01/26/2004

TML Legislative Conference - If you haven't registered for this yet, there is no need to. We have plenty of people attending as it is. Thanks.

Web sites - Here are two web sites Mary Taylor discovered. This is a report on the most corrupt states in the U.S. (Tennessee didn't make the top ten or the bottom ten!):
http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/corruptreport.pdf
This is a report on the digital divide among states:
http://www.nascio.org/publications/compendium.cfm

Training Update - In preparation for a briefing with IPS, Sharon and the training team prepared this summary of our training program. We didn't get to do the briefing, but I thought you would be interested in the summary. City University is a comprehensive training program for municipal elected officials and employees. It consists of four (4) basic components discussed below. A fifth component - Online Courses will be added soon.

1. Elected Officials Academy (EOA ) is designed exclusively for municipal elected officials. It has two levels. Level I consist of five two-hour sessions on the basics of municipal governance; Level II consists of 10 two-hour sessions on more specific functions of city government.

Level I is offered in each of the three grand divisions on Fridays and Saturdays during January and February. The scheduling of Level II sessions is determined by the consensus of the group completing Level I. Also, Level II courses are offered at the TML annual conference. The charge for EOA is $150/person. An average of 40-45 persons per year attend EOA Level I.

2. Municipal Administration Program (MAP) courses are offered each month in seven locations across the state. Training topics are selected from student feedback, input from consultants, association surveys and pending legislative issues.

Course offerings are predominately in administrative and technical areas of municipal government. However, leadership and management courses are offered jointly to city and county officials each quarter. The charge for MAP courses is $20/person. During calendar year 2003, 1169 participants completed MAP courses. This was a decrease of 27% from 2002. We attributed the decrease to the $20 fee that was started in January 2003.

3. Municipal Management Academy (MMA) is a new offering begun in November 2003. MMA is designed for municipal managers and supervisors. The program is divided into two levels. Level I contains 10 four-hour sessions and Level II contains 12 four-hour sessions. Curriculum for most of the sessions was developed from Effective Supervisory Practices from the International City County Management Association's (ICMA) Municipal Management Series.

Each course lasts four hours and contains class discussions and learning activities. The classes are delivered at city hall. The fee for each class is $700 for a maximum class size of 35. Since November 2003, MMA courses have been delivered in two cities, and 15 other cities have expressed interest.

4. Specialty Training includes training for:
a. Municipal associations such as TML, TCMA, TPMA, TCAPWA, TFCA, TPCA, TGFOA, TAMCAR, etc.
b. Organization development retreats (ODR) – MTAS staff works with city officials to structure ODRs to meet the city’s needs. Topics include: strategic planning, team building, budgetary planning, goal setting, managing change, conflict resolution and so forth.
c. Hot topics – MTAS consultants train city officials at city hall or regionally on new issues as they surface. For example, we provide training on security at water and wastewater facilities. We trained over 350 participants in specialty courses during 2003.

City University offers two certificates. The Policy Maker Certificate is for elected officials, and it requires completion of 50 hours. The requirements include completion of Level I and Level II of the Elected Officials Academy (26 hours), and the Local Government Leadership Program (12 hours). The balance of the 12 hours may be earned from any other elective sessions. The Public Administrator Certificate is for municipal employees, and requires completion of 90 hours.

Elective credit is awarded for pre-approved MTAS training offered at municipal association meetings, ODRs and Hot Topic training sessions. Credit earned through any of these sessions may be applied to the City University Policy Maker and Public Administrator Certificates

MTAS provides City U training through three training consultants and one support staff. The training team uses other MTAS staff and contract instructors to deliver training.