#1 Presentation on Senior Center accreditation
LEISURE SERVICES DEPARTMENT MEMORANDUM
MEMO TO: Council Member Deb Dongarra-Adams
MEMO FROM: Shelley Slapak, Acting Recreation Director
SUBJECT: Senior Center Accreditation
DATE: November 7, 2011
______________________________________________________________________
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Janesville Senior Activity Center has long been a leader in the state of Wisconsin
with innovative programming and a stand out facility. In 2011 the Senior Activity Center
is home to over 700 members who use the facility for recreation, socialization, fitness,
and skill building. Our Senior Activity Center has an excellent staff, strong board of
directors, and a vast amount of volunteers that keep the place thriving. The Janesville
Senior Activity Center has been a longtime member of the Wisconsin Association of
Senior Centers.
WASC encourages their member Senior Centers, both municipal and privately run to
become accredited. By receiving accreditation status it shows that your policies and
procedures meet standards set by WASC. Of the 300 member Senior Centers of
WASC, only 30 Senior Centers are currently accredited.
The Janesville Senior Center staff began their accreditation quest over a year ago by
assembling an accreditation committee consisting of the following seniors, Terry
Burrington, Ralph Honneyset, Jeanette Schultz, Jo Anne Hansen, Linda Rufer, and
Craig Rau. The team met twice a month for the past year and increased their meetings
to one per week for the past two months. The team compiled an accreditation manual
which included policies and procedures of the Senior Center for various areas including
(Mission Statement, Goals, Community Resources, Programming, Evaluation
Procedures, Emergency Procedures, Fiscal Management, Personnel Policies, and
Facility Standards).
RECEIPT OF ACCREDITATION
Following the completion of the manual, our staff, Senior Center accreditation team, and
Senior Center board members met with the review team for WASC’s accreditation
process. The review team asked questions of the group, reviewed our practices and
toured our facility. At the conclusion of the meeting, the Janesville Senior Center was
verbally informed that they were a prime candidate for accreditation.
The Janesville Senior Center officially received its accreditation award at the WASC
(Wisconsin Association of Senior Centers) conference in Green Lake on September 29.
Present at the conference to receive the award were Janet McLean, Pat Tobin and the
accreditation committee who worked on achieving this award. The accreditation took
one year to accomplish.
PRESENTATION TO COUNCIL
The Janesville Senior Activity Center is proud to receive this designation and to share
the success with the City Council. The Senior Activity Center is a thriving place to be
for those 50 and up, due in large part to the support of the City Council. Cindy
McGlynn, the 2010-2011 WASC President will do a short presentation to the City
Council and award the Senior Center their Accreditation plaque.
Cc: Eric Levitt, City Manager
Jacob J. Winzenz, Assistant City Manager/Director of Administrative Services
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