02/14/2014

Fellow MTASers,

One of my MTAS goals for the recently concluded calendar year was to be able to say that we, some 49 of us, contributed to achieving 100% fulfillment of our Professional Development goal…each one of us completing at least the minimum requirement of 32 hours. Well, the goal was achieved. 100% achievement! Fantastic! Practically everybody exceeded the minimum requirement. I’ve done a short look-back (5 years) and it appears that 2013 saw this goal being achieved for the first time during that period.

While achieving the goal is a great accomplishment in its own right, what we all learned during the process added immensely to the ever-deepening knowledge pool of the MTAS staff. We expect each other to be on top of things and our 345 town and city customers merely assume that we always are. Professional development is one thing that helps us meet our fellow staff member’s expectations and our customers’ assumptions. Ernest Hemingway referenced goals and how one should achieve them when he said, “It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end”. Are we better able to perform our jobs in 2014 because of our efforts in professional development in 2013? Yes…without question.

Thank you for this effort and for each effort you expend towards the MTAS mission. They are recognized and appreciated.

Jim Thomas, Executive Director
Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS)
The University of Tennessee Institute for Public Service
Office (615) 532-4950 Cell (615) 972-9219

jim.thomas@tennessee.edu

www.mtas.tennessee.edu