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No. 4 -- 1909
WO R K S
PROGRESS
A D MI
Fer Release to Newspapers
Sunday, Viarch 5, 1939.
WPA ANNOUNCES REVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM
Completion of a new system of st rai ght-line administrati on,
designed to p r ovide more effective supe rvi sion of the Works Progress
Administration with a minimum of overhead costs , was announeed t oday
by Colonel F. C. Harrington, Federal Adm inistrat or .
The basic plan already is in effect in the national head4uarters and is rapidly nearing comple tion in the new r egi onal off ic e s,
The same system is be ing wor ked out in the
Colonel Harringt on said .
state administratinns .
One of the principal featur es will be the
application of a merit system f or administrative employes gene rally,
closely parall eling the classified civil service in appo intments , job
ratings, pr omotions and dismissals .
C; l onel Harrington's announc emen t summariz ed a series of
change s begun early in February and completed o r approved on March 1.
One ~f his first acts as Administrator, when hearings on
WPA appropriations for February 1 to June 30 we r e comp l e t ed, was to
establish a Divisinn of Administration , which was charged with the
busine ss ma nagement of the organization .
Dallas Bort was appo int ed
As sis tant Administrator to head this division, and work ou t the detail
of the plan .
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NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
4---1909
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In addition to i ns tallati on of the merit syst em, based upon
classificati ons previous ly worked out with t he assistance of Civil
Se rvice officials , the fw.'1Ctions of t he Division of Adminis tra t ion
include making s t udies and rec ommendati ons c oncerning admi ni strative
economy and eff ici ency throughout the organiza tion , the coordina tion
of procedures i ssued by the Washington office , and the administration
of al l service functions in tho Washington off ice including the pr eparati on of payrol l s , authorization of t r ave l , handling of printing anct
p roc ess ing , building ma i ntenance , space contr ol , corres pondence , the
Library , a nd operat i on of the Tabulat i ng Unit .
All admini s trative and su:perviso~·y funct i ons throughout the
or ganizat i on have been consolidated into four divi sions , exclusive
of the Divisi on of Administrat ion .
These four divi sions , which will
be maintained in all r egi onal and stat e or 6 anizations , are t he
Engineer ing Di vision , handl ing t he constructi on program that e,ccounts
f o r approximat ely 80 per cent of a ll WPA oyierations ; Division of
Profess i onG-1 a nd Service Projects vrhi ch now emb r a ces. all non-c onstruct i on
activiti es ; the Division of Employment and the Division of Finance , Resear ch , and Statistics .
~he fiv e large ar eas in wh ich field r epre sen tati ves prev i ou s ly
onerat ed have been re duced to smaller a nd more homogene,ous r egions, nine
in number and each under a Regi onal Dir ector char:~ed with coordinating
a nd supe rvi s i ng the pr oer am .
CL.an 6 es in st ate organizations to conform to the gP. ne r a l plan
of straight-line administrati on will not be made s i multaneous ly, but
will be worked out as r ap idly as poRsible and the system i s expec t ed
to be in onerci{i§.i§ffdi:IJ:Yroughout WPA in t he spring .
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
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NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
4-1909
No a.rastic reductions of administrative personnel are
anticipated , Colonel Harrington explained, but more effective and
economical supervision is expected.
As to the appl ication of a merit system, in lieu of
classified civil service which was eliminated from provisions of the
joint r esoluti~n on WPA appropriations at this session 0f Congress ,
the Ad.minis trat.) r said:
11 Whil8 ,
U...YJ.der the terms of the supplemental Relief Appro-
pri ation Act , administrative empll'lyees of the Works Progress Ad.ministration cannot be placed under Civil Service , it is my purpose to
establish a merit system fl'lr the Works Progress Administration which
will operate as nearly as possible in accordance with Civil Service
standards and practices .
We are intending to install a sound salary
classification scheme , establish minimum qualificati8ns for the
various positions and d.evelnp cooprehensive training , rating and
promotion programs .
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NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
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