newjerseynewsroom.com

Popular seminar series to be offered this fall beginning Oct. 5

NEW BRUNSWICK – As funding cuts and declining revenues create unprecedented challenges for local governments in New Jersey, Rutgers’ Center for Executive Leadership in Government (CELG) is offering a series of seminars this fall to help municipal leaders steer their towns and cities through the recession and cope with difficult issues facing them.

“Surviving the Downturn” comprises four seminars designed to provide practical methods to deal with budget cuts by redefining the role of local government and addressing the continuing increase in demand for services.

The seminars respond to specific needs voiced by municipal leaders for tools to help them manage in the current fiscal environment, from exploring sustainability opportunities to addressing labor management issues. They are designed for municipal managers, administrators, finance officers, governing body members, department heads and mayors.

All seminars take place on Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to noon at CELG’s headquarters at 303 George St. The schedule is as follows:

Oct. 5: Municipal Sustainability – Facilitated by experienced Green Team members, this seminar addresses both financial “green” and environmental green. Course materials provide a toolkit for getting started and ideas for leveraging limited municipal dollars to achieve maximum environmental benefit and attract additional funding.

Oct. 19: Dealing With Change in Organizational Design – Participants are introduced to organizational design tools and approaches to help them cope with reduced staff, new organizational structures and communication opportunities. The seminar is taught by experienced human resource professionals.

Nov. 2: Evaluating Financial Trends – This program, taught by the Roxbury Township Manager Christopher Raths and CFO Lisa Spring, focuses on the application of tools and remedies to the current financial distress in New Jersey. The course provides nationally recognized measurements to gauge municipal financial stability.

Dec. 7: Practical Application of Labor Management in New Jersey – This seminar provides ways to address labor management issues as towns face the need to do more with less. Case studies are used to provide specific advice and examples on how to deal with labor management issues in an extremely difficult environment. The seminar is taught by Clifton City Manager Matt Watkins.

“Surviving the Downturn” grew out of research conducted in 2009 and 2010 by CELG Director Dorothy Olshfski and Assistant Director Angie McGuire. They met with 12 focus groups composed of mayors and business managers of medium-sized New Jersey cities to explore options for maintaining viability during the economic downturn. Their resulting paper, “Surviving a Downturn in New Jersey: Management Challenges and Strategies for Municipalities,” was published in 2011 and prompted the seminar series.

“We discovered that there was a need for practical tools to help municipal officials deal with the pressing need to meet their towns’ obligations during this period of severe government funding cuts and declines in tax revenues,” said McGuire, who was deputy chief in the Governor’s Office of Economic Growth from 2006 to 2009, and today does research and teaching on economic development, strategic planning and public management.

The “Surviving the Downturn” research was first presented last fall in conjunction with the Educational Foundation of the New Jersey League of Municipalities and proved highly popular. This fall’s program will be the first time the series is offered as a leadership certificate program for local government officials.

The fee for each seminar is $199, including all materials. Discounts are offered for those registering for two or more seminars, as well as for members of the N.J. Municipal Management Association (NJMMA).

For more information, send email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 732-932-6998-, ext. 603. More information can be found at http://celg.rutgers.edu/surviving-downturn-seminars.

SOURCE: RUTGERS