The Exemplary State &
Local Awards Program

Click here to view the
Awardees for EXSL 2000

About the EXSL Program

The Exemplary State and Local Awards Program (EXSL) was established by the National Center for Public Productivity in 1989. It is a nationwide effort to recognize public initiatives that improve the quality of government services and operations. EXSL recognizes innovative projects and programs that have produced measurable increases in quality and productivity, significant cost savings, and improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of government services. The awards are illustrations of creative approaches to problem solving across areas as diverse as administration and management, criminal justice, education, public works, environment, health and human services, housing, public safety, technology, and transportation, etc. EXSL winners are featured in GOVERNMENT AT WORK: BEST PRACTICES AND MODEL PROGRAMS, by Marc Holzer and Kathe Callahan (Sage Publications, 1998).

Criteria for Eligibility

Each year, nominations are considered for projects and programs that have positive impacts on state and local government operations and the communities served by those entities. Public agencies, as well as community based organizations which receive at least 50% of their budgets from public sources, are eligible to apply. Nominated programs must have been in operation for at least one year prior to the application deadline. Programs can be self-nominated or designated by an agency's chief administrative or elected official. Nominations are encouraged in all areas of state and local government, as well as school districts, regional authorities, community-based organizations, non-profit agencies and public-private partnerships.

Previous EXSL Winners

Recent award recipients have, for example, included such projects as: Affordable Housing * Teen Pregnancy Prevention * Volunteer Interpreter Service * Automated TB Surveillance System * Medical Care for Children * Fleet Management Productivity Improvement Program * Partnership for Long Term Care * Sparkling Water System * Schools in the Age of Technology * Management by Unreasonable Objectives * Prison Braille Project * Competitive Bidding for Municipal Services.

The EXSL Application Procedure

The application deadline for qualifing for this national awards program in 2000 was February 15.   Each application was carefully reviewed by a distinguished panel of nationally recognized experts from the Section on Management Science and Policy Analysis of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) and the National Center for Public Productivity.

Instructions

The filing of applications required a two step process:

First, all applicants were instructed to send a short statement of their intent to submit an application by email to:

ncpp@andromeda.rutgers.edu

or by mail to: NCPP, 701 Hill Hall, Rutgers University, 360 King Blvd., Newark, NJ 07102.

Second, applications were to complete  the on-line application located at the following address:

http://services.login-inc.com/login/exsl/exslapp.html

If necessary, applications may also be submitted via email (or regular mail) to the addresses above.

Jim Melitski
EXSL Coordinator,
National Center for Public Productivity

Last updated:  08/05/2002

Rutgers University-Campus at Newark
Graduate Department of Public Administration