Virginia Natural Resources Leadership Institute

 

Measures of Success

 

 

A large and statistically significant response occurred from VNRLI alumni when a survey was conducted in the fall of 2007.  Respondents represented all classes, including the pilot class of 1999.  The following are conclusion based on the responses received from 39% (or 100 of 254) of all alumni.

 

More the 90% of the alumni responding agree that VNRLI provides tangible benefits to the Commonwealth’s natural resources.  This is significant as the key to a successful development program is making a difference with our resources, which VNRLI is doing.

 

The responses represent a vast spectrum of professionals in a wide range of roles and environmental areas of focus.  Alumni involvement in collaborative efforts includes local government, state government, to the nonprofit sector. The areas of alumni environmental focus are water quality (50%), land conservation (40%), education, wildlife conservation, park and recreation, transportation, forestry, air quality, energy, waste, agriculture/food production (20% each).  This confirms that the collaborative efforts by alumni to solve problems covers the full spectrum of Virginia’s environmental issues, and that a broad range of perspectives are represented by alumni.

 

The result of the VNRLI training is a cadre of strong leaders who are more effective and better able to perform.  More than 90% of the alumni agree that the experience has enabled them to improve their ability on the job and has made them a more effective leader.

 

A major focus of VNRLI is to resolve conflicts and develop mutually agreeable solutions.  More that 83% of the alumni responding agree that VNRLI has enabled them to improve opportunities for conflict resolution within their work environment, and 90% strongly agreed that their conflict management skills have improved as result of their involvement in VNRLI.

 

The focus of the collaborative problem-solving process is to actively seek collaborative solutions, which means longer lasting and better solutions.  In addition, the process encourages seeking new partnerships.  More the 80% of the alumni indicate that they seek collaborative solutions in their work and that skills gained through VNRLI in consensus building and/or collaborative problem solving have been integral to their work.  In addition they seek partnerships that they might not have otherwise considered.

 

A true testimony is that 98% of the alumni indicate that they would recommend VNRLI to others for leadership development.  In addition, 43% believe participation in VNRLI has helped advance their careers.