UNCLASSIFIED ROUTINE R 271745Z JUN 16 FM SECNAV WASHINGTON DC TO ALNAV INFO SECNAV WASHINGTON DC CNO WASHINGTON DC CMC WASHINGTON DC BT UNCLAS ALNAV 046/16 MSGID/GENADMIN/SECNAV WASHINGTON DC/-/JUNE/// SUBJ/DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY IMPLEMENTATION OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE CONFERENCE GUIDANCE VERSION 3.0 OF SEPTEMBER 23, 2015// REF/A/DEPSECDEF/YMD: 20150923 REF/B/SECNAV/YMD: 20150727 REF/C/PL 114-113 Section 739 REF/D/OSDDCMO/YMD: 20131106 NARR/Ref A is DoD conference guidance version 3.0. Ref B is delegation of conference approval authority signed 27 July 2015. Ref C is Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016. Ref D is DoD conference guidance version 2.0 (Canceled). RMKS/1. The purpose of this ALNAV is to clarify conference management policy and approval authorities for the Department of the Navy (DON) pursuant to ref a. 2. General Conference Philosophy a. Conferences are a valuable means to train, plan, collaborate, and disseminate information. It is DON policy that DON Sailors, Marines, and civilians attend conferences in order to advance the mission of the DON while ensuring proper fiscal controls and oversight are in place. Commands and organizations are permitted to attend conferences within the constraints of their own budget and mission requirements. The DON has no prohibitions or restrictions on conference attendance other than requiring proper conference approval to attend. Over the last several years, the DON has a 100 percent approval rate of conference requests received, and the expectation is for this trend to continue as long as commands and organizations plan properly and ensure proper internal controls are maintained on costs and attendance. b. There is a perception by some DON personnel that conference approval is too hard or difficult to obtain and therefore may be self-censoring their participation. This is not in keeping with DON policy regarding conference attendance, and employees are encouraged to continue to submit requests to attend conferences, particularly our scientists, engineers, academicians, and others who would benefit from conference attendance. Commands and organizations are reminded, as stewards of the taxpayers dollars, to keep attendance costs as low as possible in order to meet the mission. The conference management team at Department of the Navy/Assistant for Administration (DON/AA) has worked diligently with Director, Naval Staff (DNS) and Director, Marine Corps Staff (DMCS) to streamline the conference approval process. This effort at process improvement is continuing. For the Secretariat, this includes accepting requests from any Flag Officer/Senior Executive Service (FO/SES) in the chain of command before it goes to DON/AA for approval. I encourage DNS and DMCS to consider similar efforts for their subordinate commands. 3. Conference Approval Authorities and Thresholds are contained in ref b but repeated here for ease in reference. a. DON-hosted Conferences (1) Greater than $500K: Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) and Under Secretary of the Navy (UNSECNAV). (2) $500K or less: Deputy Under Secretary of the Navy (Management) (DUSN(M)), Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), Commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC), Vice Chief of Naval Operations (VCNO), Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps (ACMC), DON/AA, DNS, DMCS. b. Conferences Hosted by non-Department of Defense (DoD) organizations: (1) Greater than $100K: SECNAV and UNSECNAV (2) $100K or less: DUSN (M), CNO, CMC, VCNO, ACMC, DON/AA, DNS, DMCS. 4. SECNAV is responsible for conference policy for the DON. DUSN(M) is responsible for implementing the policy and will issue operating guidance for conference management within the DON. The guidance will reiterate the policies of this ALNAV plus general operating procedures. 5. Submission of Conference Requests. Until further notice, commands and organizations should continue to submit requests for conference approval according to current practice. 6. Reporting a. Reporting is only required for conferences hosted or co-sponsored by DON organizations with costs exceeding $20K. b. Per ref c, DoD must report on any conference hosted or co-sponsored by the DON with costs exceeding $20K. Those conferences with costs in excess of $100K will be reported on the DoD public website. c. DON/AA will continue to do all conference reporting. Conference requests submitted for approval must contain the following information: (1) Name of the conference. (2) Dates of the conference. (3) Location and venue of the conference including zip code. (4) Number of employees attending the conference. (5) Total cost of the conference. (6) Total cost of all food and beverages (excluding per diem). (7) All audio-visual services. (8) Government sponsored attendee travel (all DoD). (9) Other conference expenses. (10) Discussion of the methodology used to determine which costs relate to the conferences. (11) Description of the contracting procedures used including whether contracts were awarded on a competitive basis, and a discussion of any cost comparison conducted in evaluating potential contractors for the conference. d. Reporting timelines (1) Reporting of information in paragraph 6c(1)-(5) must be completed within 15 days of the conclusion of the conference. (2) Reporting of information in paragraph 6c(6)-(11) must be completed within 45 days of the conclusion of the conference. 7. Exemptions. It is DON policy that events meeting the criteria identified in Section IV, paragraph 4 of ref d are not conferences. Ref d is available on the DoD conference website: https://dcmo.osd.mil/coi/conferences/default.aspx. If an event clearly meets the criteria, no further conference action is required. However, all other relevant policies, such as for travel, must be followed. Exemption determinations may be made at the lowest command level, but it is recommended this be done in consultation with legal counsel and decisions documented in writing. Conference point of contacts identified in paragraph 10 of this ALNAV may be consulted. 8. Conferences hosted by non-DoD organizations with DON historical costs greater than $100K. a. DON/AA will maintain a list of conferences that historically had attendance costs in excess of $100K across the DON. The list will be published annually and updated on a quarterly or more frequent basis. b. In order to meet the conference preapproval and approval requirements contained in ref b, organizations that plan to send Personnel to any conference on this list must submit the following information: (1) To DON/AA (W_DONAA_PTGN_CSD_US01@navy.mil): Preliminary conference attendance numbers (number of personnel and estimated costs) by the 25th of the last month in the quarter preceding the conference start date, e.g., 25 March for all conferences occurring In the 4th quarter. This will allow for a timely quarterly preapproval of conferences requiring UNSECNAV signature. (2) To appropriate conference approval authority: Formal conference requests at least 90 days prior to the start of the conference, e.g., 14 May for a conference starting 14 August. c. DON/AA will submit preapproval and approval packages for UNSECNAV approval. d. To summarize, for a conference with a start date of 14 August, preliminary attendance numbers are due to DON/AA by 25 March; formal request packages are due to the conference approval authority (DON/AA, DNS, or DMCS) by 14 May; and a formal request package is due to UNSECNAV by 14 June. 9. Records retention. Organizations are required to maintain conference records for five years. Note that Taskers (TV-5) and Marine Corps Action Tracking System (MCATS) are not approved records management systems. 10. Points of Contact. Questions on conference policy may be addressed to DON/AA or to DNS for the Navy or DMCS for the Marine Corps. Points of contacts are: a. DON/AA: Rodman Sansone, rodman.sansone@navy.mil, 703-695-2526, or Sharon Williams, sharon.williams@navy.mil, 703-693-0991. b. DNS: LCDR Sean Butts, sean.butts@navy.mil, 571-256-9816, or LT Kaitlin Smith, kaitlin.smith@navy.mil, 703-693-1012. c. DMCS: Robert Prewett, robert.prewett@usmc.mil, 703-697-1668, or Lynette Rollerson, lynette.rollerson@usmc.mil, 703-695-4798. 11. Released by the Honorable Janine A. Davidson, Acting Secretary of the Navy.// BT #0001 NNNN UNCLASSIFIED//