Academy for Excellence in Local Governance

Fellows in the municipal track complete nine core classes, plus complete five elective classes of their choice.

Basics of Risk Management
One of the main responsibilities of local governments is to protect its residents from risk to themselves and their property. Risk may result from a number of sources, including fire, crime, automobile accidents, harm to the infrastructure, or as a result of waste disposal. This class is designed to sharpen the awareness of officials that local government activities are subject to risks that may result in significant loss. Through learning about steps to reduce and control loss exposure and tools for identifying hazards, government officials can learn how to avoid the consequences of taking unnecessary risk.

Conducting Effective Meetings
Conducting public business requires managing the issues that come before a public body. Building an agenda, promoting useful discussion, and providing a structure for decision-making are key goals for an effective meeting and for effective public officials. The instructor also covers the proper use of organized rules of order---known as parliamentary procedure---which allow all voices to be heard, but with debate that remains focused and civil.

Consensus and Team Building
This class introduces municipal leaders to the basic skills needed to successfully resolve conflict and build consensus within a local government setting. Particular emphasis is placed on developing ways to improve the design of public processes to enhance community involvement and satisfaction. This class is highly interactive and involves role play and small group work built around hypothetical situations that will seem familiar to anyone who has served as a local government official.

Employment Issues
This class provides an overview of preferred employment practices and of the legal restrictions involved in hiring, firing, promoting, and disciplining employees. The instructor addresses how positions should be advertised and interviews conducted. Also included are risk management techniques concerning proper supervision of employees.

Ethics
Officials should be knowledgeable of their public ethics ordinance, as generally required by state law. Many officials fill out the necessary forms and assume that they have complied with the law. But are their day-to-day actions living up to the intent of the law? There is often a fine line between legal and ethical behavior, and this class illustrates the differences through real-life scenarios and small group discussions.

Municipal Budgeting
This class provides an overview of municipal budgeting, including: the legal, policy, and procedural framework of municipal budgets; ways in which the budget is a tool for resource allocation and financial management; steps in the budget process; and key issues involved in budget preparation, adoption, and implementation. Budget organization and formats, revenue sources, and revenue expenditure forecasting are also covered.

Open Meetings
This class provides an overview of Maryland's Open Meetings Law, which guides public officials in the requirements for providing public notice of decision-making functions and for closing meetings when appropriate. A knowledgeable expert focuses on the law's application to municipalities, including some of the cases and complaints that have come before the Compliance Board.

Public Information Act
What kind of information should be released to the public upon request? Many difficulties can be avoided by knowing the answer. This class helps officials and staff at all levels who must deal with the public by educating them about the state law governing the handling of public records. The class includes small roundtable discussions using real-life scenarios to further illustrate appropriate responses to requests from the public or the press.

Structure of Municipal Government
This class addresses the various forms of municipal government practiced in Maryland and relates the structures to municipal government operations, including the relationship between the legislative and administrative functions. The class also covers municipal charters and the powers and limitations of municipalities.

Fellows in the county track complete eight core classes, plus six elective classes of their choice.

Basics of Risk Management
One of the main responsibilities of local governments is to protect its residents from risk to themselves and their property. Risk may result from a number of sources, including fire, crime, automobile accidents, harm to the infrastructure, or as a result of waste disposal. This class is designed to sharpen the awareness of officials that local government activities are subject to risks that may result in significant loss. Through learning about steps to reduce and control loss exposure and tools for identifying hazards, government officials can learn how to avoid the consequences of taking unnecessary risk.

Conducting Effective Meetings
Conducting public business requires managing the issues that come before a public body. Building an agenda, promoting useful discussion, and providing a structure for decision-making are key goals for an effective meeting and for effective public officials. The instructor also covers the proper use of organized rules of order---known as parliamentary procedure---which allow all voices to be heard but with debate that remains focused and civil.

Consensus and Team Building
Success in forging good government often comes from reaching compromise and consensus. Sharing ownership of ideas and programs with a broad group of stakeholders can facilitate stronger working relationships that have far-reaching positive effects. This hands-on class features interactive discussion of the essential elements of reaching consensus and team building.

County Financial Management
A challenge faced by new and veteran county officials is understanding and using the government budget process, the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, and other financial documents effectively as tools for setting priorities and managing the government while maintaining the fiscal integrity of the jurisdiction. Fiscal management can be infused with economic assumptions, technical jargon, and a process that seems foreign to the uninitiated. In this class, veteran public administrators discuss the budget process and financial reporting, as well as giving practical tips for county officials.

Employment Issues
Building and managing an effective workforce is critical to effective governance. At the same time, government employers face widespread legal restrictions in hiring, firing, promoting, and disciplining employees. The many facets of public employment and the issues often raised by county government officials are discussed.

Ethics
County elected officials face ethical dilemmas every day in an atmosphere where public and private actions are increasingly scrutinized. Many ethical challenges facing elected officials are matters of common sense, but more complicated situations may fall into "gray" areas. This class, led by a seasoned expert in government ethics, explores the law, applying it to hypothetical, but realistic situations.

Open Meetings
Maryland's Open Meetings Law guides public officials in the requirements for providing public notice of decision-making functions and for closing meetings when appropriate. The law has nuances for different forms of county governments, especially for county commissioners, who act in a dual legislative/executive role. The Open Meetings Law has been revised to better accommodate "administrative functions" and other procedures of governmental bodies. A knowledgeable expert focuses on the law's application to counties, including some of the cases and complaints that have come before the Compliance Board.

Public Information Act
What kind of information should be released to the public upon request? This class helps officials and staff at all levels who must deal with the public by informing them about the requirements of Maryland law on the handling of public records. This class includes real-life scenarios to further illustrate appropriate responses to request from the public or the press.

Elective classes are designed around broad categories of topics which can strengthen the ability of local officials to govern effectively. The topics relate to practical and administrative skill building, frameworks for understanding service delivery and planning concerns from a Maryland local government perspective, and legal and risk management issues in Maryland. The topics selected are timely and essential to changes and issues facing Maryland in any given year (i.e. cybersecurity, the opioid crisis, etc.). Elective classes provide local officials with the flexibility to pursue areas of interest beyond the core topics. The following factors are considered in selecting elective classes:

• The topic fits within one of the broad elective categories in either the municipal or county track.
• The class content is of significant value to local officials in carrying out their official duties.
• The class is targeted to Maryland local officials.
• The class does not duplicate other existing Academy classes.
• The instructor has the experience and education to teach a quality class.

June 2024

• Ethics
• Municipal Budgeting
• Conducting Effective Meetings
• Public Information Act
• Open Meetings Act

October 2024

• Consensus & Team Building 
• Basics of Risk Management
• Structure of Government

June 2025

• Consensus & Team Building
• Structure of Government
• Public Information Act
• Employment Issues
• Basics of Risk Management

October 2025

• Conducting Effective Meetings
• Municipal Budgeting
• Open Meetings Act

June 2026

• Conducting Effective Meetings
• Municipal Budgeting
• Open Meetings Act
• Ethics
• Structure of Government

October 2026

• Basics of Risk Management
• Public Information Act
• Employment Issues

June 2027

• Consensus & Team Building
• Structure of Government
• Public Information Act
• Employment Issues
• Basics of Risk Management

October 2027

• Conducting Effective Meetings
• Municipal Budgeting
• Ethics

August 2024

• County Financial Mgmt
• Open Meetings Act

December 2024

• Basics of Risk Management
• Consensus and Teambuilding
• Public Information Act

August 2025

• Open Meetings
• Conducting Effective Meetings

December 2025

• Ethics
• Employment Issues
• County Financial Management

August 2026

• Basics of Risk Management
• Consensus & Teambuilding

December 2026

• Election Year – Winter Conference in January

January 2027

• Ethics
• County Financial Mgmt
• Public Information Act

August 2027

• Employment Issues
• Open Meetings Act

December 2027

• Basics of Risk Management
• Consensus & Team Building
• Conducting Effective Meetings

October 2024

• Employment Issues

October 2025

• Ethics

October 2026

• Consensus & Team Building

October 2027

• Open Meetings Act

The Academy is a voluntary program open to all local officials in Maryland. Newly elected local officials are especially encouraged to participate. Individuals may take individual classes of their choosing or enroll in the certification program. Participants who are enrolled in the certification program are called "Fellows.”

The Academy’s objectives are to:

1. Increase understanding of local government and how it functions
2. Promote high ethical standards in public service
3. Provide an informational base for more informed policy making
4. Develop the capacity of local officials to govern effectively and
5. Recognize local officials for their educational efforts.

Upon enrollment in the Academy, local officials become Fellows of the Academy for Excellence in Local Governance. To receive a certificate of completion from the Academy, participants must complete specified core and elective classes in either the municipal or county track. Academy classes are taught by experienced officials, proven practitioners, and university faculty. In order to be considered an active Fellow in the Academy for Excellence in Local Governance, an individual must meet the following criteria:

• Current elected or appointed county or municipal official
• Academy application fee paid-in-full
• Completes the course with credit earned within a five-year window (with a 1-year extension granted for extenuating circumstances, by request and on a case-by case basis, with Academy Council approval)

Participants who complete a set of core and elective requirements, in either the Municipal or County Track, become “Fellows of the Academy for Excellence in Local Governance” and earn a corresponding Academy certificate. The Academy is designed as a two-year program. However, participants may complete the requirements sooner. Participants must complete the program in five years in order to receive the certificate for their participation in the program.

Maryland Municipal League (MML) is a voluntary, nonprofit, nonpartisan association controlled and maintained by city and town governments. MML works to strengthen and support municipal government through advocacy and the development of effective leadership. MML is the only statewide organization in Maryland composed solely of municipal officials and devoted to the promotion of all branches of municipal administration.

The Maryland Association of Counties (MACo) is a non-profit and non-partisan organization that serves Maryland’s counties by articulating the needs of local government to the Maryland General Assembly. The Association’s membership consists of county elected officials and representatives from Maryland’s 23 counties and Baltimore City. MACo’s members determine Association policy and positions on executive and legislative proposals through an elected Board of Directors and a volunteer Legislative Committee. Through MACo’s advocacy, training, education programs and annual conferences, members are provided with endless opportunities to improve their capacity to serve their residents. MACo is the only organization serving the needs of county elected officials and governments across the state.

The Local Government Insurance Trust (LGIT) is a vital contributor to the Academy. LGIT provides sponsorship to the Academy in areas of academic development, new officials orientation and support for all Academy activities. LGIT is a proud sponsor of the Academy and we appreciate their partnership and thank them for their contributions to the development of state and local leaders.