SAVE Award 2011 Department of Education

Being a college student, I really don't have a budget to get items I need ( like books, hangers, whatever) so I often turn to the service Freecycle--which I guess inspired me with this idea. Since each Department is complied of many offices, I think we should create an inter-office supply network. Similar to the website/program Freecylce, offices within each Department can post wanted ads for supplies they need and offices ...more »

If an employee can demonstrate that it is less expensive to the government to travel (fly or car) on official duty from their home base as opposed to their duty station (which they are currently required to do), they should be allowed to do so. For telecommuters, this would be a huge advantage, as well as, a cost savings to the government. For example, if a telecommuter's home base is in Columbus, OH and their duty ...more »

The federal government should track performance of the taxpayer dollars in programs and initiatives that have proven records of success and fix or end programs that do not. The status quo within the federal government does not support this claim. Paperless filing could help move the government in that direction in the following ways: 1. Smarter data tracking- Paperless files can be pulled into databases; data can then ...more »

This may be a little "outside the box", but please read through to the end. Every day millions (really!!!) of books that have been printed, and have not sold at book stores like Barnes and Noble are destroyed/shredded. They are destroyed to make room for newer books that have a greater liklihood fo being sold. There MUST be a way to snatch these treasures from the jaws of the shredders and place them in classrooms, day ...more »

We could save a lot of paper if our printers defaulted to two-sided (duplex) printing, with the option to print one-sided, across all government agencies.

Currently all department employees must fill out paper time sheets and SF-71 leave requests. These have to be then typed into a computer system which takes 1 FTE per 400 employees (takes our office staff 1 day per 40 persons for data entry). There are about 1,000 different pieces of office software designed for this function and I'm positive that it would cost less in paper and time to use even the most expensive software ...more »

I think that the government can save money if all government vehicles were converted to either flex fuel or hybrid vehicles. the government would save alot of money on with the use of ethanol. Also some organizations would benefit from fleet reduction some have way to many vehicles and not enough drivers so why not reduce and save the government several thousand here and there.

The Title IV programs currently consist of multiple grant programs, multiple loan programs, and a work study program. Streamlining the programs into a single grant, a single loan and a single work program would reduce the burden on taxpayers from administering multiple programs with different requirements. It would free up institutional resources at colleges that could be better used to adminster the programs. It would ...more »

If all government employees who have responsibilities that do not require them to be in the office were to telework just one day a week it would cut down on the DOT benefits program drastically. For example, in my office, I receive approximate $9.50 a day in DOT benefits (San Francisco has high commuting costs), times that by 52 weeks ($494) times that by 60 people ($29640) in DOT benefits in my one office. This is ...more »

Federal employees should be given incentives to save the government money. They could be measured by employee or office and be implemented through Department-wide programs or as part of employee performance plans. Offices, groups, or individuals could be given a share in savings cash award as a percent of how much they have reduced expenditures from a prior or baseline year without reduction or compromise in the work ...more »

The USDA, VA, and SSA have programs, which deny benefits to persons who are wanted in other jurisdictions in local, state, and federal databases for felony offenses. These absconders from justice may use the benefits they receive to further their escape from facing justice and should not be entitled to taxpayer funds until their obligations have been satisfied. This program if implemented at ED is a direct alignment ...more »

Contract with Dell costs the government $1,000+ per year for a $400 computer and $100 worth of software. This is a huge amount of waste.