 We'll come to order. I want to welcome the panel of briefers today and the NRC staff members of the public who are In the room or listening remotely the purpose of today's meeting is to provide the Commission Opportunity to hear about human capital activities and an update on equal employment opportunity And we'll begin with presentations from the staff Following that we'll hear from Maria Schwartz chapter executive vice president chief steward of the National Treasury Employees Union for Remarks I look forward to today's presentation and the ensuing discussions with members of the Commission about these about these programs Vic Morning, Mr. Chairman It is a pleasure first to brief you this morning on our human capital programs and equal employment opportunity The agency is faced with challenging times But we have a firm foundation and our ongoing mission to protect the public health and safety and the environment But it's through the skill and expertise of each and every employee here at NRC that enables us to meet our mission Many of the actions that we've taken and that you'll hear about today Continue to put us in a good position as we move into the future These include managing external hiring Aligning people and their skills to our jobs and accelerating attrition through early out buyouts These efforts amplify the importance of our human capital programs and How they play in our agency success and why it's critical that we continue to invest in people through these programs At this morning's meeting you'll hear about some of the most most important human capital and leadership topics that this agency Will continue to focus on in addition You'll get an update on the status of our civil rights program as well as our diversity and inclusion efforts During these times of change We also need to ensure that we do not lose sight of the great progress that the agency's made over the years and Enhancing our diversity and opportunities for all NRC employees and that we continue to invest in these areas So with that I'm happy to turn it over to Miriam Cohen our chief human capital officer As we briefed you over the years one thing that remains constant is that we continue to be in a period of change As we move into the future. We know that that pace of change will only continue to increase Our challenge is to embrace these changes and the possibility they present In looking at the nrc workforce, we continue to be in a period of contraction We expect to begin fiscal year 17 with approximately 3348 employees on board This represents a reduction of 17 percent from the high of 4,800 employees in 2010 We're able to reach these numbers as a result of our efforts this fiscal year To increase voluntary attrition through an early out buyout program Where 86 employees will be departing before the end of the fiscal year As these employees depart it is critical that we capture the knowledge and their expertise of these employees So that we can prepare remaining staff to take on these new responsibilities Given this starting point in fiscal year 17 We expect that the agency will need to conduct limited hiring in 17 To ensure we have a sufficient and skilled bench bench strength for key positions such as resident inspectors During these times we must also focus on maintaining high levels of employee engagement The nrc has always been considered a high performing organization And a large reason for these high level of engagement is because employees feel a strong connection to our mission of Protecting people and the environment For us to continue to meet our mission needs our human capital programs must continue to evolve in recognition of where the agency is going in the future