In 2012, MDE marked the five-year anniversary of MDEStat, our successful, award-winning management accountability system.
Background
MDEStat was established in 2007, initially modeled after Baltimore's CitiStat Program. MDEStat is a management oversight and accountability system designed to assess and improve the performance of environmental regulatory programs and processes at MDE.
The centerpiece of MDEStat is our weekly Monday-morning meeting, where MDE's senior managers and staff appear before a panel of executives and others. At these meetings, performance data is reviewed, problems are addressed, and decisions are made. These open meetings provide MDE managers with the opportunity to step back from the heavy day-to-day demands on their time, reflect on successes and challenges, identify opportunities for improvement, and be held accountable for progress.
MDEStat has served MDE and Maryland's taxpayers well in its first five years, helping to improve MDE's effectiveness and efficiency through intensive, transparent, systematic, data-driven oversight. MDEStat helps us ensure that MDE is making the best possible use of its resources while also sharing information publicly about progress made and issues found and addressed.
MDEStat meetings are held every week except the week between Christmas and New Year's Days, and are never cancelled unless inclement weather forces MDE to close or allow liberal leave, both of which are rare. 247 MDEStat meeting were held in our first five years. Data from all those meetings is available online, as part of MDE's commitment to transparency.
A Program Worth Celebrating
MDEStat's creation and continuation represent a very significant commitment by MDE to effectiveness, efficiency, and excellence. This commitment, and MDEStat's success, were recognized in 2009 with an Innovation Award from the Environmental Council of States, the national organization representing state environmental agencies.
MDEStat has met with many successes, guiding progress in permitting, regulatory oversight and compliance, efficient use of resources, agency management and environmental stewardship, and transparency. The lists below represent highlights and are not comprehensive.
Contact
Andrew Gosden, MDE-SERV Analyst, email: andrew.gosden@maryland.gov phone: 410-537-4158
