Public Service Institute (PSI)

Public focus on government effectiveness has placed public sector leaders under enormous pressure to maintain and improve performance while doing more with less. Discover tools and resources to improve workforce commitment and  understand your working style and that of your peers. Learn skills to become a better communicator and to effectively manage your time and priorities. Share best practices, improve performance, and network with others in your field.

Thursdays, Sept. 12 to Oct. 3
8 to 11:30 a.m.
BSPSI-0700-100, $495

Employee Engagement

Thursday, Sept. 12

The beginning of any journey involves understanding where you are starting. The same is true of understanding your own strengths and weaknesses for the purpose of personal development in the workplace. Participants will be taken on a journey of self-discovery to identify core values and, most importantly, prevailing attitudes toward the work they do.

Behavioral Styles

Thursday, Sept. 19

We each bring a unique behavior style into the workplace that directly relates to our performance. Participants review a model of four primary behavioral styles to better understand their personal style as well as the styles of co-workers. Attendees will create a personal action based on their strengths and internal goals, as well as use SMART criteria to drive positive results. (This session includes a DISC assessment.)

Managing Priorities and Time 

Thursday, Sept. 26

Every day, employees are faced with reports, meetings, multiple requests and things that need to be done on short notice. Participants will examine multiple approaches to time management and learn techniques to effectively manage priorities. They will find answers to the question: How am I supposed to get all of this done? To decide what work is most important, employees need to understand the specific desired outcomes and know how to break those into daily responsibilities

Effective Communication Skills

Thursday, Oct. 3

Effective communicators can clearly share ideas and goals, which leads to enhanced performance in the workplace. Participants will learn strategies to enhance verbal, non-verbal, written and listening skills. This session seeks to improve both personal and organizational communication utilizing DISC assessment styles.

Targeted for those newly developing supervisors, team leads, managers or those that aspire to lead others in the future. Employees often get promoted into a managerial role but rarely receive the appropriate training. When you align people and create an organization, where everyone works together in partnership for a common goal or direction, that organization becomes successful. Inspire others to make a real difference at your workplace and to work toward a shared vision of positive change.

Wednesdays, Sept. 25 to Oct. 16
8 to 11:30 a.m.
BSPSI-0800-100, $495

Transformational Leadership

Wednesday, Sept. 25

Transformational leadership creates important, positive change. It is grounded in the belief that inspiring others to focus on the greater good produces a level of excellence that exceeds results achieved by other forms of leadership. This program will walk you through the four components to transformational leadership -- calling, charisma, challenge, and caring -- allowing you to develop the skills and techniques required to make a real difference at your workplace and to inspire others to work toward a shared vision of positive change.

Planning and Executing Effective Meetings

Wednesday, Oct. 2

In this interactive session, you will learn the secret to well-managed meetings and ensuring they provide value to participants. You will take away tools and processes around best practices for before, during and after the meeting so all future meetings move the organization forward to their desired results!

Ethics and Accountability

Wednesday,Oct. 9

Ethics is about people; about how we treat others and ourselves. Government and public service ethics adds an additional layer of accountability and responsibility to act in the best interest of the public. This workshop provides a content-rich framework for seeing, reflecting and growing ethical competence. The presentation and discussion will focus on three key subjects: the definition of ethics, the process of "breaking bad" and ethical competence. 

Influencing Others

Wednesday, Oct. 16

Whether or not you are in charge, this workshop will provide you with key skills for getting things done. Understanding the difference between influence and manipulation, including how the distinction makes all the difference. Discussions regarding influencing strategies from some of today's leading thought leaders, including references that you can follow-up with for further learning will be explored. Improve your ability to manage “up”, get agreement from peers, and motivate those around you, enabling you to work more effectively on projects as well as cross-functional teams.

Thursday, Oct. 17
8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
BSPSI-0850-001, $225

Join us for this one-day, interactive session to increase your ability to lead and deliver projects. Learn key principles that will help you deliver your projects, including leading factors for project success and failure. Learn how to develop plans to help you and your team stay on track as well as how to respond when (not if) changes occur. Gain a better understanding of what agile project management is (and isn't) and why it's relevant to more than just systems projects. Walk away with practical techniques to identify and manage risks so you can spend less time reacting to problems and more time avoiding them in the first place.

Beginning Drinking Water Class C and D

This live virtual class prepares individuals for certification testing as a Class C and D Public Water Supply Operator.  This class can also be taken to obtain continuing education credits for Class A and B certificate holders. Following class, students are responsible for scheduling their own exam for the Drinking Water Operator Certificate through the Illinois EPA. Topics include:

• Well and distribution system operation and maintenance
• Basic water flow hydraulics
• Chemical dosage mathematics
• Environmental Protection Agency laws
• Chlorination and fluoridation

Monday, Sept. 9 to Dec. 2 (no class Oct. 14 and Nov. 11) 
6 to 9 p.m.
BSPSI-0400-120, $575
*Course fee includes the book and shipping 

Advanced Drinking Water Class A and B

This live virtual course covers a majority of the significant procedures and concepts related to the operation and maintenance of Illinois Class A and Class B public water supply operations, and will prepare students for the Class A and Class B water operators’ IL EPA exam and certification. Students must meet specific experience, education, and examination requirements in order to qualify for certification. Following class, students are responsible for scheduling their own exam for the Advanced Drinking Water Operators Certificate through the Illinois EPA. Topics include:

• Disinfection
• Fluoridation
• Distribution
• Clarification
• Lime-Soda Softening
• Ion Exchange Softening
• Filtration
• Iron and manganese control

Tuesday, Sept. 10 to Dec. 3
6 to 9 p.m.
BSPSI-0400-130, $590
*Fee includes the books and shipping  

Beginning Wastewater Class 3 and 4

This live virtual course will help prepare you for the Class 3 and Class 4 wastewater operators’ state exam and IL EPA certification. Applicants must meet specific experience, education, and examination requirements in order to qualify for certification. You will earn three months of on-the-job credit by completing this class and gain confidence in your abilities as you take this first step in moving up in this vital field. Following class, students are responsible for scheduling their own exam for the Wastewater Operation Certificate through the Illinois EPA. Topics include:

• Introduction to wastewater
• Collection systems
• Lift stations
• Flow measurement
• Stabilization ponds
• Sampling & laws governing treatment plants
• Chlorination

Tuesday,  Sept. 10 to Nov. 19
6 to 9 p.m.
BSPSI-0400-110, $595
*Fee includes the book and shipping 

Advanced Wastewater Class 1 and 2

This live virtual course will help prepare you for the Class 1 and Class 2 Wastewater Operator state exam. Eligibility requirements can be found on this website:

www.epa.state.il.us/water/operator-cert/waste-water. Following class, students are responsible for scheduling their own exam for the Waste Water Operator Certificate through the Illinois EPA. Topics include:

• Activated Sludge
• Chemical Addition
• Digesters
• Primary Treatment
• Pumps and Pumping
• Tertiary Treatment

Thursday, Sept. 12 to Nov. 21 
6 to 9 p.m.
BSPSI-0400-140, $595 ($495 if you have taken Beginning Wastewater in the last 12 months and have the textbook).
*Fee includes the book and shipping