Planning and Support WG

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Members

Co-Lead(s): Kara Murphy (NESCAUM), Leisa Bush (CARB)

Members: Stern, Kaitlin (CT DEEP), John Hornback (METRO4/SESARM), Maryann Warner (EPA OAQPS), Doug Carson (METRO4/SESARM)

Overview and Charge

The Planning & Support WG is one of the 4 workgroups within the JTC. The WG responsibilities include, but are not limited to, assisting with coordination of course scheduling, assisting with posting and communication of training opportunities, assisting with development and use of course and instructor evaluation forms, assisting with development and use of course reports, conducting periodic conference calls and webinars to inform locals/states of general LMS functionalities and specific LMS enhancements and assisting with library maintenance. This workgroup will be working closely with the other JTC workgroups to support their efforts.

Conference Calls

3rd Wednesday @ 11:00 Central

Call 1: September 9, 2019

Agenda

• Introductions
• JTC Overview & New Organizational Approach
• Workgroup Overview
• Near Term Action Items
• Engaging JTC Calls
• Workgroup participation (please see attached flyer)
• Flexible & inviting JTC call agendas
• Tasks that will engage new participants / Engage participants so that they contribute
• Survey state/local & MJO’s on Course Catalog needs
• Discussion on the importance of reliable training needs survey
• How can we improve communication with students? What are the major gaps?

Call Notes

• Participants: Kara Murphy & Leisa Bush (NESCAUM and CARB WG co-chairs), Mary Ann (EPA advisor), Kaitlin Stern (CT), Patricia Bizoukas (MI), John Hornback & Doug Carson (Metro 4/SESARM)

• Key Points: Planning and Support WG focus – training needs assessment, course scheduling, course and instructor evaluation, communicate training opportunities, library maintenance.
• JTC calls: Make agendas more inviting and engaging to S/Ls, focus on S/L needs, Shift JTC planning to Steering Committee, Only standing item on JTC calls would be brief WG report outs.
• National training needs survey: Revise survey to standardize it and make it more reliable and so that it does not overwhelm S/Ls
• Online course catalog: Provide to S/Ls, Use as a reference document when sending out training needs survey, Include courses in APTI-Learn and courses developed by OECA and MJOs (perhaps as a starting point, use the list of courses that EPA has compiled?)
• Next Steps: After the Oct. 8 JTC call, WG will meet to discuss ways to make JTC calls more focused on S/L issues.

Call 1: October 15, 2019

Agenda

• Debrief JTC Call - new participant perspective
• Potential Collaboration with the Curriculum WG
• Short Term Action Items (Continued)- How many trainings do each MJO plan a year? How can this information be helpful to us? Discussion on courses outside of APTI – How are MJO’s collecting and recording data?
• Long Term Action Items
• Support other workgroup tasks - Planning & Support WG contact has been selected for outreach to other workgroups. How should the contact approach these check-in calls?
• Standardize an evaluation report for all MJOs

Call Notes

• JTC Calls could potentially have state and locals present on recent training successes. This would engage state and locals to participate and present activities on JTC calls.

Call 3: November 17, 2019

Agenda

• Workgroup Updates / Housekeeping - In need of new WG liaison, Ideas for recruitment for new WG members?
• Presentation on EPA’s APTI Curriculum Draft - Discussion on how this can help our course prioritization efforts
• Long Term Goals (if time allows) - Standardize an evaluation report for all MJOs, What are the benefits?

Call Notes

• Action Items: Kara – talk with Michael Vince, Curricula WG lead on how to coordinate on prioritization criteria

Call 4: December 17, 2019

• Call canceled, next call will be held January 21, 2020.

Call 5: January 21, 2020

• Call canceled, next call will be held February 18, 2020.

Call 6: February 18, 2020

"Agenda"

• Roll Call
• Debrief Steering Committee Meeting at RTP
• WG Liaison Update
• MJO Course Development Spreadsheet
• Prioritization Criteria
• Workgroup Description/Charter
• Review of Short-term & Long-term goals

"Participants"

• Kara Murphy (Planning and Support WG lead), Kristin Riha (Curricula WG EPA advisor and MJO Course Development Spreadsheet), Mary Ann Warner (Planning and Support WG EPA advisor), John Hornback (Planning and Support WG member), Doug Carson (Metro 4/SESARM), Michael Vince (Curricula WG lead), Laura Bunte (course prioritization criteria)

"Call Notes/Key Points"

• In-person JTC Steering Committee Meeting in RTP last week discussed the purpose and role of the P&S WG moving forward. Communication is a key role for the P&S WG moving forward. Kara & Maryann will act as WG Liason - will join other WG calls. Discussion on Prioritization Criteria will be continued on the next Curriculum WG, both Maryann & Kara will be on call to continue this conversation and where P&S can support efforts.

• MJO Course Development Spreadsheet: Reviewed Kristin’s draft spreadsheet that lists courses developed/updated by MJOs. Includes links to some LADCO course materials; Doug has Metro 4/SESARM course materials. What are criteria for determining if changes are substantive vs minor?, i.e., when is an updated version of the course posted in the e-library? E-library as a shareable platform – MJO course materials are currently on SharePoint. Need for an EPA SME to review before putting in LMS e-library. Options for new spreadsheet categories: “Ongoing”:, “pending”, “completed” where dates are recorded; notes section to indicate what date refers to, e.g., RFP issued, contractor selected. Two categories – “started”, “going to start” with drop down targeted milestone dates
• Course Prioritization Criteria: Derived from Laura’s ideas, Theresa Pella’s 2014 course prioritization WG and John Hornback’s 2017 ideas. Will apply in the development of the 3-year Training Plan (draft June 2020, final Sept. 2020). “Last date updated” may not be a good indicator of whether a course needs to be updated or discontinued – depends on whether course content is out of date/incorrect. Consider moving “new program/requirement” and “hot/emerging topic” from “Course Content” to its own category, “Criticality”

• Action Items: Kara and Mary Ann – participate in all WG calls for about 6 months to learn about WG tasks and needs. Kara – email MJOs in the next two weeks: 1) ask them to review spreadsheet data and provide updates (1 – 2 weeks to update), then work with Justin and Josh and 2) ask MJOs to send updated course materials for placement in an e-library, provide SharePoint link. Kara – schedule a call with MJOs to discuss. Michael – address prioritization criteria at March 5 Curricula WG call. Michael – send notes from Curricula WG breakout session of Feb. 12 JTC Steering Committee meeting to Kara to send to the Planning and Support WG
• To be Continued: Workgroup Description and Charter / Short-term & Long-term goals will be discussed next call.
• Delivery WG: Action Items: Contact EPA to discuss putting a list of instructors on the SharePoint so that all parties can access/edit the most recent list. This could be similar to how we are approaching the list of course development among MJOs.