The top LocalGovU courses our members completed in February illustrates the variety of courses the online platform offers. From HR professionals and law enforcement officers to those who interact with the public, there are training courses to help support professional development for all employees within your political subdivision.

For example, here are February’s top completed LocalGovU courses:

*Course names and descriptions written by LocalGovU (2023).

De-Escalation and Minimizing Use of Force
In this course, students will learn to identify techniques for de-escalation, plan for minimizing use of force, explain the importance of training officers for these encounters and, lastly, apply these strategies to de-escalate volatile situations. Students will be better equipped mentally to make the critical decisions under stress necessary to de-escalate crisis situations and to minimize the force used when use of force becomes necessary.

LocalGovU also features an extensive catalogue of law enforcement courses approved for continuing education credit by the North Dakota POST Board. Credit can be used to fulfill 20 of the 60 North Dakota POST training hours required every three years.

Anti-Harassment in the Workplace
Harassment in the workplace is a serious issue that requires a thorough understanding to promote awareness and ultimately prevention. Improper behavior in the workplace may have significant consequences for those involved, for yourself as an employee, and your employer. Recognizing the various types of harassment will help you to identify potential warning signs and take the necessary steps to report harassment.

Ethical Behavior for Local Government
In this course, we will define ethical behavior, provide examples of work situations where a thorough understanding of workplace ethics may be applied, and ways in which you can determine if your decisions and behavior are meeting the appropriate standards.

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
In previous eras, people often became caught in an “either/or” situation because employers were not always cooperative when individuals needed time for personal matters. Employees ran the risk of losing their jobs and benefits if they made the choice of putting their family first. Fortunately, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) entitles eligible employees to take the time they need to handle life events. We will go over the FMLA in detail to help you understand the basic provisions and how the FMLA can benefit you.

Successful Customer Interactions
There is a strong correlation between customer satisfaction and the success of a business or department. Welcoming customers means working to create satisfied customers from the inside-out. When local government creates satisfied customers, we create empowered and informed citizens. In this course, learners will discover how to interact as co-workers and service providers. We will also cover understanding the customer goal and how to create goals that will lead to successful customer interactions.

Defensive Driving Basics
This is a general education course, and the Academy is not responsible for continuing education credits that are rejected in any way. Given the variation in the approval and acceptance of continuing education credits state to state, it is advised that you confirm recertification and training requirements, including accepted courses, with your administrator and check the accreditation page on our site that corresponds with your state.

LocalGovU is offered free to all NDIRF members and their employees and elected officials.