Council Partners with University of Wollongong to Prepare for Growth

Wollondilly Council is partnering with the University of Wollongong (UOW) in a joint project to help prepare Council’s leadership team for the anticipated impacts of growth on the organisation and the community.

The project will involve members of the executive and management team working with professors at the UOW Faculty of Business over the next two years, as part of the Research Partnership Matching Grant Scheme. Through the scheme, the Faculty hopes to help organisations build key performance indicators to inform future service delivery and help them improve performance management strategies.

Mayor Matthew Deeth said, “It’s like our leadership team is going to have the benefit of personal development and further education through university, but it will be in-house.”

“The partnership will enable Council to be proactive in better meeting the impacts of growth on our community. It will also focus on indicators to improve management of issues as they emerge, and increase our responsiveness to change.”

“The research will help to inform service delivery in a meaningful and robust way and support us to build an evidence base for future lobbying and advocacy.”

“We expect that by the end of the Financial Year Council should have an expanded set of key performance indicators in place,” he said.

Council has committed $20,000 to the project, which has been matched by the University.

Picture: Wollondilly CEO Ben Taylor; Executive Dean, Faculty of Business Professor Charles Areni; Clr Judith Hannan; Clr Blair Briggs; Deputy Mayor Matt Gould; Lecturer School of Management, Operations and Marketing, Dr Oriana Price; Senior Lecturer School of Management, Operations & Marketing, Dr Matt Pepper; Associate Dean Research, Professor Melanie Randle; Clr Noel Lowry; Clr Robert Khan; Mayor Matthew Deeth