Work with Citizen Boards and Committees

Open to professionals and elected officials. Elected officials will receive a LELA 201-course credit. This course is part of the Strategic Planning and Community Engagements series.
One of the most common and substantive ways citizen participation in local government occurs is through service on appointed advisory boards (CABs) (also sometimes called committees, commissions or task forces). While some CABs are statutorily mandated, most are created at the discretion of governing boards in order to provide community input for various local government functions.
How can local governments get the most out of CABs?
What practices yield positive results for the organization as well as a positive experience for citizen volunteers?
What You’ll Learn:
- Important nuts-and-bolts, including clarifying roles and expectations; recruiting, appointing, and training volunteers; staffing and managing committee work; and evaluating CAB effectiveness
- Exercises to address key issues and promising practices from their experience
*Participants will be asked to complete a pre-workshop survey. The survey will be sent out in advance.
Meet Your Instructors
Participants will receive a copy of Creating and Maintaining Effective Local Government Citizen Advisory Committees (Vaughn M. Upshaw, 2010) as well as an after-workshop report.