Thank You

Dear Tim Snyder,
Thank you for coordinating the MCLEAPS program and being my main supervisor for the semester. You provided me with an experience that is unforgettable. I learned so much and enjoyed every moment with the county. I enjoyed our jokes and thanks for telling my mom how awesome I am. I also appreciate you allowing me to shape my experience in this internship and for encouraging me to connect with others in the county outside of Human Resources. I also enjoyed talking about ASU football with you and gripping about their lost to UofA. We still had the Territorial Cup for three years! I am glad we will stay in touch after my internship and you will continue teasing Andy about his picture being in Ruby's office. Thank you for everything and will see you for lunch next week.
Tessa Otero

What have I learned?

The goals I outlined in my first post were:

1) To gain a better understanding of how county government functions and the various services it provides to the public.
2) Learn the various functions of human resources in a large organization.
3) I would like to shadow a deputy county manager and gain better insight about their role in the organization.

I am happy that I accomplished all three goals. I learned how the county serves the public in numerous ways and I also learned about the different functions of human resources at the county. I was able to shadow and interview Mary Ellen Sheppard, Assistant County Manager and Director of Human Services. I also met other county leaders and I'm glad to call them mentors now. The most interesting fact was I had one of the county leaders as my professor this past semester. Angie Flick works in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and is Rozan Latham's supervisor. I did not share this information earlier, but we have set a lunch meeting to know each other more and continue staying in touch. Sometimes, I would call her professor at work and forget we are not in class. I learned that relationships are important and I'm honored to have met so many people dedicated to public service. I gained insight into a professional work environment and observed effective leaders in action. I learned that passion is the driver of success. Many county employees continue to work in the public sector because they want to serve others and they are passionate about their work. Employees at Public Health-WIC, the Sheriff's Office, Human Resources, OMB, and other departments are passionate about their work and that stems from knowing who they are. I'm really proud to be part of the first MCLEAPS cohort.

TRIO Devils

This past summer, I interned at TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) at ASU Downtown. It was a very successful internship and I loved my time there. TRIO SSS is a federally funded program and a grant offered by the U.S. Department of Education that institutions of higher learning compete for. The program provides services to first generation, low-income, and student with disabilities to increase college graduation among these demographics. I am Treasurer of TRIO Devils and it is a student organization with a mission to enhance student services offered at TRIO SSS and celebrate academic success  of TRIO SSS students. In our first semester, we raised $200 and learned the basics of fundraising. It is a bit stressful to commit to starting a student organization because funds are limited and members have big ideas, but not enough money to implement them. During the winter break, the executive team and I are going to debrief our accomplishments and challenges this semester and I hope to establish a fundraising goal. I learned every fundraiser must have a clear objective and goal. One cannot just plan a fundraising event without the message of why should others care being clear. I am glad to be an executive member of TRIO Devils and hope to accomplish great things next semester.

Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Meeting

On November 19th, I attended the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors formal meeting. I attended the meeting with Mary Ellen Shepard and it seemed short. The supervisors had already made their decisions prior to the start of the meeting and quickly voted on the proposals in the agenda. The most interesting part of the meeting was hearing from the Elections Department. After counting all the ballots, the department reported that 40,000 ballots were uncountable because they filled the ballot incorrectly or wrote down fictional names. Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck were write-ins for some county elected positions on several ballots. I met more county leaders and several staff members that work with the supervisors. I was able to ask them questions about their positions and share information about myself. Voter education and information is very important and can be effective in creating more civic participation. If I had more time in my internship, I would have liked to tour the Elections Department and learn how the county prepares for election days and the educational initiatives they are working on. Here is a link the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors meeting website and the online video of the meeting I attended is available here.

Strengths

Maricopa County is a great organization to work and offers great opportunities. Government is unpredictable and not consistent, but that will always be present. I like that everyday is different in the county, but I do have recommendations about how to strengthen the MCLEAPS program. This is the first year of the program so we are still learning what works and what does not work. I would like to see future cohorts visit various departments as a group. The interns and I visited the Human Service Campus together, but that was our only tour as a group. I really appreciate that there will be a supervisor orientation for the departments hosting an intern because I think county supervisors must understand this is a learning opportunity for ASU students and there must be more opportunities to expose them to how the county operates as well as how the department functions on a daily basis. Opportunities to shadow department leaders will be great as well. I was fortunate to shadow several leaders, but not all the other interns were able to do that. My experience in the program was great and I appreciate my time at the county. I know the program will only grow and more departments will want to host an intern in the future. I have shared my suggestions with my supervisor and appreciate my input was heard and valued.

MCLEAPS Graduation Video

The MCLEAPS interns and I were tasked with creating a final presentation for our graduation ceremony in December. Working in groups can be difficult, but creating a presentation that showcased each of our own personal experiences throughout the internship was becoming difficult. How do we share our experience and make it interesting? As the first cohort of the program, we did not have any prior presentations to help guide us and we were establishing expectations for future cohorts. We then decided to create a video as our presentation.  I was a journalism major in my first year of college, but I have not worked with video equipment in three years. Since I was the only one with video editing skills, I quickly was appointed leader of this project. I was very nervous and felt very overwhelmed once I started editing. I had to reacquaint myself with the editing software at Cronkite and I also had to relearn how to use a professional digital camera. I wanted the video to be great and I wanted it to be our video. For two weeks, I interviewed my fellow interns and captured footage of them working in their offices. For the next two weeks, I edited the footage I had and asked my fellow interns about their input and what they would like to see change. Several of them would help me with the video at Cronkite and even stay late with me editing. They could not provide much help, but they were encouraging me. Two of them even did narrations for the video. We presented the video to Mary Ellen Sheppard and other HR leaders twice to receive their feedback. The video is finally done and we will showcase it at our graduation ceremony. Here is the link to the final video edit and I am happy to have finished this project for our internship. I hope this provides a better visual of what the MCLEAPS internship encompasses and how great the program is. I am sorry I could not include the video in this post, but the file was too big.

 

 

Passion Planner

I recently learned about the Passion Planner from a Facebook post by a friend and I just ordered one. I have struggled with time management and I have not mastered the skill of managing my time. I have attended many workshops about time management and I implement some practices, but then I don't continue the practice. I am starting to think I need to manage my time to make time to do effective time management. Why am I not mastering this skill?

I think my solution may be PASSION PLANNER!

 

 

I have included a video about Passion Planner and hope you all think it is a great product. I am awed by individuals who reinvent the concept of something, such as a planner. This entrepreneur is very inspiring and I love that she created a product that will help other people accomplish their dreams. 

 

Urban Governance

Maricopa County demonstrates urban governance and public service in every way. The county demonstrates urban governance through its relations with cities within its boundaries and the population it serves is over 3.5 million. Maricopa County is the 14th largest county in the United States and includes the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. The county operates all the jails within its boundaries and has to work with local law enforcement on a daily basis. The Maricopa County Human Services Department demonstrates public service by providing services to the public.  The department provides education resources and workforce development services as well. Another department that services the public within the county is the Maricopa County Education Services Agency (MCESA). This department helps school districts within Maricopa County with implementation of state education requirements and mandates and providing resources to home schooled children. Public Health-WIC is another program that demonstrates public service by offering assistance and resources to new mothers within the county. I can continue to write about how Maricopa County demonstrates urban governance and public service, but because it is a local government I think it is given that the organization demonstrates both in many ways.

Career Services Event: ASU Job Fair

On October 22, 2014, I attended the job fair at ASU Downtown with the recruiting team from Central HR to promote the MCLEAPS program to other ASU students. It was very different standing on the other side of the table and informing students about employment opportunities with Maricopa County. ASU Downtown did a great job hosting employers and the lunch provided was tasty and good. I could not answer all the questions, but I did answer questions from students about the MCLEAPS program and the departments participating in the program for Spring 2015. I learned that Maricopa County cannot accept resumes at job fairs because they do not want to appear as giving special treatment to certain candidates. Certain students wanted to give the recruiters their resumes and I think this would be great information to share with students at a job fair informational session at Career Services. Students are told to bring resumes, but many other government agencies cannot accept them and this goes against what students have been told.

The best part of the day was speaking at the informational session that took place after the job fair. Many students attended and fellow intern, Rozan Latham, attended the event as well. We shared our experiences and I stressed to students that the first step is to apply. I think many students are intimidated to apply for certain internship programs because they think it is too competitive and the chances of them getting a placement are low. However, students will regret not applying and always wonder if they would have been chosen. This experience was a great learning opportunity and I am glad to share information about the MCLEAPS program to other students.

Human Services Campus

Maricopa County Health Care for Homelessness building
at the Human Services Campus.

On October 16, 2014, the MCLEAPS interns and I toured the Human Services Campus. The campus' mission is to use the power of collaboration to create solutions to end homelessness and the vision is to create a community without homelessness. We met with the staff and learned about the many partnerships at the campus. The partner agencies are NOVA Safe Haven, Maricopa County Health Care for the Homeless (HCH), Central Arizona Shelter Services (CASS), St. Vincent de Paul,

Central Arizona Shelter Serves building
at the Human Services Campus.

Lodestar Day Resource Center, and St. Joseph the Worker. There are many other partner agencies, but too many to list. The first room we toured was the intake room. Many people seeking services at the campus start at this room and there are multiple services provided. There was an agency that assisted people in obtaining state issued identification cards and other important documentation. The intake room is the starting point for identifying a person's needs and directing them to the appropriate resource. We then walked to the Lodestar Day Resource Center and learned more about the campus' approach to solving homelessness. Their approach is to house individuals coming to the campus as soon as possible. Once housed, those given services will be given a timeline to seek employment and make other progresses. This tour was very informational and presents a new idea on how to tackle homelessness in our community. I also learned about a partnership between nonprofits and a government agency.  Here is the link to the Human Services Campus website.

Leadership at Maricopa County

At the county, I am supervised by multiple managers. I completed my project for Employee Development and I am now working at the Administration Building (301 W. Jefferson). I have two projects to complete for two different supervisors. The first priority project is for Keely Farrow, Human Resources Manager and the other is a second priority for Ruby Kitterman, Testing Supervisor. My supervisors allow me to practice time management and have these two projects done by the end of my internship. I work with many leaders in the county and they exhibit leadership in different ways. The compensation team at Central HR is a great example of team effort and leadership. This division enforces merit rules that determine the salary of county employees and manage market range titles for each position and department. Market range titles include job descriptions and pay ranges. The manager works well with his team and they meet weekly. They report to the County Board of Supervisors and work closely with Mary Ellen Sheppard. I am still learning the functions of Central HR at the Administration Building, but know more leadership opportunities will come.

The MCLEAPS Internship Program

I have received many comments from several people asking how the interview process for the MCLEAPS program works. So, I hope I answer all your questions in this post. I am part of the first cohort of the program and my experience may differ from future experiences. The deadline for the Fall 2014 MCLEAPS program was August 12, 2014. I emailed MaryJo Zunk at the School of Public Affairs Career Services my resume and cover letter and the next day I got a call from Maricopa County Education Services Agency (MCESA). The next day I received a call from the Office of Management & Budget (OMB) and Human Resources. The interviews were scheduled back-to-back. Within a week of submitting my application, I was offered a position with Human Resources. The interviews I had with the various departments were not difficult, but the one I least felt confident about was the OMB interview. It was my last interview of the day and I was not prepared to answer one question, "What has been your favorite class?" My mind went blank and I could not remember one class I have taken. That was my interview experience. I hope those of you who interviewed had more time to prepare. The application and interview process was hectic, but the first day was awesome. At orientation, the other interns and I met with County Manager Tom Manos and we met with Mary Ellen Sheppard, Assistant County Manger and Director of Human Resources. They were excited to have us at the county and proud to have this partnership with ASU. They also gave great advice. I will share with you in another post the advice received and how it impacted our internship experience. Here is a link to an article written about the MCLEAPS internship program.

Mary Ellen Sheppard

I interviewed Mary Ellen Sheppard with fellow MCLEAPS intern, Rozan Latham.  If you google her name, you will read about her many accomplishments in the County Sheriff's Office and her many contributions on various committees and boards. I am very impressed with her resume, but I wanted our interview with her to be about her perspective of leadership. In the first five minutes, Rozan said she was impressed with Sheppard's leadership skills because so many departments and people within the county respect her and want to work with her. Sheppard responded that she had to learn how to collaborate with others because early in her career she was very driven and focused more on projects than getting to know a team. I instantly related with her because I can be so driven that I forget about the people around me as well. Sheppard grew up in a military family and she aspired to attend West

Mary Ellen Sheppard

Point when it opened its doors to women for the first time in her teens. She did not attend West Point and she said she still remembers the disappointment she felt. Later in the conversation, I asked about her role as a leader and what advice would she give to women aspiring leadership positions. Her response was that women should be confident and feel empowered, but one's career is not about the work, but the impact made by the work. She stated that women must encourage each other and Sheppard has worked with many nonprofits focusing on women empowerment. She also repeated that relationships are important and each person should be valued for the talents they bring to an organization. The conversation between Rozan, Mary Ellen Sheppard, and I was a great one and we related to each others' experiences, but they were different as well. After our interview, I reflected on my strengths and desire to work in the public sector. Sheppard said it is important to write one's thoughts down and have a purpose. This conversation is one I will never forget.

Professional Development Series

Every month, the Employee Development team at Maricopa County host a professional development workshop day for the MCLEAP interns. This month, we had a workshop about providing and receiving feedback. The workshop was very informational about how to communicate one's progress or how to tell them to correct a behavior or critique their work. We did role playing among the group and we all felt it was more difficult to give feedback then to receive it. The person giving the feedback sets the tone for the meeting and if done done well the one receiving the feedback will not become defensive. I think this workshop was also very good for the future about how to receive feedback. I am sensitive and I am a hard worker. Sometimes, I just want to hear, "Great job," from everyone, but I know that not will always happen. In the workplace, there is always one co-worker who critiques or whose standards are higher than the rest. Also, a co-worker may say something and meant it to be a compliment, but the message was not received in that way. As I write my report for the Employee Development team, I am always wondering if I'm meeting their standards or is the document well written. I meet with my supervisor to receive feedback and he does a very good job of telling me what needs to be included. As my time in this department of HR comes to a close, I hope I receive future feedback well and remember this is a learning experience. Next month, we will learn about emotional intelligence. The Professional Development series provided in the program is really great and we can apply the lessons learned the next day. The workshop reinforced the power of communication. I believe effective communication is difficult to do because of body language. Our trainer, Beth, told us that body language is much louder than the words coming out of one's mouth.. Body language must match the tone of your voice. This was a very interesting workshop and very helpful.

Public Sector Training

 As I wrote in a previous post, I am working on an assignment that requires me to visit various county departments and learn about their needs from a Learning Management System (LMS). An LMS tracks all the training employees in the county have completed and must complete. Blackboard is considered an LMS. An LMS can include other features due to the advancement of technology, but the main function the county requires  of an LMS is the tracking of training of all employees. After visiting other departments, I always leave with a sense of whoa (I don't know how else to explain it) because training can be complicated and messy. For example, Maricopa County Public Health-WIC must complete training requirements set by the federal and state government. Public Health-WIC is mandated by the state to track training in one system, but the county tracks training in another. The number of hours in training for each employee is very high and the information is very repetitive. However, mandated training at the courts is intense. "Our biggest [training] customer is the courts," my supervisor says because attorneys, sheriff deputies, and other court/law enforcement employees have federal, state, and county training requirements and a mandated number of hours to meet in training as well. 

Training employees is very important, especially in the public sector because the customer is everyone. It may seem frustrating for some employees who have to attend training, but the goal is to ensure they are provided the tools to assist the public and enforce policy. The Office of Vital Records is a state-run department, but the county also issues birth and death certificates as well as marriage licenses. The rules establishing eligibility are set forth by the state legislature and the county must ensure their employees are knowledgeable about these standards of eligibility. A lot of the training is specific to the department and deals with policy. I think this project is providing me a new outlook on HR and employee training. 

Arizona Board of Regents Meeting

President Eileen Klein

I am a member of the Undergraduate Student Government Downtown (USGD) Policy Team. The position is an appointed position and must be approved by the USGD Senate. On September 24th and 25th, we attended the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) meeting at Northern Arizona University (NAU). I've previously met Regent President Eileen Klein, but I was not expecting her to remember me. We met at school when I was taking PAF 494: Lessons from Contemporary Leaders in Fall 2013. She was a guest speaker for that class session and her experiences in the public sector awed me. She was previously chief of staff to Governor Brewer and worked with United Health care. I was really happy to see her again and listen to her ideas about how to improve public higher education in Arizona.


The Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) governs the public institutions of Arizona and all positions are appointed by the governor. Every year, the board meets about three times and each Arizona public university hosts the meeting at least once. I really learned how influential student leaders are when I attended the meeting. We met with all the student government representatives from NAU, UofA, ASU West, and ASU Poly. Many student government presidents updated the board about their current projects and successes from last year. The most interesting part of the meeting was when the board was discussing college access to students from minority groups and low-income families. I am really passionate this topic because I am a member of TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) and the program is a federally funded program that promotes academic achievement among first generation, low-income, and student with disabilities. The discussion was lively and the questions asked by the regents were thoughtful. I am really honored to have attended this meeting and the only thing I would like to change is the number of students in the audience. Here is a link to the ABOR website: http://www.azregents.edu/default.aspx

Real Colors

Blue picture description in the workbook.

Gold picture description in the workbook.

Orange picture description in the workbook.

I attended a workshop and  my supervisor was the  facilitator. The workshop  was about Real Colors. Real  Colors is a personality test  and consists of 4      personalities - blue, gold,    green, and orange. I took a similar test called True Colors. Since I already took the True Colors test, I knew I was going to be orange. Orange is described as being the spontaneous, sociable, domineering, and outgoing personality type. According to my scores, I am a high orange. However, I have blue and gold as my second personality types because they had the same score. Blue is a very emotional personality type and gold is very goal oriented. My lowest score was green and 'green people' like to analyze and critically think about almost everything. About 40 people took the class and we all split into groups based on our colors. I was with the oranges and I became more outgoing as I talked with my fellow oranges. The class was really good and my supervisor did a fantastic job facilitating.

Green picture description in the workbook.

After the workshop, I noticed the Employee Development team used True Colors everyday to communicate with each other. I hear references about a co-worker's personality type at least once a day. I am also understanding my supervisor's communication style as well. When we debrief after a meeting, he likes to discuss the meeting in stages instead of just pointing out the obvious. True colors is a great workshop and when implemented in the workplace can help communication be more effective and build a better team environment.

My Supervisor: Vernon Goode and His Dad

Vernon Goode

Vernon Goode is my supervisor and is a trainer for Maricopa County. He is the son of Calvin C. Goode, former City of Phoenix councilman. He and I have been doing a lot of site visits and he did work for Air Quality as a trainer as well. During one of our visits, we passed the Calvin C. Goode Building next to Phoenix City Hall and we discussed his dad. I live in the district Calvin Goode represented and I'm glad I live in the district that elected the city's first black councilman. We walked into the building and I was awed by the awards displayed on one wall inside the building. My supervisor said that his dad has many more awards displayed at his house. Pictures were also displayed and my supervisor is in several of them. In one of the pictures, he is standing by his dad when he ran for Vice Mayor in the 1970s. I won't provide details about his appearance, but my supervisor definitely had a groovy look. I really enjoyed our visit to the building and the discussion we had. I think life is really funny because the department invited me to a lunch with their former director, Mary Lou. At the lunch, I learned Mary Lou's father was Chief of Police for the City of Phoenix and worked with Vernon's dad when he was on the city council. I always wondered how small the public sector field was and this coincidence reaffirmed my belief that it is a very small world.

The Security Building

In an earlier post, I wrote that I work at the Security Building. On the first day of my internship, my supervisor gave me a tour of the building and I learned some interesting facts about its history. The building is actually two buildings. The Security Building was built in 1928 and was once the tallest building in Phoenix.

Below are online pictures of the building a link to website with more information about the Security Building:
http://www.maricopa.gov/imagine/about.aspx

The Security Center was later built between the San Carlos Hotel and the Security Building. The Security Building owner added the ninth floor to compete with LUHRS Tower for the title of 'Tallest Building in Phoenix'. The LUHRS Tower was built in 1924.

Below are pictures of the LUHRS Tower and a link to a website with great information about LUHRS and more pictures from earlier times:
http://www.luhrscitycenter.com/history/

The ninth floor at the Security Building was the owner's penthouse and the view from that floor is breathtaking. You could see most of downtown Phoenix. I think the history about the Security Building is interesting and navigating my work building is difficult because to get to the eight and ninth floor of the Security Building, one has to get on the Security Center's elevator and take it to the fourth floor. Then, you have to go across the hallway and turn right to take the Security Building elevators to the eighth and ninth floors.

Regular Work Day

My work days are never consistent and I attend many meetings. The only consistency is I arrive to work at 7am. My co-workers come in at various times, but my supervisor arrives the same time as I do. The only one who 'clocks in' earlier than my boss and me is Employee Development Specialist, Nichole Patrick. Currently, I am researching the functions and attributes of a Learning Management System (LMS) and meeting with trainers in other departments to discuss what they like and don't like about the county's current LMS and what they would like to see in the next one. My meeting times with other departments varies and I also work at a satellite office away from the central county building, the Administration Building at 301 W. Jefferson. The Security Building houses the Office of the Public Fiduciary, County Attorney's Civil Division, Office of the Legal Defender and other county departments. My work day ends at 4pm and I attend night classes at ASU Downtown. My work days will change when I start working at the Administration Building with central HR, but I believe there will be no consistency there as well. I work 40 hours a week and this is the first time I am a full-time student and full-time worker.

Maricopa County Human Resources

Maricopa County is a government agency consisting of elected officials and over 40 departments that serve the public. My department, Human Resources, is headed by Mary Ellen Sheppard, Assistant County Manager and Director of Human Resources. The department is a very important component of the county because hiring employees is its sole responsibility. However, HR does more than that. I don't know all its functions, but I am excited to learn how an HR office functions. Every department in the county has a HR office and representative, but central HR oversees all county departments and employees.

Below is a link to the county's organizational chart:
http://www.maricopa.gov/BOS/pdf/orgchart.pdf

My first assignment is to work with Employee Development, a division within the county's central human resources department. Employee Development consists of trainers who train all Maricopa County employees. The county is in the beginning stages of purchasing a new Learning Management System (LMS) and  I am going to help Employee Development research the wants and don't wants other trainers in the county have for this new LMS. Another assignment assigned to me is to review the county's Market Range Titles (MRTs) and this relates to a policy change HR wishes to propose and implement by the end of the year. The third assignment I will be working on is creating a document summarizing the screening, testing, and hiring process of certain court positions.