U.S. Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-OK), as chair of the U.S. House Administration Subcommittee on Modernization and Innovation on May 4 formally requested funding to develop a first-of-its-kind effort to digitize and streamline the process of requesting and managing service academy nominations.
The congresswoman seeks Modernization Initiatives Account (MIA) funding to support the development and implementation of the Service Academy Nomination Portal and Dashboard, a public-facing nomination portal that would make it easier for applicants to submit support documents and track the progress of their applications. The dashboard would help staff organize, review, manage, and track application packets.
“Nominating constituents to our nation’s service academies is one of the most rewarding and important constituent services members provide,” Rep. Bice said. “The Service Academy Nomination Portal and Dashboard will allow members to maintain their own unique processes for managing nominations while providing them with modern, secure, web-based tools for streamlining and automating tasks.”
A U.S. service academy is a federally funded institution that provides a four-year undergraduate education combined with rigorous military training to prepare students (cadets/midshipmen) to become commissioned officers in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Members of Congress are legally authorized to nominate candidates for appointment to four of the five U.S. service academies: Army (West Point), Navy, Air Force, and Merchant Marine. Each senator and representative can nominate up to 10 individuals for each vacant spot, facilitating the competitive admission process, though they do not select the final appointee.
The Service Academy Nomination Portal and Dashboard directly addresses a recommendation made by the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress to “develop or provide optional in-house technology solutions to district offices to improve casework and other services,” including an automated process for managing service academy applications, according to Rep. Bice.
The MIA was established in the fiscal year 2021 Appropriations Act to fund initiatives to modernize House operations.