June 10, 2014

Held at Madison’s Café, Jefferson City, MO 

Attendees:

Heath Pickerill – MO-LTAP
Kristi Barr – MO-LTAP
Bill Stone – MoDOT
Larry Bishop – MACTO
Mike Giesel – Missouri Chapter APWA
Gary Scheipeter – Missouri Chapter APWA
Cindy Cox – State Technical College of Missouri (Linn State)
Logan Gerloff – State Technical College of Missouri (Linn State)
Nick Ashback – City of Republic 

Update on the MO-LTAP Scholars Program

• Heath gave an update on the program. There are now 158 Level I graduates and 1 Level II graduate. There are 443 participants representing 49 agencies. The top five agencies with their number of Level I graduates in parenthesis include Boone County Public Works (40), Jasper County Highway Department (17), Joplin Special Road District (15), Platte County Public Works (11) and City of Nixa Public Works (10).

• Heath covered the highlights from the July 31, 2013 meeting. Highlights include:

• Credit for classes taken under Level II in the original structure will be awarded as new Level II or Level III on an individual basis. Participants will be asked what level they want individual classes to count.
• A participant will be allowed to retake a class for credit under a different level. The participant will be charged to retake the class.
• Some flexibility was given in regards to which level credit was given for classes previously recognized as open electives through June 1, 2014. These included classes such as ADA Training, LPA Basics and Work Zone for Emergency Responders.
• Participation in Level II replaces the requirement to take two electives in a two year period in order to maintain an active Level I status. Supervisory skills classes (Level III) can be counted as Level II electives.

Discussion

• The group discussed whether Level I classes should be offered at the same time as Level II and Level III classes from 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. with lunch included. There were various opinions. Some prefer the 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. schedule because it allows maintenance crews to work part of the day. Others felt that because cost is a big issue for small agencies the adjusted time would be better by allowing more time for travel. It was decided to schedule a few Level I classes at the new time and monitor the responses.
• The group discussed whether keeping Level II graduates engaged in the Roads Scholar Program should be a concern. The consensus was to focus on attracting new participants versus tracking CEU’s. The group also agreed that we should not develop classes just to continue adding classes. It should be based on requests and need.
• The request from Greene County Highway Department for credit of several classes for one of their employees was reviewed. The group agreed not to make a special consideration and only give credit for one class as outlined in the program guidelines.

Development

• The following MO-LTAP Scholar III courses still need to be developed: Bridge & Culvert Hydraulics, Innovative Financing, Intergovernmental Relations, and Traffic Design.
• Upcoming ceremonies will be held at Jasper County Highway Department on August 12 and Boone County Public Works once it has been scheduled.
• The first Level II graduate will be awarded at the MACTO Conference on October 21.
• Heath will develop a boiler plate press release for agencies to use.
• Nick suggested a MUTCD basic class that covers the content and how to decipher the information.
• Gary stated that the Basic Math Skills class was very good. It was pointed out that it is difficult to get good attendance for this class. Cindy suggested changing the name to “math refresher” so that it is less intimidating to attendees.
• Mike and Gary requested more classes in the St. Louis area. They both agreed that if they know far enough in advance, they can help promote the classes. They are both interested in requesting certain classes for their area.