The Operations Academy Senior Management Program

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The Operations AcademySenior Management Program
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Operations AcademySenior Management Program

• Emphasis on Surface Transportation Management and
  Operations
• 2 week Total Immersion course with one week of
  pre-study
• Intended for practitioners desiring advancement
  recognition in Operations
• Focuses on the unique aspects of surface
  transportation MO

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Program Objectives

• Individuals completing the program will be able
  to
• Describe the impact of MO on mobility and safety
• Manage an organization whose primary mission is
  MO
• Advocate the creation of an operational focus
  within their agencies
• Demonstrate knowledge of the technical tools of
  MO and the conditions under which they can be
  effectively applied

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Additional Benefits

• For the individual
• Networking with peers from other jurisdictions
• National recognition
• CEUs and certificate of completion
• Recognition from employer
• To the agency
• Individuals trained in operations
• Ability to develop an operations focus
• A constructive analysis of the agencys current
  focus on management and operations

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Student Profile

• Mid to high level managers whose existing or
  future responsibilities include management and
  operations of the transportation system.
• Examples
• Manager of traffic operations
• District/division engineer
• Regional Director
• Director of Maintenance
• Transportation Operations Center Manager
• Manager of traffic engineering in a state or
  local jurisdictions
• Senior transportation planner in a state or local
  jurisdiction or MPO
• Personnel (typically at State or Federal levels)
  responsible for review, approval and/or support
  of management and operations activities

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Underlying Concepts

• The relevance of operations and what we are
  trying to achieve.
• Operations of systems -Understanding operations,
  and how to influence mobility, safety, security
• Customer service orientation
• Performance measures
• Communications and coordination within
  organizations and with others
• Managing people, resources, and organizations

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Pre-study

• Needed to ensure no student left behind
• Required time depends on the students background
• Educational home-study material will be provided
• Pre-study occurs over a two month period
• Final exam
• Summary of Subjects
• Traffic management
• Incident management
• Emergency management
• Freight
• Traffic engineering including a survey of traffic
  flow theory
• Tools of operations (devices and systems)

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Curriculum (Draft)

• Classroom time 40
• Defining the operations template
• Instructors with real-world experience
• Workshops 30
• Real-world problems
• Group problem solving including role playing
• Reinforcing the operations template
• Field studies 30
• Visits to a variety of state and local sites
• Includes analysis of site activities using the
  operations template
• Supplemented by analysis of the students
  sponsoring agency
• Graduation 5
• Recognition of students efforts
• Attended (if possible) by students supervisor
• Includes presentation of workshop and field study
  results

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Curriculum Structure

1. Overview What is operations and why is it
   unique?
2. Operations as a system emphasis on
   supply-demand concepts, regional corridor
   management and conops
3. Performance measures how are they used and why
   are they important
4. Customer service Customer needs and
   communications
5. Organization Centralization, stovepiping and
   organizational relationships
6. Policy and planning How does operations fit
   into the big picture for the nations
   transportation system?
7. Management Staff management, planning, project
   management, contracting, outsourcing, selling
   internally

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Application and Costs

• Formal application process
• Competitive selection based on level of interest,
  relevance, geographic and functional diversity
• Costs including weekend
• Course fee - 3,500
• Lodging costs - 1,375
• Limited number of scholarships available from the
  I-95 Corridor Coalition

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The Spring Semester was a Big Success

• 22 students all of whom successfully completed
  the self-study and Academy requirements
• Students received hands-on experience with
  principles being presented
• Student evaluations very high including
• Classroom presentations
• Field studies
• Workshops
• Lunch and dinner speakers
• Facilities

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Representative Comments

• The Operations Academy brought the philosophy of
  conceptual operations into clear focus. It will
  build future leaders that will move into decision
  making positions. Tom Blaine, New Mexico DOT
• This was an incredibly comprehensive program. I
  will be able to apply concepts learned right
  away, not only from the countrys expert in
  operations, but from our peer states experiences
  as well. I will recommend the program strongly
  to others in my state! Rob Limoges, New York
  State DOT

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Status and Schedule

• Spring session 3-12-07 successfully completed
• Deadline for fall session applications 6/29/07
• Fall session 11-5-07
• Program for fall session finalized