Getting schooled – Program aimed at UI supervisor improvement

In 2006, the University of Idaho identified a critical need for a program that helps to develop better supervisors, said Elissa Keim, the director of professional development and learning. 

In 2010, PDL was asked to design a program dealing with specific learning opportunities for supervisors, and a pilot program was started in the summer of 2012, she said.

The Supervisory Excellence Program gives people the tools that are necessary to help build and maintain UI’s high-quality culture and climate, Keim said.

She said it was something UI has needed for quite a while, and it is great that they have started the program.

She said the pilot program went well, and the people that went through the program were diverse — from people in student service areas, colleges and administrative areas. Everyone who participated were supervisors at UI.

To help create better supervisors, they put on both a compliance and skills multipurpose program, Keim said. There are workshops and lectures that cover conflict management, ways to train employees and recruitment and hiring techniques.

Along with the training, the program creates a place for people to meet each other.

“It helps them build a network of peers,” Keim said. “We have a lot of folks that are bouncing ideas and concepts off of each other.”

Through the Supervisory Excellence Program, people can gain certification, which means they completed almost 30 hours of training to become a better supervisor.

“Which is a huge commitment for people to do, on top of their jobs,” Keim said.

Since it has been less than a year since the program was implemented, it is too soon to tell if there will be any major changes, however Keim said she is proud of the program so far.

“We get exceptionally good feedback from folks that participate in the program,” she said.

Keim said people have said it is one of the best opportunities to learn  they have had.

“They feel like they are the best supervisors they have ever been,” Keim said.

They have had about 80 people go through the program with a 25 percent graduation rate so far. Though people have to have 30 hours to receive certification, they do not have to do all 30 hours in one semester, she said, so some people who have started in the summer will graduate this spring.

Allison Griffith can be reached at [email protected]

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