When Chris Hilyer was Assistant Maintenance Bureau Chief at the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT), he received a scholarship from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to attend the Operations Academy Senior Management Program and was ready to attend—except his leadership was not.
Chris said his agency’s leadership did not see the value in the Operations Academy. Not only did they not understand what transportation systems management and operations (TSMO) was, but they placed no priority on intelligent transportation systems as a whole. So, when he asked for leadership approval to attend the Operations Academy, they denied it. Thankfully, FHWA offered Chris a full tuition scholarship to attend so that all expenses were covered except his travel to and from the event location.
Chris began speaking to his leadership regarding the value his participation in the Academy could bring, as well as the future value of formulating a program and shifting the culture of ALDOT on the local and state levels. They still did not see the value and would not pay for the expenses that the scholarship did not cover or approve his time away from the office to attend. Chris offered his leadership a solution.
He asked them if they would allow him to go for the full two-week program if he used his own personal leave time. They finally agreed to that! Thus, Chris paid for his own airline ticket, plus any other necessary travel expenses, and made a request for 80 hours of leave. “I was definitely going to attend the Operations Academy no matter what”, said Chris.
He remembers the Operations Academy as the “single best training” he’d ever had in 30 years of state service.
“The benefits that came out of my attendance were exponential,” he said. After graduating from the program, he was working in one of ALDOT’s nine division offices. “We made such maturity in our progress after I graduated from the program.” ALDOT was able to formalize their TSMO program, increase their operations and maintenance budget fourfold, and implement a capital program for system improvements and deployments, to the tune of about $50 million dollars.
As a result of his success in the division office, Chris was promoted and asked to move to the Central Office to set up a statewide TSMO Program. “It was because of everything I learned at the Operations Academy, that allowed me to forge ahead and accomplish a great number of things at ALDOT.” Seven years later (at the end of 2021), Chris retired as state TSMO Administrator of ALDOT and took a job with Arcadis as the National TSMO Account Leader.
As he reflects upon his experiences at the Operations Academy, he advises others to remember that the first word in any negotiation is “no.”
“Do not accept ‘no’ as a final answer from your leadership if you believe in something,” he said. “Had I accepted that answer, I certainly would not have had the opportunity to stand up and lead the TSMO program in Alabama, much less be in the job I am right now as the National TSMO Account Leader for Arcadis.”
It is important to keep in mind that everyone attending the Operations Academy comes from a different state; each one with different capabilities and maturities – from both within themselves and their individual programs.
“You each have such a variety of visions and missions that you’re supposed to accomplish. The Operations Academy will help you accomplish those things if you take it to heart. You’ll get tenfold out of what you put in. If you look at what it has demonstrated in the last 12-15 years with the Academy graduates, you’ll see the training will escalate or even accelerate your path. You really need to invest in what you’re doing though,” he said.
Chris encourages Operations Academy participants to engage with the speakers and the other participants, especially the ones in the work groups. Getting to know people in both a personal and professional way will pay dividends upon completion of the Academy. “You will greatly appreciate having a group of people that you can ask how they are solving certain problems. You might get two or three responses, or you could get 200 responses if you ask the question on the Ops Academy listserv,” he said.
In all, Chris indicated the Operations Academy was the most invaluable coursework he ever completed. “I was exposed to many different types of training in 30 years with the Alabama Department of Transportation, but the Operations Academy was hands down, bar none, the most impactful training I ever took. The content was directly applicable to my job and I had a huge investment in it,” he said. “You will get much more out of the program than you put into it, if you take advantage of both the education and networking opportunities provided.”
