Monday, May 6, 2024
During a regularly scheduled city council meeting on Sept. 19, City Manager Chris Coffman announced that Jeff Newpher, City Communications Manager, graduated from an extensive program at Texas Christian University.
The Certified Public Communicator program is a 95-hour program that offers leadership training and rigorous post-baccalaureate education for public information managers and communication professionals working for cities, counties, school districts, and other public and public-private agencies and organizations. With the Texas Association of Municipal Information Officers as a partner, the program encompasses the complexities, challenges, and importance of public communication to citizens and stakeholders.
Students graduate from the program with three-year communication plans and policies for their organizations, which are put into action during the year with time for testing and revisions before graduation. In addition, students work with their professional cohort of colleagues, attend keynote presentations with other communication professionals, and engage in a year-long process of professional growth and goal setting. Organizations that send their managers and communicators to the program receive tested communication plans, including social media policies, research-based strategies and tactics, crisis communication plans, and more.
Newpher has been working in municipal governments for the last nine years and has been with Granbury since 2021.
“When I came to Granbury, city leadership already knew the high value of the program, supported my application and participation. With the evolving communication efforts of the city and the years since a communications plan was last completed, a new, updated plan was needed. This program creates the time, space, resources, guidance, and maybe most importantly, the motivation to write a comprehensive communications plan,” Newpher said. “In 2022, the City Council and City Staff went through a multi-day process of evaluation and future planning to create ‘Focus Elements.’ Council officially approved the document.”
For Newpher’s three-year communication plan, Newpher added that, “Granbury’s plan is based on not only the broad Focus Elements but the communications-specific ones, as well. It has goals, objectives and tactics that are divided in calendar quarters. On any given day, in addition to the pressing tasks that need to be completed, the Communications Team of Broadcast Specialists, Chuck Licata, and me can also review and measure progress on quarterly goals and keep the bigger three-year goals in view. The plan was designed to be flexible and frequently amended.”
Newpher noted that many skills he learned from the program have already been applied when working with the city.
“The city is in the process of building new, inbound communication channels as we try to increase our listening to residents. It was through the Certified Public Communicator program that I became better educated and then convinced of the value of those listening channels. Through the communications plan process, I was able to research, select what partners are best for Granbury, create a strategy and a timetable. Upon presentation to city council, the program was endorsed and funded,” Newpher said. He also noted that principles he learned were used regarding communication during the Stage Two Water Conservation in August.
“The decision to give residents a telephone connection to a person who could answer questions about the plan not only benefited the residents but also helped us modify and improve our electronic communication,” Newpher added.
Mayor Jim Jarratt was proud to recognize Newpher for the completion of this program.
“We’ve already seen some of the benefits of the program with new listening and surveying programs being developed, so decisions are made with the benefit of a broader range of valid community input. It’s also become a valuable resource for our city to have Jeff be part of a close network of public communicators - to give and get feedback on new ideas on how better to serve our residents,” Coffman said during the meeting.
