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College of Land Management & Grounds Operations
Dean Gino Merendino

Exceptional cemetery service starts with the grounds and operations department. Without effective land management and a commitment to an attractive, well-maintained property, there will be no sales or service. You’ll learn how your grounds management team can succeed and continuously improve interments, landscaping, buildings, grounds maintenance and exceptional client experience and satisfaction.

Friday, July 19

2:00 - 4:30 p.m.
Registration and Check-in

4:30 - 5:00 p.m.
Orientation

5:00 - 6:00 p.m.
University Reception

6:00 p.m.
University Dinner

Saturday, July 20

8:00 - 9:00 a.m.
Breakfast

9:00 - 10:30 a.m.
Exceptional Cemetery Maintenance: Experience the Difference!
Gino Merendino
A cemetery’s maintenance operations, procedures and resulting outcomes are the defining experiences for families that enter our gates. What is exceptional cemetery maintenance and why does it matter? We’ll kick off our week together with a high energy and dynamic look at what we are doing to enable meaningful experiences at our cemeteries and share collective ideas on how to improve our efforts. 

10:30 - 11:00 a.m.
Break

11:00 - 12:30 p.m.
Is Customer Service Part of Your Operations? You Bet!
Anthony Russo
Operations staff can have as much contact with customers as sales counselors and front-office personnel. Yet too often, they are not properly trained to handle customer questions and requests. Customer service is a cornerstone of every business. This class will explore ways to maximize the customer experience and focus on how grounds and operations personnel can most effectively serve customers.

12:30 - 1:30 p.m.
Lunch

1:30 - 3:00 p.m.
OSHA and Graveside Safety
Mary Malotke
OSHA has regulations for digging in a narrow but deep space such as a grave. This session covers backhoes, ladders, setting vaults, adjacent grave and monument issues and witnessing liabilities. We’ll also examine the requirements for soil assessment, trench protection and air-quality issues that can become critical during opening and closing.

Students will receive a DVD on Gravesite Safety, which you can take back to train your entire maintenance staff to help fulfill your OSHA training requirements. The DVD comes with a user’s guide, instructor notes, student handouts, a quiz and completion certificates.

3:00 - 3:30 p.m.
Break

3:30 - 5:00 p.m.
Balancing Quality and Productivity Without Sacrificing Safety
Rene Acebal
Learn practical and affordable tips, methods and procedures to keep your staff safe while enhancing the experience of the families you serve. Learn best practices from one of the busiest cemeteries in the nation and how to implement their proven procedures in any size cemetery. 

5:00 p.m.
Dinner

7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Annual Sports Tournament
Join your ICCFAU colleagues for a friendly game of volleyball.

Sunday, July 21

6:30 - 7:30 a.m.
Breakfast (at Holiday Inn)

7:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Memorial Park Tour
Visit a local cemetery and learn firsthand many ideas and solutions you can take back to your location.

12:30 - 1:30 p.m.
Lunch

1:30 - 3:00 p.m.
Community Outreach
Christine Toson Hentges, CCE
Christine Toson Hentges will share best practices and creative ideas for starting or growing your cemetery community outreach program, as well as the importance of having one. She will share some of the ways that Tribute Companies has found to give back to and connect with the surrounding community. A great outreach program can go a long way in better understanding the communities that we serve as well as offering unparalleled networking and opportunities to become engaged in our communities.

3:00 - 3:30 p.m.
Break

3:30 - 5:00 p.m.
Those Sales People! What Are They Thinking?
Jim Hammond
Why is it that the sales force is always making our lives difficult out here—selling products that don't exist, complaining that the property is sub-par and that's why they can't sell, scheduling services at the same time? Find out who is right and how our roles are one and the same. The course objective is to train non-sales department heads and middle managers to become "partners" with the sales department.

5:00 p.m.
Dinner

Monday, July 22

8:00 - 9:00 a.m.
Breakfast

9:00 - 10:30 a.m.
Healing Grief: The Essence of Our Industry
Nancy Lohman, CCFE
Lack of compassion is usually caused by a lack of understanding. Upset families, employees missing work ... why? It is vital that we understand not only the consumer who is grieving, but our fellow employees and ourselves. We will explore our own perceptions, society's expectations or misconceptions and the realities of grief.

10:30 - 11:00 a.m.
Break

11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Developing Hidden Treasures on Your Property
Christine Toson Hentges, CCE
Small spaces, V-ditches, fence lines... what are they good for? Christine will show you how to turn your neglected spots into money-making treasures.

12:30 - 1:30 p.m.
Lunch

1:30 - 3:00 p.m.
The Art of the Interview and the Science of Selection
Mike Hays
Led by one of our profession's top managers, this session will focus on crucial hiring skills, including:

• how to ask meaningful questions
• how to interpret resumes
• how to identify your ideal candidate
• how to follow up on references
• how to conduct second interviews

3:00 - 3:30 p.m.
Break

3:30 - 5:00 p.m.
Lean Quality in Cemetery Care & Connecting with Military Veterans
Marcea Weiss
Have you heard of the Lean Quality framework? Are you applying it daily to your operations to bring greater value and experience to your cemetery customers? Marcea Weiss will share an overview of lean concepts as well as examples of how they've been applied at Merendino Cemetery Care. In addition, Marcea will share best practices on how your cemetery can better connect with military veterans—as employees, as customers and as community members!

6:00 p.m.
Dinner

7:00 p.m.
Cryptones concert

Tuesday, July 23

Class pictures will be taken on Tuesday

8:00 - 9:00 a.m.
Breakfast

9:00 - 10:30 a.m.
Building Fantastic Teams
Marcia Weiss
We all have teams, run meetings and get our work done, but are we as effective as we could be?  How do we move our teams from an environment of obligation to one of inspiration? This will share her lessons learned as well as best practices in this area from years spent leading teams in the military as well as corporate America. Weiss will share important components that contribute to healthy teams, such as best practices in communication, running meetings, counseling both low and high performers, establishing a vision, embracing diversity, dealing with conflict and the importance of effective onboarding of new team members.

10:30 - 11:00 a.m.
Break

11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Inspiring and Sustainable Horticulture at Mount Auburn, the Nation's First Garden Cemetery
David Barnett
Mount Auburn, the nation’s first garden cemetery, was founded in 1831 as a beautiful landscape designed to inspire the living. Horticulture continues to be a driving force at Mount Auburn. Dave Barnett will share ways that a commitment to beautiful landscaping and high horticultural maintenance standards have benefited the cemetery as it continues to sell new burial space and provide services to families. He will highlight the many ways his horticultural staff has been able to reduce maintenance costs through more efficient and environmentally sustainable practices while still maintaining high standards.

12:30 - 1:30 p.m.
Lunch

1:30 - 3:00 p.m.
Cemetery Liability Issues
Poul Lemasters, Esq.
This session will address a broad range of potential liability issues related to cemeteries and land management. We'll examine risk and liability in a number of different contexts and from the perspective of various parties. The session will stress disclosures and procedures designed to prevent or mitigate liability. Attendees will be encouraged to ask questions and to share their own liability problems as well as their near misses.

3:00 - 3:30 p.m.
Break

3:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Internal Relationships
Gary O'Sullivan, CCFE
How valuable is it to your organization to have all departments working in harmony? Some experts suggest it is extremely valuable, not only to customer satisfaction, internally and externally, but to your bottom-line profitability. In this session you'll learn the keys to developing effective internal relationships to help you drive a positive, productive organization.

4:30 - 6:00 p.m.
Graduation/Reception for Students Completing Four Years

Wednesday, July 24

8:00 - 9:00 a.m.
Breakfast

9:00 - 10:00 a.m.
Students' Forum: Q&A
Gino Merendino
We'll take a look at all we've covered this week, share ideas and best practices and discuss how to put the ideas we've learned to use.

10:00 - 10:30 a.m.
Diploma