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PRS Students Deliver Performance Assessment Testimony at NH Dept of Safety

Policy Research Shop students, Mike Danaher ’13, Amy Couture ’14, and Tina Meng ‘14, present the findings of their research on performance assessment to a team from the New Hampshire Department of Safety, on Thursday, March 8, 2012.
On Thursday, March 8, 2012, three PRS students, Mike Danaher ’13, Amy Couture ’14, and Tina Meng ‘14, from the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center Policy Research Shop, traveled to the NH Department of Safety building in Concord, NH to deliver a presentation to Commissioner of Safety John Barthelmes and the directors of the Division of Motor Vehicles, State Police, Homeland Security and Emergency Management, Fire Safety and Fire Marshal, Fire Standards and Training/EMS, Emergency Communications and 911, and Administration. 
Directors of New Hampshire’s Department of Safety listen and ask questions as PRS Student Mike Danaher ’13, presents research on performance assessment to them on Thursday, March 8, 2012.
The team summarized their findings from twenty-one case studies and many elite interviews, and synthesized this material by communicating “best practices” for the department and each division. They argued that effective performance measurement systems are driven by, and support, coherent strategic plans, are supported and implemented by strong executive leadership, and are improved through communication with the public. This presentation was the culmination of more than five months of cooperation between the students, NH DOS leadership, and professional strategic planning consultants. After the presentation the students responded to questions and comments from the Commissioner and the division directors, wherein they illustrated their findings using specific details from their extensive research, and engaged the leaders in an extended discussion of the best ways forward for the NH Department of Safety.

The Policy Research Shop is supported in part by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) program.

For more information about the Policy Research Shop, click here.