Because this is a lab under the Dept. of Energy, limited funding makes it hard to perform research and attend conferences. The SARS (Safety and Review System) often hinders engineers and scientists from doing experiments by making it hard to get approval and oftentimes it seems as if the Quality and Assurance Department gives the run-around in order for NETL to maintain a high safety record. The procurement (there are too many signatures required for approval for the purchase of items under $3000) and the work order process is contrived and slow given that both functions are contracted out. Every year, researchers who are federal employees have to provide milestones for the fiscal year and unless you are strictly a modeler, you are bound to either work through SARs, depend on STRIPEs (the procurement system), or depend on work orders. While it is not only hard to determine how long any of these administrative processes take, there doesn't seem to be the same level of accountability for those who perform those functions as the researchers who depend on those services. As an employee, you are also evaluated midway and towards the end of the fiscal year. The evaluation is supposed to be objective. However, it varies based on the division director as there seems to be a vagueness between what constitutes as "meet expectations" versus "exceed expectations".
