Vice President Albert Gore’s
National Partnership for Reinventing Government (NPR)
“Hammer Award”
The
Vice President’s Hammer
Award is presented to Federal employees and partner organizations whose
work has resulted in a government that works better and costs less. This very
prestigious award recognizes teams, not individuals; real accomplishments,
not plans; innovative reinvention, not day to day business. To be awarded
a Hammer, a team must be able to demonstrate measurable, observable results
of its accomplishments in one or more of the following areas: putting customers
first, cutting red tape, empowering employees to get results, cutting back
to basics or getting results that Americans care about. Hammer award nominations
are very carefully reviewed at the Department level and by the National Partnership
for Reinventing government. The NPR awards the Hammer on behalf of the Vice
President. The award is an acknowledgement of work characterized by excellence
and new exemplary ways of doing government business.
USMMA Global Maritime and Transportation School
United States Merchant Marine Academy
Kings Point, New York
(Maritime Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation)
The USMMA GMATS team reinvented a small, limited continuing education program
by leveraging the existing federal investment in USMMA’s well-respected
undergraduate program. The result is a new non-appropriated fund, U.S. government
education and training resource that provides over 140 leading-edge, cost-effective
programs that are designed to improve America’s economic and strategic
intermodal transportation system. Today, the USMMA GMATS program offers the
most extensive maritime and transportation professional education program
in the United States. It is notable that in the early ‘90’s the
NPR reviewed the value of USMMA to the taxpayer and considered closure of
the Academy. In 1999, the NPR is offering USMMA the prestigious Hammer Award
for reinventing government.
National Partnership for Reinventing Government on Behalf of:
Albert Gore, Jr.
Vice President of the United States
Secretary of Transportation’s Award Ceremony
November 18, 1999