03/20/2018

Hi MTAS staffers,

Did you encounter a lot of green over the weekend? St. Patrick’s Day was a fun celebration at my house; I hope you enjoyed the day as well, particularly Richard who had a work anniversary on Saturday – congratulations Richard!

Thanks to all of you who called my attention to the errors in my Save the Date email sent last week. The dates for the MTAS retreat are June 25-27, 2018 (not 2019) and yes, I sent the email on Friday, yet forgot to correct the first draft I wrote on Tuesday. Are you familiar with the fable about Haste Makes Waste?

I am looking forward to my first MTAS budget. Meetings begin this week and we have our official budget hearing next week. I am excited to see how the process works and to share with you what next year holds, fiscally speaking.

Other things that I want to share with you include my work goals for next year. I’ve had my APR meeting and have the green light to go ahead with my work plan. Since my work plan involves you, I thought you’d like to know what that entails.
· I will work on development opportunities with the advisory board (IPS goal of funding to meet expanding needs)
· Devise a new APR system. I envision something more tailored to each team while retaining a basic format (IPS goal of developing a diverse and highly skilled workforce…)
· Develop a MTAS strategic plan with its own microgoals to the IPS goals. (IPS goal of delivering best in class customer-focused education and technical assistance)
· Attend five association meetings and try to get on the agendas to give an agency update (IPS goal of communicating the impact, value and story of IPS)

I cannot accomplish any of these without your input and support. I look forward to hearing what you have to say and working with you (and the advisory board and associations) to accomplish these four items over the next nine months.

It’s already Tuesday afternoon, but I hope the rest of your week is productive and fulfilling.

Sincerely,
Margaret