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Home My WebLink About5.g. City Administrator State Conference - 1992CITY OF ROSEMOUNT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FOR ACTION CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: APRIL 7, 1992 AGENDA ITEM: CITY ADMINISTRATOR STATE AGENDA SECTION: CONFERENCE - 1992 CONSENT PREPARED BY: STEPHAN JILK, CITY ADMINISTRATOR AGENDA TEM ATTACffi ENTS: CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS AP O BY: The annual City Managers/Administrators State Conference is scheduled for May 6 - 8 in Brainerd. I have attended this conference each year and found it to be extremely educational and a wonderful opportunity to spend time with my peers from other cities. This years conference theme is "A Diverse Society: The Leadership Challenge" which is timely for Rosemount. I request your approval to attend the conference. The funds are budgeted for in my department budget for 1992. The estimated cost is $500.00. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Motion to approve the attendance of the City Administrator at the 1992 City Manager/Administrator Conference•in Brainerd at a cost not to exceed $500.00 to be charged to account number 101-41320-01-437. COUNCIL ACTION: How much do you know about cultural diversity? Admittedly most city and County Managers are enlightened, sensitized and politically correct, but we still bring biases to the table that may diminish our ability to work with others and lead our organizations effectively. The 1992 MCMA/MACA Conference has been planned to raise our awareness of how cultural diversity can affect our organizations and how we can be agents of change to build on diversity rather than stumble over it You are cordially invited to join us at Cragun's on May 6-8, 1992 as we address these issues with two of the field's preeminent speakers. As usual, the professional development experience will be complemented by Cragun's exceptional hospitality and relaxing surroundings. So come to learn, network and participate it your 1992 Conference. We'll see you there. 344A_ Y Jon Hohenstein an Vogt Co -Chair Co -Chair session Highlights Jnderstanding Our Attitudes • The problems of racism, sexism and ageism — some of the more "'visible" forces that underlie the issues of diversity • Presentation and analysis of the powerful video "Eye to Eye" with its incredible insights into human behavior • Managements responsibility for illuminating and eliminating "isms" from themselves and their environment • Issues related to your own city • Actions you can take to decrease individual and institutional discrimination Managing a Culturally -Diverse Workforce • A look at "The Philosophical Aspects of Cultural Difference; understanding European, African and Asian perspectives • How unconscious cultural bias governs the decision-making process • How socialization reinforces values which affect behavior • How to translate current management theory and knowledge of cross-cultural differences into practice 4 How to be a change agent foryour city— including analyzing the mechanisms of the system that need to be changed and setting goals for that change Conference Planning Committee Jon Hohenstein, Eagan Assistant Administrator (Co -Chair) Dan Vogt, Brainerd City Administrator (Co -Chair) Ralph Campbell, Edina Director of Communications Jerry Dulgar, Crystal City Manager Bob Haeussinger, Eyota City Administrator Ken Hartung, Bayport City Administrator PresentersFeatured Jane Elliott Jane Elliott is the adaptor of the "Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes" dis- crimination exercise. This sensitizing exercise, in which par- ticipants are labeled inferior or superior based on the color of their eyes, has been called "the greatest thing to come out of American education in a hundred years" by Dr. Robert Coles, Pulitzer Prize-winning psychiatrist and author. The exercise began in a third-grade classroom in all -white, all -Christian Rice- ville, Iowa, immediately after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and has since been repeated with dramatic results with children and adults throughout the country. The exercise has been the subject of several television doc- umentaries, among them ABC's "The Eye of the Storm," which won the Peabody Award, plus two that won Emmy awards. Most recently, "Eye to Eye" was produced by KSTP-TV and aired in Minnesota In addition, Ms. Elliott's work has been written up in many textbooks and numerous magazine articles and is the subject of a book A Class Divided Then and Now, which has been translated into Japanese. Ms. Elliott is a recipient of the National Mental Health Associa- tion Award for Excellence in Education. She has been a guest lecturer at numerous colleges and universities and has been a guest on a wide variety of television shows, including Today, the Johnny Carson show, the Phil Donahue show, and the Oprah Winfrey show. She is a veteran presenter who has addressed groups of from five to 2,000 at locations across the United States and Canada Dr. Edwin Nichols Dr. Nichols is a clinical/industrial psychologist specializing in cwtural diversity assessment and awareness training, organ- izational development and strategic planning. As director of Nichols and Associates, a Washington D.C. based firm, he has helped corporations, educational institutions, government agencies, private and public institutions make diversity workl The hallmark of the organization is Dr. Nichols' paradigm, "The Philosophical Aspects of Cultural Difference." it enhances understanding of ethnic and cross-cultural difference at the personal, group, organizational, inter -organization and societal levels. He consults and conducts workshops on cross-cultural management and cultural diversity throughout the U.S. and aboard He has twice keynoted the International Personnel Management Association conference and was a highlight of the 1991 League of Minnesota Cities Conference. He returns to Minnesota by popular demand to provide more extensive instruction from a management perspective. Previously, Dr. Nichols held various administrative positions with the National Institute of Mental Health and the Cleveland Job Corps for Women, and worked as a Clinical Psychologist at Kansas Neurological Institute, an affiliate of the Menninger Foundation. He was a Visiting Professor at the University of lbadan, Nigeria for three years and has also taught in the Department of Psychiatry at Meharry Medical College. He received his degrees in Canada, Germany and Austria- Jim ustria Jim Hurm, Shorewood City Administrator Dennis Kraft, Shakopee City Administrator Mark McNeill, Savage City Administrator Dorothy Person, Chisago County Coordinator Tom Reber, Fairmont City Administrator Eugene Smith, Freeborn County Administrator Dave Unmacht, Prior Lake City Manager