ASPA Reception

IPS will host a reception for the East TN Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration Friday, October 7 from 4:00 - 6:00 in the lobby.

All MPA students from UT Knoxville are especially invited to attend to learn more about ASPA and the benefits of affiliating with a professional organization. Any first-year student who attends will receive one-year free membership to ASPA from the East TN chapter.

IPS employees in the area are encouraged to attend.

Social Media

Social media isn't a term that we used in our vocabulary just a few short years ago and now we can't seem to survive without it. With the proliferation of Facebook, Twitter, Linked-in, blogs, etc., our communications and marketing team decided it was time to evaluate what we are doing and develop a policy.

IPS employees can find the new policy here on the IPS Intranet site under the communications link.

We are always looking for more effective ways to communicate with our customers and stakeholders. We will continue to evaluate and update our policies as this quickly changing environment tries to stay ahead of us!

Strategic Planning

Its been nearly three years since we've updated the IPS Strategic Plan. Each of the agencies is in various stages of updating their plans. The time is ripe for an update since the UT System is about to update its plans as well.

I'll be serving on the system steering committee. We have decided that using a similar process will serve IPS well and will ensure that we are well aligned with the system plan.

In October all IPS supervisors will be participating in a training session on creating compelling vision and mission statements and articulating values. We need to take a fresh look at all our statements across IPS.

Concurrently the agencies will complete a SWOT analysis. How has the environment changed since our last look? What new challenges and opportunities do we face? We will involve stakeholders and customers along with our staff to summarize our findings.

These activities will position us well to review and update our goal statements as we prepare for the next five years.

Strategic plans are living documents, so they are never really complete. We have a number of strategy teams that continue work from our last plan. They may need to be refined and updated as we move ahead.

I look forward to this opportunity to sharpen our perspective and prepare for the future.

Professional Development

Congratulations to the 40 employees who have already completed the minimum required 32 hours of professional development. Making time to sharpen our skills is an important part of being prepared to respond to our customer needs. With heavy customer demands, I know how challenging it can be to work in time for renewal.

Thanks for your great work!

MTAS
Melissa Ashburn 32.0
Nancy Gibson 37.0
Elaine Morrisey 72.5
Lisa Shipley 43.0
Steve Thompson 82.5
Linda Winstead 40.5
Dale Wolfe 40.0
CTAS
Elizabeth Adams 99.0
Mike Garland 36.0
Jim Hart 45.5
Don Johnson 54.0
Libby McCroskey 58.5
Brian Spears 49.0
CIS
Harding Aslinger37.7
Donna Bridges 33.0
Debra Dupree 49.0
Wendy Eddy 38.0
Joe Flynn 105.0
Tammy Gage 35.0
Walter Idol 61.0
Paul Jennings 44.0
Erin Ketelle 88.5
Dan Miller 62.5
Beth Paton 39.0
Earl Pomeroy 80.0
Russell Toone 88.0
Norma Wilcox 45.0
Bill Wiley 61.5
LEIC
Misty Bean 34.0
Gina Guinn 53.0
Donna Kelley 82.5
Emily Miller 48.0
Don Green 82.5
Central Office & Naifeh Center
Sherri Brown 35.0
Macel Ely 46.0
Mary Jinks 50.0
Judie Martin 38.5
Susan Robertson 38.5
Chuck Shoopman 34.0
Mike Tallent 45.8