June 24, 2025 1 min read
Optimizing Academy Operations: Transforming Manual, Siloed Processes with an Efficient, Centralized System
Industry:
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From Manual BLAH😩 to Automated TA-DA💫
Setting a strong groundwork at the academy-level is key to establishing a strong foundation for fire service members, which will play a significant role in shaping their career long term.
Effective operations administration is a key challenge fire academies must overcome to foster an environment where fire professions can thrive.
In part two of Vector Solutions’ four-part webinar series exploring practical approaches to achieving and measuring readiness, a panel of leaders at three state-level fire academies joined Fire Chief (Ret.) and Vector Solutions Engineer Matt Shronts for an insightful discussion on optimizing academy operations.
Keep reading for a highlight on how these three organizations are streamlining and automating academy operations with the Acadis® Readiness Suite.
Guest Panelists:
- Connecticut Fire Academy
- P.J. Norwood, Director of Training
- Missouri State Fire Marshal / Division of Fire Safety
- Greg Landwehr, Deputy Chief of Training and Certification
- Pennsylvania State Fire Academy
- Harvey Boyer, Deputy Fire Commissioner / Administrator
CT Fire Academy Streamlines Class Management
Prior to adopting Acadis, the Connecticut Fire Academy manually processed class registration, credit card payments, and all other forms related to starting a new academy class.
“We had two full-time staff members who solely handled class registration and class closeouts because it was an extremely convoluted process,” Director P.J. Norwood shared.
“Since transitioning to Acadis, it’s been easy. We pull up the digital file, I have the instructors, I have the lesson plan, I have everything for a class in one package,” Norwood explained. “I can’t even begin to estimate how many hours it has saved us.”
With the help of Acadis, the CT Fire Academy has:
- User-focused Portal – Empowers students to easily navigate available classes and self-register for courses.
- Centralized records – Enables staff to quickly retrieve historical class data and run detailed reports in moments with just a few clicks—expediting responses to records requests and fueling data-informed decisions.
- Automated prerequisite tracking – Ensures students have completed required classes and are eligible to take a specific class or test.
Because course completions were previously paper based, efficiently managing prerequisites for classes and certification testing was an arduous, time-consuming process. It required staff to review transcripts manually to confirm students fulfilled requirements. With Acadis, this process is now automated, allowing staff to simply review records to ensure accuracy.
“It’s a huge time management benefit that we’re not spending as much time in that area anymore,” said Norwood.
Acadis not only provides valuable insight into student records, it breaks down JPRs for deeper instructor insight, helping to identify patterns across students, classes, and tests for further review.
Digital Efficiency Drives Missouri’s Training and Test Growth
In Missouri, training is provided at an educational institution, training center, or fire department. The Missouri State Fire Marshal / Division of Fire Safety previously used paper, spreadsheets, and a homegrown system to track certifications and testing, only requiring the training entities to submit course completions.
Acadis enabled the Division to serve more students more efficiently with fewer resources.
“We have one person dedicated to scheduling all testing for all levels of certification,” shared Chief Greg Landwehr. “So, it’s one point of contact now instead of a student needing to know up to six different people.”
By going digital, the Division has also dramatically improved test administration logistics, expanding from five or six dedicated areas to about 55 testing centers around the state.
“Now, we’ve got proctors all over the state,” said Landwehr “Students don’t have to wait 30 days to get test results, they typically get them the same day.”
Now, everything is housed in Acadis, enabling the Division to:
- Streamline course registration via a web form.
- Manage and optimize the curriculum in the LMS.
- Track instructors and evaluators for each class.
- Digitize prerequisite tracking for CE training provided by 3rd-party vendors.
- Gain better insight into JPRs that instructors are meeting or missing to provide more meaningful coaching.
Since moving to Acadis, the Division has seen class enrollment and testing numbers increase, with testing up by almost 50% over the last four years.
“As far as academy class set up, one of the best things has it literally eliminated four programs and brought it all under one house,” explained Landwehr. “Those testing numbers are quite impressive, too.”
Pennsylvania Saves Time and Effort with a Unified, Scalable Approach
Pennsylvania leverages 24 educational training agencies and 28 test sites across the state to deliver courses and certification testing. The Pennsylvania State Fire Academy runs resident and on-the-road programs for advanced training.
The Academy once relied on paper-based processes and several siloed databases. Consolidating systems with Acadis has dramatically elevated its registration processes and provided a centralized system for all data.
“After merging all those databases, we now have one place to go for information on every candidate that we bring into the system,” Commissioner Harvey Boyer shared. “Our registrar reported that Acadis has really given her a lot of extra time to do other things because the registration process is easier.”
Acadis has helped streamline several operations at the Academy with:
- Adaptable certification testing – test sites turn in testing dates for the entire year in November. The system can easily account for any changes as tests are cancelled and added.
- Online training calendar – real-time updates enable the Academy to fulfil legislative mandates requiring testing information to be available to constituents.
- Modernized local level instructor application – replaced reviewing tedious mailed in paper copies with a more efficient, digitized process.
- Flexible reports – configurable filters allow quick drilling down to the data needed.
“We’ve only scratched the surface of the capabilities [Acadis] will provide. We’re looking forward to what we automate and streamline even more in the future,” said Boyer.
Watch the full webinar for in-depth insights into these practical strategies for enhancing academy operations and future plans to expand optimizations with Acadis.
Four-Part Webinar Series
- Part Three: Continuing Compliance Management
Thursday, September 4 | 11 a.m. (ET) | 8 a.m. (PT)
Learn More > - Part Four: Measuring Readiness
Thursday, December 4 | 11 a.m. (ET) | 8 a.m. (PT)
Learn More > - Part One: Certification Testing
On-Demand Webinar
Watch Webinar Recording >
Request a demo to see how Acadis can help simplify and automate operations in your academy.
