ive to the Agency. These range from employment programs under Title 42 of USC to programs affecting employees in the Civil Service. The request then covers several SES authorities not yet delegated to the NIH. Next the report addresses several ways in which the Secretary can improve the ability of the NIH to recruit and retain outstanding scientists. Finally the report describes how the NIH will use its widely recognized evaluation and oversight system to hold managers accountable for using the authorities properly.
             A Strategic Human Resource Management Vision for the NIH
             First and foremost, the NIH is a scientific research enterprise. Our organization by nature of who we are and what we do must be creative, questioning and risk taking. Scientists who perform research in NIH laboratories or who perform the scientific review of grant applications must constantly devise and test hypotheses to see beyond the existing constructs to envision the future. They must be able to build on the work of others and find new insights through research. Those who review research proposals also must have the same creative minds to see where others' work may lead. This creativity and risk taking are what eventually lead to the effectiveness and applicability of the research that is carried out or funded by the NIH.
             NIH constituents have certain expectations as to the nature of the Agency's mission and how it is accomplished. Congress expects the NIH to accomplish its biomedical research mission in the most efficient and effective means possible. In addition, the Congress expects us to implement programs it has determined to be of particular merit and importance. Other research organizations in academia or the private sector want to obtain NIH peer-reviewed grants; they would like to obtain grants in a more efficient manner. Patients, their advocacy groups and the American public want NIH to determine the causes, cures and preventions for a myriad of ...