We Are Pleased to Announce Our New Endeavor,
the Public Sector Leadership Corps.
Our goals for this Cooperative Education Program are to ensure that the US has trained and experienced graduates who are interested in public service management and leadership professions. The individual development plans will be based on the student’s interests, talents and professional aspirations which are aligned with the growing skills needed by municipal and state government. The program graduates will be continuous learners interested in achieving mastery in the practices and skills of public sector management and leadership.
Mission: Provide work experiences, formal classroom skills training (Leadership Matters Curriculum, click here) and mentored coaching to assure an entry level of understanding and performance at the municipal or state levels of public education and government. Each participant will be introduced to the basic skills required to effectively practice public sector leadership.
Benefits for:
Municipal and State Government will have skilled, interested and experienced applicants to select from as they do succession planning and replace retirees and fill other vacancies. They will have the opportunity to observe and work with individuals before offering them long-term employment opportunities.
The Public Sector Consortium will be enhanced by further fulfilling its mission “re-inventing the practice of public leadership through partnerships and skills.”
Our Partnership…. The Partnership with a world-renowned educational institution, municipal and state government and the Public Sector Consortium will be the foundation for a well-developed Co-op program that meets a growing need in today’s society. Success will require respect and complementary efforts between the educational curriculums of both Northeastern and the Public Sector Consortium and the willingness to mentor candidates at municipal and state government entities.
The Partnership will be there to support the mentors at municipal and state government levels by working with them and the Co-op students in their respective workplaces.
The Current Reality:
Over the past ten years, local government has seen a slow but steady decline in the talent pool of individuals interested in a career leadership position in local government. While the skills in IT, Public Health, Public Safety, Finance, etc. continue to grow in complexity.
It is difficult to determine what has been the most significant contributing factor to this slowed interest. Many believe that the elimination of Civics in the curriculum at the undergraduate level of education, the decline of print media and the exponential growth of social media which gains viewers through emphasizing a negative view of public servants may all be contributing factors toward the reduction of interest in public service as a career profession.
The current reality is that local governments, who once had an abundance of interest in most position vacancies, now struggle to attract even a minimal number of qualified applicants for many positions within their municipalities. This number drops further when skills in professional leadership and management skills are also required.
Current leaders at all levels of government recognize the challenge described above and are now interested in taking proactive succession planning steps to address it. One approach is to develop talent early within local government by providing undergraduates with the necessary skills that set them on a successful career path toward municipal leadership. Future candidates must be taught the basics of their subject matter focus as well as leadership and management skills early in their careers. They should be exposed to municipal systems so that they understand the interactions and the complexities of this profession.
We are confident this new endeavor is a step towards action to meet this workforce development crisis and assure succession planning for our cities, towns, school departments and states.
Help us by donating now on this website to this new endeavor.
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