Do I Know What You Do?

I often hear that senior leaders would be more effective if only we had walked in your shoes and knew what it was like to work in the field.

Those of you who have been around for a long time probably know this, but others might not be aware. Once upon a time I was a training consultant in middle Tennessee! At that time we had an agency called the Center for Government Training. I worked with both cities and counties in the entire middle Tennessee region conducting needs assessments, designing and delivering courses, tallying evaluations, entering MIS data, managing budgets and all the other things that go along with working in the field (similar to Gary Petree and Terri Kinloch's positions). I've held a variety of administrative positions as well including working in finance (the position that Thad Grace now holds), IT (yes, I pulled the original cables in CTAS when we installed the first network) and HR (Judie Martin's position). I know the university systems fairly well after 26 years of immersion. I have a great appreciation for all that goes on "in the field" and that's why when I speak on behalf of IPS staff, I think I can represent us all.

You might not know that Chuck Shoopman also started his career in CTAS. He worked on reapportionment (I won't mention which decade!) and then moved to the central office working on a variety of projects. He left IPS and went to TVA where he worked a number of years in the economic development division. He's well versed in city and county politics, not only in Tennessee, but across the TVA valley. He's been back at IPS about five years.

Ron Loewen was the first business manager in the first iteration of LEIC, then called SCOPE. He put the original processes in place to manage the grant and became the IPS chief business officer when the first IPS CBO retired after more than 30 years. Prior to coming to IPS, Ron worked in the audit division of UT. He knew about us before we knew about him!

Judie Martin also started her UT career in LEIC. She was a training consultant in the homeland security division and worked with law enforcement agencies across the country. Prior to her service at UT she had a full career with the Knoxville Police Department.


So, we are not so far removed from your work that we have forgotten where we came from. You may not see us as often as you want to (or maybe you do!) and you may not know what we are doing on a daily basis, but I assure you that all we do is on behalf of you, all our customers, the IPS mission, and the citizens of the State of Tennessee.