Date

Session

Instructor

Sept 23, 2011 #1 Achieving Effective Governance Misty Bruckner,
Hugo Wall School
  Governance of public and nonprofit
agencies encompasses considerations
of mission, policy, and administration,
and authority for public governance is
often shared by governing bodies,
executives, and managers. Ineffective
governance can quickly subvert
mission and undermine operations in
a public or nonprofit agency.
Effective governance should clarify
mission, design policy that makes a
difference, oversee administration and
delineate roles for those involved in
governance. In this session participants
will engage in a discussion of
advantages and disadvantages of
different models for effective
governance of agencies that deliver
public services.
 
Sept. 30, 2011 #2 Understanding Local Politics Kathy Sexton,
City of Derby
  A frequently stated phrase, "all politics
is local," underscores the importance
of local politics for administration and
for those whose careers revolve
around providing public services to
local communities. This session will
focus on a positive, working definition
of politics and establish politics as the
basic framework within which
administrators initiate and implement
public policy. This session will also
introduce approached used by local
executives to manage their political
challenges.
 
Oct. 7, 2011 #3 Leading

William Buchanan,
Sedgwick County

  In some form, rather formally or
informally and at varying levels of
responsibility, managers are called
upon to provide leadership within their
organizations and within the broader
community. This session will focus on
the general concept of leadership as it
applies to the public and nonprofit
sectors, including theories and styles
of leadership. Individual leadership
styles will be identified and assessed
from the perspective of the public
service workplace. Jim Collins'
concepts of the five levels of
leadership will be used.
 
Oct. 14, 2011 #4 Organizational Behavior Dr. Sam Yeager,
Hugo Wall School
  This session focuses on how
organizations come to be, how they
organize, and grow. Class discussion
focuses on functional, decision
making, power, communications, and
social factors that impact
organizational behavior.
 
Oct 28, 2011 #5 Human Resource Management Shawne Boyd,
Sedgwick County
  People are a vital resource in public
and nonprofit organizations. This
session will provide an overview of
human resource management. It will
examine recruitment, generating a
pool of qualified applicants, screening,
interviewing, selecting and personnel
development.
 
Nov. 4, 2011 #6 Human Resource Management Jenny Thrush,
City of Derby
  Few responsibilities are as critical in
today's workforce as supervision and
appraisal of employees. An effective
manager must develop skills to
provide timely, descriptive and
concrete feedback. This session, a
follow-up to personnel selection and
development, will discuss the
elements of job analysis, public sector
values, appraisal objectives and tools,
performance standards and common
rating errors.
 
Nov. 11, 2011 #7 Strategic Planning Dr. Melissa Walker,
Hugo Wall School
  Strategic planning in public and
nonprofit organizations is a
disciplined effort to determine
where an organization has been, is
and is going. The planning process
begins with assessment. This session
will introduce assessment
techniques including stakeholder
analysis and SWOT (strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and
threats). It will examine the
planning process, who should be
involved, strategic issue
identification, and implementing an
action plan.
 
Nov. 18, 2011 #8 Managing Personal and Organizational Ethics Dr. Sam Yeager,
Hugo Wall School
  Complex and often turbulent
environments place a steady stream of
moral issues before most public and
nonprofit organizations today. These
moral choices constantly test
managers. Individual actions taken by
managers in resolving ethical
dilemmas often have impact on others
in the organization as well. This
session will explore cases involving
personal ethical conduct and its
broader impact within organizations.
Participants will explore ethical codes
as a guide to decision making by
public and nonprofit managers.
 
Jan. 6, 2012 #9 Government and the Local Economy Dr. Nancy McCarthy
Snyder, Hugo Wall School
  The "economic problem" revolves
around the consequences of scarcity.
Since the fundamental implication of
scarcity is choice, the study of
economics focuses on making
decisions that reconcile unlimited
wants with limited resources. This
session seeks to provide managers
with an understanding of basic
economics and the local economy that
can be applied to make better
decisions and to solve local problems.
 
Jan. 13, 2012 #10 Budget Analysis and Preparation Dr. Nancy McCarthy
Snyder, Hugo Wall School
  Budgets are plans that guide
organization activity. Formulating a
budget requires attention not only
to service needs but also resource
constraints. Since there are
alternative ways of drafting a
budget, the options are discussed.
This session highlights the range of
fiscal policy guidelines that
executives must consider in
preparing and implementing a
budget.
 
Jan. 20, 2012 #11 Budget Politics and Decision Making Robert Layton,
City of Wichita
  The budget process is inherently
political. Final authority for budget
decisions lies with elected officials.
The relationship between elected
officials and staff is key to budget
deliberations. This session will cover
budget processes, information flow,
key stakeholders, and linkages
between planning priorities and budget
decisions.
 
Jan. 27, 2012 #12 Analyzing Service Delivery Dr. Melissa Walker,
Hugo Wall School
  Public and nonprofit organizations
deliver services. Is a service provided
in the most efficient manner? What are
the outputs? What is the effect of a
service or program? What are the best
outcomes? In this session, you will
learn how to diagram the process of
delivering a service. In addition to
creating a flowchart, you will develop
a logic model. These tools can be used
to identify critical steps that can be
managed in ways that improve service
delivery.
 
Feb. 3, 2012 #13 Performance Measurement Dr. Melissa Walker,
Hugo Wall School
  Budget constraints and public
demands for accountability have
increased the need for local
governments to demonstrate improved
and effective service delivery. This
session will cover the use of
performance measurement to assess
local government. It will include
discussion of the various types of
performance measures, their use in
decision making, the advantages and
limitations.
 
Feb. 10, 2012 #14 Planning and Financial Capital Projects Chris Chronis,
Sedgwick County
  Large and expensive projects
complicate financial plans, especially
if the projects were not envisioned
early and plans made for their
provision. This session tackles lumpy
and costly projects and shows how to
plan and finance them. Particular
attention is given to the issuance of
tax-exempt securities.
 
Feb. 17, 2012 #15 Community Problem Solving Dr. Mark Glaser,
Hugo Wall School
  Governments and nonprofits that
involve citizens in decision-making
and demonstrate their actions are
consistent with the long-term well-
being of community often reap returns
in improved citizen relations and
increased willingness to pay taxes.
This session illuminates the
importance of community as it relates
to local governments and the delicate
balance that must be maintained
between responsiveness and
community. Effective managers must
abandon traditional notions that
management is legally defined or that
management's concerns are solely
internal to the organization. Network
management is examined as a way of
rethinking the tasks of public
management and realizing common
goals through communication,
consultation, and negotiation with
independent organizational neighbors.
 
Feb. 24. 2012 #16 Capstone  
  Panelists and participants tie all of the
sessions together through case studies
in the management of public services.