Center for Excellence in Public Service

The Center for Excellence in Public Service is here to support the evolving challenges and opportunities facing local government leaders, particularly related to program/service delivery and data informed decision-making.

We leverage the expertise and resources of the University and a nationwide network of subject matter experts and practitioners who use data to inform best practices and policies for the public good. The Center serves local government staff and leaders who are interested learning how to think critically about governance, data, and decision making.

The Center for Excellence in Public Service Team is available to provide onsite consulting to your employees. We will work with you to develop a sequence of sessions that will best support your organization.

The Center for Excellence in Public Service is a collaboration between the Virginia Institute of Government and the School of Data Science at the University of Virginia. The program leverages the expertise and resources of both organizations in alignment with shared goals around data for the public good and equipping communities with tools to promote good governance, data, and resiliency.

The Center for Excellence team has experience working with localities that:

are looking to move from inspiration to action
want to leverage decision making and evaluation to better serve their communities and expand their personal/professional network of local government professionals
are interested in gaining competency around creating and operationalizing goals

What Can We Help You Do?

Baseline Needs Assessment

An intro to strategic planning.
A tool used before the creation of strategic goals to help localities understand their current context, identify gaps, and learn the approach for improvement.

Evaluating Local Government Programs

Using data collection and analysis to assess the impact of programs on various aspects such as financial, political, and community engagement. This evaluation could be applied to existing programs to determine their effectiveness or to validate the need for a new program.

Change Management

How do you apply this understanding to challenges in local government?