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Adam Hopps

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NOCoE Announces Fellowship Program for Entry and Mid-Level TSMO Professionals

As a major component of NOCoE’s Workforce Campaign, the TSMO Fellowship Program will provide opportunities for entry and mid-level TSMO professionals to increase their knowledge and develop soft skills that can be applied on the job in support of their long-term career growth.

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 2, 2020 – The National Operations Center of Excellence (NOCoE), today announced the launch of their Fellowship Program for Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO) professionals. As a major component of the NOCoE’s Workforce Campaign, the new program will provide opportunities for TSMO professionals who are early in their careers, to develop knowledge and skills that they can apply on the job in support of their long-term growth.

The Fellowship program is a direct response to TSMO transportation industry calls for programs to assist the next generation of practitioners. The program will help recipients develop short and long-term career goals while building softs skills including interpersonal communications, writing and media interactions, that go beyond technical analysis and basic presentations.

NOCoE Managing Director Patrick Son said, “Soft skills are constantly in demand for every industry. This fellowship program will increase their opportunities to develop those skills, increase their TSMO knowledge and add value to their programs, departments and the people they serve. All of these things are critical to accomplishing the transportation mission, and that’s why we’ve created the Fellowship Program.”

The TSMO Fellowship Program is open to any public sector employees including state and local DOTs, metropolitan and regional planning organizations (MPOs and RPOs) as well as Council of Governments (COGs). In its inaugural year, NOCoE will be accepting 3 to 5 Fellows with plans to expand the program as demand and resources increase. All submissions for the first cohort are due by May 1, 2020, and for specific criteria on how to apply, please click here.

Candidates will be selected for their ability to demonstrate, through the application process and personal experiences, that they have the ability to become strong TSMO ambassadors. Fellowship selections will be made by NOCoE staff and representatives from its three partner organizations, the American Association of State and Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), and the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America).

Successful candidates will work with their supervisor and the Fellowship program to establish an Individual Development Plan (IDP), to ensure their training and developmental experiences align with their current job and overall career goals.

From there, the Fellowship program will design personal and professional development activities for each Fellow spanning from July 2020 to June 2021. Those opportunities may include:

• Providing tutorials to other TSMO practitioners on using the NOCoE website and other transportation web-based platforms.
• Facilitating talks or meetings within their organizations on emerging best practices.
• Connecting fellow employees for Peer-to-Peer networking opportunities.
• Attending webinars, peer exchanges and other events that have a national reach
• Creating webinars and leading conversations with other professionals to stimulate knowledge sharing and learning.

Fellows will also participate in a one-week on-site residence at NOCoE to meet and engage with TSMO and transportation leaders in Washington, DC. Son said, “This is a great opportunity for newer professionals to really drive their careers into the stratosphere. This level of access to the best minds in TSMO is absolutely unprecedented.”  

About the National Operations Center of Excellence (NOCoE)

The mission of NOCoE is to empower the TSMO community to succeed by building its knowledge, skills and abilities. NOCoE supports practitioners who operate the nation’s transportation management systems, by connecting them with best-practices and experts to save lives, time and money. Born of a partnership of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) and the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) with support from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), we serve those in state departments of transportation, regional planning organizations, municipalities, local agencies as well as private sector organizations. For more information, please visit www.transportationops.org.

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