Background
The American Public Works Association is one of the foremost professional organizations in the field of public works. The 179 current APWA-accredited agencies represent an elite group that meets the high standards outlined in the Public Works Management Practices Manual.
The accreditation journey for the City of Lawrence began back in October 2019 with a kick-off workshop. The Municipal Services and Operations Department then evaluated current practice against APWA’s standards. This self-assessment continued through early 2021. Then, from 2021 to 2022, the accreditation team created documents, described programs, took pictures, uploaded proof of compliance, and more. By November 2022, the department was ready for the final evaluation.
During the evaluation, three reviewers from peer agencies around the country reviewed each of MSO’s 458 practices and rated them for compliance. The reviewers rated 446 practices as fully compliant, with only 12 marked substantially compliant. The evaluators selected three practices as “Model Practices” to include in APWA’s national resource library: the Controlled Documents Plan, the OIA process, and our SDS Binderworks app. The evaluators were especially impressed by our Technology staff’s work on dashboards and GIS-based data visualization tools.
On January 31, 2023, the City of Lawrence’s Municipal Services & Operations Department received the official letter of accreditation from APWA.
Accreditation Benefits
As an APWA Accredited Agency, the City of Lawrence joins an elite group. Only seven other cities in Kansas have achieved this status. Accreditation demonstrates that Lawrence’s MSO Department is a highly professional organization following a national management standard. Accreditation shows Lawrence residents the City’s commitment to professional excellence. In addition, accreditation connects MSO to the APWA model practices library and a network of peer resources, enabling us to learn from the best of the best.
The accreditation process spurred MSO to evaluate, update, and improve processes. Because excellent documentation is a big part of accreditation, MSO created a plan and templates for our policies and procedures. This resulted in consistent, complete, and up-to-date documents that are easy to find. Additionally, accreditation pushed MSO to build an asset management program and use data to find ways to work smarter. Accreditation is not just a one-and-done. It is a process of continuous improvement. MSO will apply for re-accreditation every four years.