Red Lake Employees receive certificates from BSU
Bemidji State
University Center
for Research and Innovation (CRI) awarded seven employees from two Red
Lake agencies with a customized
certificate in Employment Program
Building during a September 26th
ceremony. Employees of the Division of Rehabilitation Services
and the New Beginnings Agency of Red
Lake participated in the
eight week course, continuing
education program through CRI.
The certification in Employment
Program Building
was customized to suit the specific needs of these agencies and was designed to
develop specific skills to aid these programs. Included among the goals and objectives of the
program were development of communication and interviewing skills in one-one
and group settings, identification of personal and organizational goals,
education on adult learning styles, and integration of thoughts and ideas into
specific action plans.
Connie Lee Berg, Director of the Division of Rehabilitation Services stated that this collaborative,
educational experience was the first of its kind in her 15 years experience
with vocational rehabilitation. “Before this program, I would make many
decisions on my own, but I now recognize the value of receiving input from
others. The solutions we identified as a team were better than those we could
find independently.” She also highly recommends this program to other
organizations and agencies as it was personally and professionally beneficial
to those who had participated.
The participants of the Employment
Program Building
certification noted that the sessions were all valuable in their own right,
however, found that the communication skills training had the largest impact.
CRI staff met with
participants to identify opportunities and worked together to create this
customized certificate program to react to those opportunities. Kerry Ross, CRI
Training Coordinator/Human Resources stated that “the individuals completing
this program made it a priority to attend every session, complete the homework
and bring feedback to the next session.
They were all committed to learning from the start. That hard work and dedication is what made
this a great investment for both professional and programmatic growth.”
