OCTAE Functional Statement U S. Department of Education

PRES provides analytic support, research, and data expertise to inform the decisions and activities of the Assistant Secretary, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Colleges, OCTAE division leaders, and program staff and enhances the capacity of the organization to better understand research and to use data effectively. PRES also maintains on-going communication and strategic dialog with Department research offices and represents OCTAE on related agency groups, such as the Evidence Planning Group and Data Coordinator Council. The Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) for the Office of Acquisitions Management leads the Department of Education toward effective, efficient, and accountable Acquisition Management, enhancing the mission by building an end-to-end Acquisition Lifecycle Framework (ALF) which includes oversight, workforce development, policy development, supply chain management, business systems, and contract execution.

Classification and Advisory Branch

The SSCSD is responsible for supporting the Departments travel program and the coordination of actions required to enable the OFO to maximize the use of shared IT services offered by other Federal departments and agencies, to also include the shared services offered by commercial entities. The Accounts Receivable & Bank Management Division is responsible for managing administrative accounts receivables and processing recipient bank change requests consistent with sound internal controls. The Division is also responsible for ensuring that supporting documentation is filed in a timely manner and that records management requirements and archiving protocols are observed. In addition, the Division shall adhere to reporting, reconciliation, and discrepancy resolution due dates based on OFM management approved deadlines. Successful development, verification, and validation of good functional requirements are critical to product success.

Office of Partner Participation and Oversight

The core financial systems maintain the official books of original entry for all funds authorized by the Congress and ensure the integrity of fund usage for programs managed by ED. In some industries and organizations, the functional specification will normally be part of a larger specification that also contains the non-functional requirements applicable to the system or subsystem to be designed. Nevertheless, those non-functional requirements will typically be segregated from the functional requirements. Also, many organizations use the word “must” to express constraints and certain quality and performance requirements (non-functional require­ments). The use of “must” allows them to express constraints without resorting to passive voice and to easily distinguish between functional requirements (expressed with “shall”) and non-func­tional requirements (expressed with “must”).

OFO Functional Statements – Home

The Staffing and Advisory Branch A (SABA) serves as a strategic business partner with customers to provide guidance, direction, and operational support in the areas of federal personnel staffing, using appropriate systems, and following merit system principles, laws, regulations and policies. The Recruitment, Staffing and Compensation Division (RSCD) provides oversight, consultation and operational services to the Department in the areas of staffing, recruitment and classification, student employment, special hiring initiatives, payroll, personnel processing and management of personnel records. DATE administers the Perkins National Leadership Activities program and has the primary responsibility for ensuring that the requirements for providing technical assistance to help States and local providers meet the performance accountability requirements of the statute and carrying out research and evaluation of career and technical education activities are met. DATE’s staff, in collaboration with OCTAE’s Policy, Research, and Evaluation Staff, provides day-to-day programmatic direction and support to career and technical education research and evaluation activities. PRES provides leadership for the audit resolution process and resolves and closes Single Audit findings for the formula grant programs administered by OCTAE. It maintains liaison with the Audit Resolution Group in the Office of Finance and Operations, the audit liaison officers in other Department offices, and OGC to stay abreast of Department policies and procedures with respect to audit resolution and to coordinate the resolution and closing of Single Audit findings that are shared with other offices.

• The General Ledger Division is responsible for all loan, grant, and administrative program accounting activities – including ensuring the accuracy of accounting adjustments and estimates included in the Department’s financial statements.
• In addition, the Division shall adhere to reporting, reconciliation, and discrepancy resolution due dates based on OFM management approved deadlines.
• The Monitoring and Administration Branch is a cross-cutting Branch responsible for providing leadership and support for efficient and effective planning and administration of formula grant programs, including the planning and implementation of on-site monitoring, review of state plans, negotiations of performance levels as required by applicable Federal law, and administrative technical assistance to states.
• The Staffing and Advisory Branch B (SABB) serves as a strategic business partner with customers to provide guidance and direction, as well as operational and administrative support, in the areas of student employment and special hiring initiatives.
• PRES provides leadership for the audit resolution process and resolves and closes Single Audit findings for the formula grant programs administered by OCTAE.
• Successful development, verification, and validation of good functional requirements are critical to product success.

Human Capital Strategy Division

• The Division also provides technical assistance to States and local grantees on matters ranging from planning and program improvement to financial management and accountability.
• Tagging each requirement with a PUI facilitates and simplifies traceability between requirements at successive design levels and the tests that verify them.
• By leveraging shared services offered by other Federal departments and agencies, and also the shared services offered by commercial sources, the Department of Education can focus on enabling a more effective and efficient government for the American people.
• Additionally, the Division works with the Office of the Chief Information Officer regarding cyber threats and organization high value asset systems required to support ED’s mission.
• The Assistant Secretary acts for the Secretary in the administration of the Department and represents and advises the Secretary on all inter- and intra-agency administrative matters (e.g., procurement, financial management, grants management, human capital management, personnel security and facilities management, and business support systems) as well as other activities and functions as directed.
• Non-functional requirements will be mandatory if dictated by contractual or regulatory requirements.

NCEE is one of four centers in IES, and they help educators and policymakers make informed decisions about education programs through the work of its Knowledge Utilization and Evaluation divisions. The Immediate Office also coordinates responses to Government Accountability Office (GAO) studies and Office of Inspector General (OIG) inquiries. The FRD describes what is needed by the system user, typically in terms of the system’s outputs as functions of its inputs. It is built to provide precise functional requirements—along with guidance to developers and testers—following analysis and decomposition of the requirements in the PRD. Writing clear, accurate functional requirements is a valuable engineering skill that requires some practice to develop. That’s why many engineering organizations compile guidance on writing requirements, like the Guide for Writing Requirements published by the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE).

The Innovation and Improvement Branch is responsible for providing national leadership in fostering innovation and quality improvement in adult education programs. In performing its responsibilities, this Branch provides assistance and advisory services to States in the identification of innovative strategies to improve services in Adult Basic and Adult Secondary Education programs and in programs for adults who are English language learners. This Branch provides national information services for adult education and literacy through the Literacy Information and Communications (LINCS) website. It holds the primary responsibility for disseminating evidence-based research and best practices into educational programs for adults with basic skills needs.

Office of Financial Management

AEFLA also helps individuals who are English language learners improve their English and math proficiency and acquire an understanding of the American system of government, individual freedom, and the responsibilities of citizenship. DAEL also assists adults who are parents in obtaining the educational skills necessary to become full partners in the educational development of their children. DAEL has overall responsibility for providing a broad range of services specified in the Act, including providing technical and program improvement assistance to National, State, and local adult education systems, programs, and organizations and carrying out national leadership functions in adult education. The Financial Data Integrity & Controls Division (FDICD) is responsible for advancing the Department’s financial reporting, internal control over financial reporting, and financial data analysis capabilities through use of automation and analytical tools and methods.

In addition, the Policy, Research and Evaluation Staff along with the Executive Office support the Immediate Office of the Assistant Secretary with services related communications, operations, governance, policy analysis, and data-driven decision-making. The Cybersecurity Branch is responsible for promoting OBSS systems-compliance with OMB, OCIO, and general cyber security mandates. Additional responsibilities are to address and remediate all cyber security issues identified in OBSS systems, assist and track audits, and support OCIO’s EPM, EARB, and CSAM processes.

The functional statement Assistant Secretary represents the Department at national and international meetings related to career, technical, and adult education. The CFMSSB supports the Departments use of leveraging shared services offered by other Federal departments and agencies and supports OFO in the use of approved Cloud Service Providers and services. CFMSSB provides support to OFO business units by supporting Information Technology projects in accordance with Department systems life cycle management procedures. In addition, the CFMSSB monitors and assesses OFO systems in accordance with information assurance, and information management competencies defined by the Department. Finally, CFMSSB advises OFO business units on the continuation, modernization, consolidation, or termination of systems.

Recruitment, Staffing and Compensation Division

The Grants Risk Management Services Division (GRMSD) is responsible for coordinating with the Department’s Principal Offices in identifying grantee risks and taking effective action to manage and mitigate risks that may adversely affect the advancement of the Department’s mission and programs. The GRMSD provides oversight, technical assistance, and high-risk grantee assessment and support to the Department’s program offices. The staff works with program offices as requested to identify risk strategies and treatments to inform grant awards, grant monitoring plans and strategies, and corrective actions. The mission of the Office of Finance and Operations (OFO or Office) is to transform the Department of Education (ED or Department) into a high-performance, customer-focused organization by providing services to our customers that help them do a better job of managing their people, processes, and overall strategy.