Featured image: Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey and House Speaker Beth Harwell (bottom center) join new legislators for a training workshop. UT Knoxville Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek (far right) and interim IPS Vice President Herb Byrd (far left) welcome them.
The Naifeh Center for Effective Leadership partnered with the Howard H. Baker Center for Public Policy at UT Knoxville to host the Newly Elected Tennessee Legislators Workshop at the Baker Center in January. This workshop was part of the new Tennessee Legislative Leaders Academy, a program of the Naifeh Center and the Baker Center. This program will include various leadership trainings throughout the year for Tennessee legislators.
New Course for Law Enforcement
The UT Law Enforcement Innovation Center is working with the National Clearinghouse for Science, Technology and the Law (NCSTL) at the Stetson University College of Law to develop the online course “Locating, Evaluating and Selecting Expert Witnesses.” Continuing legal education for attorneys as well as credits for law enforcement professionals and forensic scientists may be available for the course. The project will showcase an engaging type of education which uses video and demonstrations rather than the common lecture method. It also will demonstrate how the NCSTL database may be used for scientific evidence research.
Becoming More Competitive
The Center for Industrial Services (CIS) helps companies be more competitive. One example was a recent event in Oak Ridge for nuclear suppliers to learn more about government contracting, project management for fabricators and suppliers, government laws and regulations for U.S.-based nuclear projects and nuclear quality systems introduction. More than 170 people from 43 companies attended the program that was hosted by CIS, UT, Y-12 UPF Procurement, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development and Gilmartin Engineering Works.
Assistance When You Need It
When fire broke out in the Van Buren County administrative building late one evening, UT County Technical Assistance Service (CTAS) County Government Consultant Ben Rodgers and Fire and Emergency Services Management Consultant Kevin Lauer responded quickly in assisting Van Buren County officials who were affected by the fire. Rodgers assisted county officials in contacting their insurance provider Local Government Insurance Pool, software provider Local Government Corp. and necessary state agencies to begin the process of getting the government back to work for its citizens. Lauer remotely coordinated various fire departments from the surrounding area, including trucks and firefighters from Sparta, McMinnville, Putnam County, Cumberland County, Crossville and Soddy-Daisy. As CTAS Executive Director Robin Roberts says, “Customer service doesn’t always happen between 8 and 5.”
