Waubonsee Community College will hold a Recognition Ceremony for those completing the Communities of Excellence program on Wednesday, October 28. Established in April 2014, the program provides training on skills and topics required for public sector employees to grow professionally, contribute more to their organizations and respond to change in government.
The ceremony takes place from 11:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Room 160 C at the Aurora Campus, 18 S. River St., and will recognize ten municipal employees who have participated in the professional development series since its inception two years ago. The cities of Aurora, Elgin, Geneva, Plano, Sandwich and Yorkville, Kendall County, and villages of Oswego and Sugar Grove had employees take part in the program.
The national award-winning program was created after input from municipal leaders throughout the district on what they would like to see in a professional development program for their employees. The program exposes municipal employees to training facilitated by subject matter experts on the skills and topics that contribute to the effective and efficient operation of local government. There is networking, benchmarking and best practice sharing between participants that builds a culture of community between municipalities in the district.
Due to increased interest in the program, training sessions have been added to accommodate the demand. Therefore, the group of participants now requires two weekly four-hour sessions at the Aurora Campus. Kevin Riley, account representative, said it took about four months of collaboration with local government leaders to build the program.
“We like to say that this is the municipalities’ program because they offered ideas about their challenges,” he said. “What started out as a potential one-day workshop turned into a much larger program because we listened to their needs.”
Riley said material stays fresh because at the end of each six-week session, participants are polled to see what they want to have covered in the next session, in addition to pre-scheduled topics.
“One of the benefits is that it helps municipalities become more efficient and more effective,” he said, adding that topics have included budgeting, strategic planning, communications and project management. Over the course of its first two years, the program has had about 80 participants, nearly tripling from an initial group of 18. The ten participants who will be recognized in the ceremony have completed 96 hours of training each.
