explained that this is an honor that is not afforded to many agencies.
The next steps of the inspection are for the inspectors to interview the FAA Lines of Business and Staff Offices. NARA should complete their final inspection of the FAA on August 1, 2023, and will have 45-days to complete the draft report. Once the draft report is completed, it will be sent to the ARO, who will forward it to the Records Liaison Officers (RLOs) and managers for comment. The RLOs and managers will have one-week to review and respond back to the ARO. Once the ARO receives all responses, they will be forwarded to Agencies for comments and sent to NARA. The National Archives and Records Administration will then have 45-days to complete the final report.
