Brett Roberts, Josh Markham, Amy Whitehead, Kristy Carter
Conway—UCA’s Community Development Institute-Central (CDI) was awarded the Commitment Level, Governor’s Quality Award at the GQA Awards Celebration held September 16 at the Marriot Hotel in Little Rock. This award is CDI’s second consecutive award from the Governor’s Quality Award Program.
CDI was recognized for implementing quality organizational principles in areas such as leadership, customer service and strategic planning. By receiving the Commitment Level Award, CDI is recognized as an organization that has progressed to a point of demonstrating serious commitment to the use of total quality principles to achieve performance excellence.
“We are proud of the steps taken by the CDI team over the past year to advance to the Commitment Level Award,” said Kristy Carter, Executive Director UCA’s Division of Outreach and Community Engagement. “The Outreach Division is continually looking to excel, and the award for CDI demonstrates that commitment to excellence.”
Amy Whitehead, Director of UCA’s Center for Community and Economic Development, added that “The Governor’s Quality Award program has allowed us to refine our institute processes so that we can continue to develop the capacity of community leaders and strengthen Arkansas communities. I would recommend this program to any organization that is committed to continuous assessment and improvement. “
The Governor’s Quality Award program uses the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence to provide a process for Arkansas’ organizations to assess their effectiveness in key areas. There are four award levels in the program beginning with the Challenge level and moving to the Governor’s Award for Performance Excellence.
The Community Development Institute was established in 1987 at the University of Central Arkansas to train community and economic development professionals from Arkansas and surrounding states. The CDI experience is a three year training program, with one week of training per year. Participants move through the program curriculum in cohorts, and are exposed to a comprehensive, applied approach to the field of community and economic development. CDI is located in UCA’s Division of Outreach and Community Engagement. More information is available at uca.edu/cdi.
If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Josh Markham at 501-450-3460 or by e-mail at joshm@uca.edu.
