Jeff Colbourne
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jun 15/98) - Following 10 days of intense study in Yellowknife last week, senior administrative officers from across the NWT and Nunavut graduated from their certification program.

The 10 men and women were the second batch to complete the operational level program.

"They study and enhance their skills in 12 key areas of community administration, from municipal law to municipal finance to community empowerment," said Ray Kempster, program principal.

Penny Ballantyne, deputy minister of municipal and community affairs, was on hand for the small graduation ceremony and presented the students with their certificates.

Now that graduates have completed their operational-level training, they will continue with 14 months of home study through correspondence courses leading to an advanced certification. It is hoped that the third level of program will see accreditation with southern local government management programs, said Kempster.

There are now 42 SAOs and managers enrolled in the program and requests for admission are growing steadily. The program is open to senior management in all communities in hopes of preparing local government managers to become SAOs in the future.

Programs are now offered equally in the West and in the East.

"What this does is it really hones your skills about how you apply your skills operating in a community as a SAO," said Wha Ti SAO Tom Matus, who just completed the operational certification program. "It helps you function better."

The program will help Matus, who has worked in Wha Ti for six years, train others to be SAOs.

One of the nice things about being in the program, he said, is the opportunity to be with peers and building friendships with people from across the whole NWT.

"Again, what's good about the operational level is you get exposure to other regions in the NWT."

The Municipal and Community Affairs certification program, started in 1995, is aimed at bringing the 52 SAOs in the North up to a higher standard. It is patterned after the University of Alberta municipal government citation program.