Agency Self-Assessment Workshop

Join a Wildlife Governance Principles (WGPs) community of practice – a group of like-minded folks who have an interest in continuous improvement by fulfilling our public trust responsibilities and meeting the governance expectations of modern society.

The Agency Self-Assessment Workshop is a detailed interpretation of the Agency Self-Assessment Tool results and discussion of the next steps your agency can take to improve alignment with the Wildlife Governance Principles. Agencies usually conduct this assessment and workshop after they have determined they are ready through the use of the Principles Performance Assessment Tool (PPAT) and the Agency Culture and Capacity Characterization (ACCC) Instrument.

Benefits of Agency Application of WGPs

  • Be more effective at meeting your public trust responsibilities by focusing on priorities
  • Achieve wider public support leading to more support for your agency’s decisions, and decisions that will be longer lasting
  • Contribute to your agency’s desire for continuous improvement
  • Better understand the diverse perspectives of your citizens
  • Implementation is flexible and adaptable to your agency’s socio-political environment

Easy to Assess Agency Alignment to WGPs

  • You decide on the referent (e.g., entire agency or specific bureau)
  • Easy to use, on-line assessment tool (takes staff about 30 minutes to complete)
  • Report with results of assessment tool provides a thorough summary of how well your agency’s traits and practices align with principles of public trust and good governance
  • Report highlights information that will help in setting priorities and taking needed action
  • Survey administration and report of assessment results provided for a nominal fee

Moving Assessment Results to Action

  • Seize the opportunity to be introspective, consider the future, and determine how to be more responsive and relevant to all of the communities you serve
  • Discover your strengths and identify areas for improvement in a discussion-based format
  • Experience an internally led leadership-style retreat that results in specific actionable steps
  • No external consultants needed

The Public Trust Practice Agency Self-Assessment Administration

If you are interested in having your agency, division, etc. take the agency self-assessment tool and conduct a workshop, see the information below.

Registering for the Self-assessment Tool

  • Contact the survey administrator, Ms. Meghan Baumer, Center for Conservation Social Science, Cornell University, who will serve as your point of contact for any questions: ptpractice@cornell.edu
  • If paying by check, an invoice in the amount of $295 will be billed to you from Cornell University
  • If paying by credit card, an additional processing fee is included. An invoice in the amount of $325 will be billed to you from Cornell University and a link for an online payment will be made available

Administration of the Self-Assessment Tool

  • Receive a link for an individualized (to your agency) survey
  • Communication about completed surveys during the administration time-frame

Detailed Report with Anonymized Results (Means)

  • Individual question frequency sheets for your workshop facilitators
  • Initial interpretation of the report from members of the Public Trust Practice Facilitation team
  • Thoughts about your data including questions you can ask your workshop participants
  • General observations about results compared to other agencies that have been assessed

Tools to Assist with your Workshop

  • A detailed facilitator’s guide with instructions for interpreting Agency Assessment results and running a workshop
  • A pre-filled ballot sheet with top 20 or so higher importance, lower satisfaction practices
  • A Power Point with your report data

Testimonials

See what some wildlife professionals are saying about Wildlife Governance Principles workshops:

“FWC piloted the Wildlife Governance Principles workshop in January 2016. The principles align with what we are trying to accomplish in FWC – changing our behaviors and practices to reach out to new, diverse audiences and engaging them in our decision-making processes to achieve our conservation goals. We thought that these were so important that we have incorporated them in our in-house leadership development program in a course required for all supervisors.”

  – Nick Wiley, former Executive Director, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

“We rarely make space for introspection about agency culture, transparency, whether our typical decision processes are truly inclusive and participatory with the public we serve, and how these issues influence our ability to deliver wildlife management programs.  The Wildlife Governance Principles Workshop gave us that opportunity, helped us recognize where we have already incorporated principles of good governance into our work, and to discuss priority areas for improvement.”

  – Jeremy Hurst, Big Game Unit Leader, NYSDEC