The new College of Computing and
Information is designed “to prepare the information technology (IT)
workforce of tomorrow, advance scientific research and to further UAlbany's
partnerships with government and industry.” We were honored to be a part of
the multi-year collaborative effort, headed by Dean Peter Bloniarz, to create
this new college and work with its departments. For example, in one of the
meetings we facilitated, the newly created informatics faculty solidified its PhD
concentrations in Business Information and Decision Systems, Decision and
Policy Sciences, Information in Organizational Environments, and Knowledge
Organization and Management, established assignments to develop the
concentrations in Geographic Information Systems, Information, Government,
and Democratic Society, and Information Assurance, and agreed on core course
requirements.
Center for Information Forensics and Assurance
University at Albany, SUNY
Household Goods - Uniform Fine Assessment
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)
We worked with the Federal Motor
Carrier Safety Administration's expert team to develop a fine assessment
system for household goods violations that ensure uniform and consistent
treatment of household goods (HHG) motor carriers and brokers. The previous
system relied on the subjective determination of FMCSA's Safety Specialists.
The new fine assessment model consistently applies the six legislative
criteria in a uniform manner based on the facts of the situation. We used our
group judgment-analysis approach, used to develop similar models for FMCSA to
address safety and hazardous materials violations.
United Jewish Federation
We facilitated a staff retreat for the United Jewish Federation of Northeastern
New York to address setting, changing, and managing priorities,
implications for organizational structure, and improving group effectiveness.
Procurement Stewardship Act
Working with the New York State Office
of General Services, the Office of
the State Comptroller, and Albany Law School’s Government Law
Center, we facilitated a series of regional meetings to explore the
reauthorization of the Procurement Stewardship Act.
Advisory Council on Procurement Lobbying
New York State’s recently enacted Procurement Lobbying Law regulates
attempts to influence procurement contracts once the procurement process has
started. Working with the New York State Office
of General Services and Albany Law School’s Government Law
Center, we have facilitated the meetings of the Advisory
Council on Procurement Lobbying, which is charged with providing guidance
for the implementation of this complex law. A major product of this work was
the development of guidelines in the form of “Frequently Asked Questions.”
Revising New York’s Racing Law
A multi-stakeholder group was assembled by the Albany Law School’s Government Law
Center to follow up on their report, Revising the Racing Law in New
York. They identified the proposals that were most important and
also had the highest potential for agreement. They reached consensus on a
number of proposals and agreed on how to move forward with others.
Long Term Care for the Elderly
New York State Office for the Aging
Working with the New York State
Office for the Aging, we helped initiate a series of studies of Long Term
Care for the Elderly, including case studies, consumer characteristics, and
care planning practices. Among other projects, we helped devise a strategy
for examining the cost per unit of service for various community-based
long-term-care services, gathered strategic plans from the state’s 59 Area
Agencies on Aging focused on meeting reporting requirements that will inform
policy decisions, and assisted in the state’s preparation for the White House
Conference on Aging.
Two new publications were released in 2005:
Workshops and Presentations:
Group Facilitation for Storytellers:
How to Help a Group Tell its Story
A Workshop for the National Storytelling Network
What To Do and Why?
Critical Incidents in Group Facilitation
A Workshop for the International Association of Facilitators
Systems Thinking
A Workshop for the New York State Office of the State Comptroller
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