As part of a statewide initiative supported by the NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision and CSEA, Partnership staff over a 14-month period conducted the Labor-Management Committee Process training for 67 labor-management committees and over 350 participants representing each of the nine DOCCS hubs.

Training topics included developing meeting agendas and operating agreements, meeting facilitation skills, strategies for building effective working relationships, and problem solving skills. Training for all attendees culminated in a coached labor-management committee meeting.

"The opportunity for both CSEA and management to gather outside of the workplace to acquire training and communicate with each other helped both sides gain a better understanding of the labor-management process," said Bruce Olsen, recently retired Director of Training at DOCCS. "As the training progressed, I saw a significant increase and ease of communication among the participants."

Prior to the training, Partnership staff conducted an assessment of each hub's labor-management committees to evaluate their current state of structure, relationships, and functionality.

"The training has proven to be very helpful in how we now conduct our labor-management committee meetings," said Ken Boundy, CSEA Local 178 President of Wyoming Correctional Facility. "Due to the training, I have a better working knowledge of how to go about preparing for a meeting and how to more effectively communicate our issues with management."

"Being able to interact with management at the training I believe helped each of us acquire a better perspective and appreciation for each others' roles in the labor-management arena," said Ellen Lennon, CSEA Local 184 President at Franklin Correctional Facility. "While at times we agree to disagree, since the training I do believe that management better understands our issues and listens more closely to our concerns."

"Overall, the training was a success," said Olsen. "The Partnership's instructors were polished presenters and had solid command of the subject matter which was the key to winning over many of the participants who were ambivalent about taking time away from their day-to-day busy work schedules to attend the training."

The following nine DOCCS hubs participated in the training: Clinton, Elmira, Great Meadow, Green Haven, New York City, Oneida, Sullivan, Watertown, and Wende.

For more information visit the Partnership's Labor-Management Services page.

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Thirty-seven Plant Utilities Engineer 1s (PUE 1s) and Plant Utilities Assistants (PUAs) from 10 SUNY campuses recently completed the High-Pressure Heating Distribution Piping Systems: Hot Water and Steam course sponsored by the NYS & CSEA Partnership and the NYS & CSEA Statewide Safety and Health Committee. The three-day course was held at the SUNY Albany, SUNY Geneseo, and SUNY Stony Brook campuses over a four-month period.

The course is designed to help employees learn how to readily recognize the safety hazards associated with working in high-temperature and hot water distribution systems.

The training covered the science behind the high-energy in the distribution piping, the engineering of piping, and the primary elements of a distribution system design. Additionally, the course addressed actual cases of accidents and how they could have been avoided, and several 'rules of thumb' that are readily applied to many situations.

"Working on high-pressure heating distribution systems requires a certain level of technical knowledge and safety awareness," said course instructor Roland O'Brien-Bills, Executive Director of the AIS Technical Training School. "Overall, I was impressed by the students' commitment and enthusiasm for learning. New York State and CSEA should be commended for supporting this important training opportunity for their plant utilities engineers and assistants."

In order to attend the course, employees must have served in their current job title (PUE 1 or PUA) for at least one year and have successfully completed their probationary period. Due to the highly technical nature of the course, all participants were required to have a strong working knowledge of the topics covered in the training.

"The course was very informative," said John Columbe, a PUE 1 at SUNY Albany. "It opened my eyes on several important safety factors to keep in mind while working on hot water and steam distribution systems."

"My members who attended the high pressure piping and heating systems course came back feeling they learned a lot. They were amazed at how much they did not know that they thought they did," said Ron Castle, CSEA Local 601 President at SUNY Brockport.

In order to earn a completion certificate, employees had to pass five quizzes and a final exam while achieving an overall passing grade of 70% or higher.

The following SUNY campuses sponsored employees to attend the course: Albany, Alfred, Binghamton, Canton, Cobleskill, Geneseo, Morrisville, Old Westbury, Oneonta, and Stony Brook.

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Reduced staffing levels. Rising costs of travel. Release time restrictions. Busy work schedules. Understanding the challenges faced by CSEA-represented New York State employees in their current work environment, the NYS & CSEA Partnership for Education and Training has recently launched a series of online learning certificate programs as an efficient and convenient way to offer training.

Most recently, 91 employees from 34 agencies completed the Partnership's online Administrative Skills Certificate Program (ASCP). The ASCP was designed around the critical job-related knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary for clerical and secretarial employees in the Administrative Services Unit. In addition to those who completed the program, more than 300 employees took one or more courses offered by the ASCP.

"I enjoy the fact that I am able to take courses whenever I am available versus a classroom setting where you would have to be available at a certain time and travel," said Jenny Garcia, a Clerk 2 at the NYS Division of Lottery office in Manhattan. "Since completing the program, I have had the opportunity to utilize the knowledge and skills I acquired from the online courses which have helped me become more efficient in my daily office tasks."

In order to earn an ASCP certificate, employees were required to complete nine core courses and three elective courses in one year. Courses were offered under categories such as interpersonal communication, leadership, math, team building, problem solving, time management, and written communication. Employees were able to take courses at work with supervisory approval or at home.

The minimum requirement for employees to participate in an online course is access to a computer, the Internet, and motivation to succeed in a non-traditional classroom. Online courses provide an excellent method of course delivery unbound by time or location allowing for accessibility to instruction at anytime from anywhere.

"Adult learners find the online learning environment a convenient way to fit education and training into their busy lives," said Eileen Easterly, the Partnership's Online Learning Program Coordinator. "The ability to take a course from a computer via the Internet, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, is a tremendous incentive for CSEA-represented employees to pursue their career goals."

The Partnership recently launched five new online learning certificate programs that provide employees with an exciting opportunity to enhance their knowledge and job-related skills in the Microsoft Office suite of applications such as Word, Excel, Outlook, and Access. Each certificate program has an application period and a series of courses employees must complete over a six-month period.

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