Resource Center

APQC helps enterprises manage change, improve processes, leverage knowledge, and increase performance by becoming more agile, creative, and competitive. These pursuits require high-quality information, strategies, skills, knowledge, experience, contacts, and best practices.

Web site of the APQC contains links to the International Benchmarking   Clearinghouse, materials on human resources, strategic planning, training, benchmarking, performance measurement, productivity   improvement, and leadership.

Bi-monthly a new applied ethics case taken from actual professional practice experience is presented in narrative format. Several suggested solutions to the ethics situation are presented. Also included are basic steps to personal ethical decision making and guidelines for facilitating solutions to ethical dilemmas in engineering practice.

APWA continues to endorse National Engineers Week which is always the week in February that encompasses George Washington's actual birthday (February 22). Members and chapters are encouraged to participate with other professional associations in local, regional and statewide activities. The 1999 Educational Outreach Task Force recommended that APWA increase our involvement in existing national and international outreach programs, rather than trying to develop potentially competing programs about public works. Previously, APWA had been an endorsing society of E-Week and has encouraged our members to become involved, but had never contributed any money to the program. Stepping up to become a Contributing Society is an important step to becoming more actively involved. Many events, competitions, and activities are planned by the various sponsoring organizations and local E-Week Committees. APWA is encouraging our members and Chapters to become involved in the locally sponsored events by volunteering time, donating resources, or making financial contributions. Taking time to work with your local schools on E-Week events is a great way to promote public works as a profession. Some APWA chapters are already participating in E-Week with luncheons and scholarships, but possibly none as actively supportive as the New Mexico Chapter, which annually donates $1,000 to support local E-Week activities. Consider working jointly with other professional associations to sponsor existing activities or start a new program within the Chapter. APWA has made the first step in supporting these programs, but we need the members and chapters to come forward to support the programs at the local level, where they are delivered to students and teachers. For additional information about E-Week, contact their web site at www.eweek.org, or contact Brian Van Norman (bvannorman@apwa.net) at APWA headquarters.

The Asset Management Task Force delivered its findings in a report dated August 31, 1998 to the APWA Board of Directors. The Task Force, having completed its work, has been disbanded. The Leadership and Management Committee has been tasked with continuing the work on asset management.

The Public Entity Environmental Management System (EMS) Resource Center serves as a one-stop shop for EMS information and resources for public organizations. Local, county and state governments that are developing and implementing an EMS will find the PEER Center useful and can share their knowledge and field experience with others.

This guide is a compendium of the work of the Commission on Partnering convened in 1995 by the American Arbitration Association's Dispute Avoidance and Resolution Task Force (DART) of the construction industry.

A May 1999 Congressional Budget Office (CBO) paper highlights spending for infrastructure over the past 42 years.

The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has developed a web site which is beginning its second year. Conceived and developed by NAE staff and volunteer committee members, the web site is an excellent resource for discovering not only what engineers do, but also who engineers are.

The City of Portland, Oregon has adopted principles for involvement of citizens in city programs and projects. This 11 principle list represents the starting point for their neighborhood outreach and involvement program.

HUD's Communities page features case studies, information on brownfields, a Community Topics links page, and a discussion room.

Exceptionally informative 97 page publication on benchmarking and       performance measurement. A valuable addition to any public agency manager's library. PDF file.

This online magazine features successsful downtown revitalization projects and provides a forum for for the exchange of ideas between communities around the nation.

An Environmental Management System (EMS) is a set of management processes and procedures that allow an organization to analyze, control, and reduce the environmental impact of its activities, products and services and allow the organization to operate with greater efficiency and control. Environmental Management Systems provide local communities, governments, and public facilities with a structured approach for managing environment and regulatory responsibilities. These systems can serve as a powerful tool that can help manage operations more efficiently, improve a community's or facility's compliance, and address environmental risk both inside and outside the scope of EPA's regulatory programs.

List of 19 job titles most commonly requested in a response

This publication from the Washington Association of Cities briefly explores evidence and sources of this growing distrust, and highlights valuable benefits that government provides. The author, Susan Enger, a Municipal Research & Services Center planning consultant, focuses on examples of a variety of successful strategies that communities have used to reconnect citizens with government, to rehabilitate government's tarnished image, and to restore civility to the ongoing debate on public policy.

The Innovations Program strives to identify and celebrate outstanding examples of creative problem-solving in the public sector. It is sponsored by the Taubman Center for State and Local Government at theJohn F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.

We have again been invited to help identify public agencies with innovative programs that would qualify for the Innovations in American Government Awards. The program is a significant force in identifying and promoting excellence and creativity in the public sector. Through its annual awards competition, the Program provides concrete evidence that government deserves greater trust because it can and does work to improve the quality of life for citizens. Innovations Award winners gain national attention, serve as model programs worthy of replication by other agencies, receive monetary grants from the Institute for Government Innovation for replication activities, and spark research and teaching cases at Harvard and other schools across the country. Each applicant will be judged on its novelty, effectiveness, significance, and transferability. The awards are open to all levels of government, not just federal programs. There have only been a few public works related awards in previous years, which is probably a function of the lack of nominations from public works agencies more than anything else. The on-line application is available on their website (http://www.innovations.harvard.edu ) and are due May 17, 2002. Paper nominations are due May 3, 2002. Please encourage agencies that you believe would present a strong contenders for the 2002 awards competition to apply.

This handbook, developed by the City of Portland, Oregon, is designed to help shape how their staff think about, plan and carry out citizen involvement efforts. It is intended for the City employee new to citizen involvement and outreach, but seasoned veterans will also find useful information and suggestions.

A peer-reviewed journal from Sage Publications covering a variety of public works topics including management, administration, policy, innovation, and practical application of technology.

This site provides daily news updates, a calendar of events, and full-text articles on quality issues. It also provides a searchable ISO 9000 and QS 9000 registered company database.

The mission of the Ethics Center is to provide engineers, scientists, science and engineering students with resources useful for understanding and addressing ethically significant problems that arise in their work life.