More than 500 officials recently elected to city governments across the state participated in Vinson Institute training in Tifton March 2–3 and in Athens February 17–18. The Newly Elected Officials Institutes were cosponsored by the Georgia Municipal Association and the Vinson Institute and featured courses focused on building skills and knowledge as well as opportunities to network and learn about local government resources.

To find out more: Carl Vinson Institute of Government

The Vinson Institute’s local government services unit submitted its final report concerning the effects of census counts of deployed military personnel to the Liberty Consolidated Planning Commission on December 7. The commission had asked the Vinson Institute to examine the impact of the Census Bureau’s counting rules due to concerns of undercounts of the 13,000 military personnel deployed from Fort Stewart. The Vinson Institute report addressed the potential impact that the policy of attributing personnel to state population but not local jurisdiction populations has on reapportionment and funding in areas such as transportation or housing.

To find out more: Carl Vinson Institute of Government

1.     The Vinson Institute and the Fanning Institute finalized plans to jointly provide mediation services for local governments that are undergoing the potentially contentious process of renegotiating distribution of the local option sales tax (LOST). Work began with Douglas County and the City of Douglasville on December 15. Through the Vinson-Fanning project, cities and counties will have access to experienced, impartial mediators who are well versed in the intricacies of legal aspects of LOST.

To find out more: Fanning Institute | Fanning Institute

       The Vinson Institute was notified on December 16 that it has been selected to lead the strategic planning process for the Alliance for Education Agency Heads (AEAH) in the first quarter of 2012. The Vinson Institute will facilitate a series of retreats for AEAH members and staff that will include needs assessments, visioning, and planning with the ultimate goal of strengthening interagency collaboration and aligning agency activities with the governor’s education and competitiveness initiatives.

To find out more: Carl Vinson Institute of Government

On October 31, 2011, Governor Nathan Deal and Vinson Institute faculty members attended kickoff event for the Georgia Council for the Arts strategic planning process. The Georgia Department of Economic Development asked the Vinson Institute to contribute to the development of the council’s new strategic plan, which will serve as its guide through the next decade. The Vinson Institute will develop the procedures for gathering public input for the plan and facilitate two of the public input sessions as well as a meeting of the council’s board. Vinson Institute faculty members will also help write the final plan after receiving public and stakeholder feedback. The strategic plan will describe the council’s updated mission and its goals for arts education, traditional arts, arts organizations, artist support, and grants.

To find out more: Carl Vinson Institute of Government

On October 12, 2011, the Vinson Institute participated in the kickoff of the OneGeorgia Rural Policy Center and its policy-making arm, the Georgia Rural Development Council (GRDC). At the request of the Governor’s Office, the Vinson Institute will provide support for GRDC activities, which include creating policies to encourage development in the state’s rural areas. Vinson Institute facilitators will guide the GRDC through discussions and policy formulation and will help draft policy papers. The Vinson Institute will also assist in deploying the resources of the University System of Georgia (USG) by identifying and subcontracting with USG entities that can conduct research on rural development issues.

To find out more: Carl Vinson Institute of Government

On October 11, 2011, the Vinson Institute and Seoul Municipal Government (SMG) signed a memorandum of understanding to formalize their partnership in training, assistance, and cultural exchange. The new partnership reinvigorates and expands the Vinson Institute's involvement in Korea through short- and long-term programs for high-ranking Seoul city officials to enhance their career enrichment and promote connections between South Korea and the United States. It will host select, high-ranking Seoul officials who will work at the Vinson Institute during yearlong internships. The agreement also designates the Vinson Institute as manager of all short-term training programs in the U.S.

To find out more: Carl Vinson Institute of Government

On September 27, 2011, the Governor’s Office of Children and Families launched a website and database designed by the Vinson’s Institute’s Office of Information Outreach Technology at a ceremony in Atlanta. The First Lady of Georgia, Sandra Deal, was present at the “virtual ribbon cutting ceremony,” where the new site was unveiled, along with several representatives from the Vinson Institute who had worked on the project. The website is the culmination of several years’ work in aggregating juvenile justice data so the data can be shared among the many state agencies involved with juvenile programs. This data had previously been stored in separate databases with limited access. The new site will facilitate coordination between agencies and help provide more effective services to meet the needs of youths

To find out more: Carl Vinson Institute of Government

On September 25, 2011, 21 state representatives and senators received certificates for completing the Georgia Legislative Leadership Institute (GLLI). The legislators, all serving first terms, were nominated by their parties’ leadership to participate in the program. The participants met in May and September and engaged in activities designed to help them learn more about their personal leadership styles and how to apply those successfully in a legislative setting. This was the fourth Georgia Legislative Leadership Institute, which is conducted every two years by the Vinson Institute on behalf of the Georgia General Assembly Training Institute and with funding from the Woodruff Foundation.

To find out more: Carl Vinson Institute of Government

On September 7-25, 2011, the Vinson Institute’s International Center led a group of 20 Chinese leaders from the Shaanxi Province State-Owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission in Athens, Atlanta, New York, and Washington, D.C. The purpose of the delegation’s visit was to learn more about enterprise and legal risk prevention and control. During their trip, they met with representatives from law firms, a U.S. trade representative, the Georgia state treasurer, business representatives, tourism and economic development officers, and others. Their meetings provided them with a perspective of the legal framework for conducting business in the United States and how to manage risk in public and private sector organizations.

To find out more: Carl Vinson Institute of Government

In August 2011, the Georgia Department of Public Safety asked the Vinson Institute to provide promotional testing assistance for the Georgia State Patrol and the Motor Carrier Compliance Division. The Vinson Institute’s human resource experts will devise and implement a testing strategy designed to provide fair access to promotion opportunities. Compliance officers will have the opportunity to vie for promotions to the ranks of corporal, sergeant, sergeant first class, and lieutenant. The tests will be administered to 500–750 troopers and officers seeking promotions. The agencies have not offered promotions for three years and are in need of new leaders at their 28 patrol posts throughout the state.

To find out more: Carl Vinson Institute of Government

In August 2011, a survey project by Sumter County Archway Professional Barbara Grogan and UGA Master of Public Administration intern Adam Hebert was completed. The survey contained information received from 164 individuals serving in elected/appointed positions in the community. With a response rate of more than 30 percent, data collection included information regarding training services, terms of office, and of knowledge of current roles and responsibilities.

To find out more: Archway Partnership

On August 27, 2011, the Vinson Institute’s local government services unit signed a contract with downtown development group NewTown Macon to compile case studies of Georgia’s three biggest consolidated governments—Columbus-Muscogee, Athens-Clarke, and Augusta-Richmond. The studies will help inform the ongoing efforts to consolidate the governments of City of Macon and Bibb County. The Vinson Institute will gather information about the structural changes that occurred as a result of consolidation in the other Georgia communities and those that have occurred since. They will also interview community leaders who were involved in the consolidation processes to discover what issues were significant during the process and what issues are important now. Using this information, Vinson Institute faculty members will include in their report options that Macon and Bibb County can consider. The study is part of a broader effort by the area’s local legislators to reenergize efforts to put a consolidation referendum before voters.

To find out more: Carl Vinson Institute of Government

On August 18, 2011, 19 professionals from local parks and recreation departments around the state graduated from the George F. Harris Executive Management Institute, which is offered through a partnership between the Vinson Institute and the Georgia Recreation and Park Association (GRPA). The participants engaged in five days of professional development during GRPA’s annual conference in Macon that included training in management, public speaking, budgets, social media use, and problem solving. The program develops leadership talent within parks and recreation departments in Georgia’s cities and counties and helps them become better-managed organizations.

To find out more: Carl Vinson Institute of Government

In an agreement signed on July 19, 2011, the Northeastern Judicial Circuit of Superior Court has asked the Vinson Institute to conduct an evaluation of the Hall County DUI Court. The study will examine the effectiveness of DUI Court, a program that attempts to replace incarceration for DUI offenses with treatment and counseling alternatives. The Institute will analyze data about participants who completed DUI Court by 2008 and track the rate of recidivism, or the number of participants who were arrested for DUI after graduating from the program. The Institute conducted a similar evaluation for the court in 2008. The new results will be helpful in evaluating the program’s effectiveness over time.

To find out more: Carl Vinson Institute of Government

On July 18, 2011, David Anderson Hooker delivered a leadership training session titled Leading from the Middle to the Spalding County Griffith School (Superintendent's) Cabinet Level appointees and mid-level managers (i.e. department heads) as part of the preparation for a new school. This session focused on analysis, conflict resolution, and communications from a middle management position. The unique aspect of the presentation was the intentional attention paid to self-reflection, identifying personal motives and challenges and understanding how personal values, perspectives and attitudes impact the managers' individual approaches to their work, the system, and their colleagues.

To find out more: Fanning Institute

On July 6 and July 14, 2001, the Vinson Institute’s International Center signed agreements with the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) and the Government Association of Korea (GAK) to establish new programs for professional and organizational development and cultural exchange. The agreement with the Seoul government will create a year-long internship for city officials to work at the Institute. The agreement with the GAK, an organization of local elected leaders and civil servants, will bring groups of officials to the Institute for one-month periods to learn about professional development and training programs.

To find out more: Carl Vinson Institute of Government

On June 30, 2011, at the request of the chairs of the House and Senate Education Committees, the Vinson Institute facilitated the first of several meetings for the Education Funding Committee in Atlanta, Georgia. Composed of key legislators, along with the state school superintendent, the university system chancellor, and others, the committee is attempting to develop innovative ideas for funding education in the state. Two Institute faculty members guided the committee through its first brainstorming session in which participants proposed cost-saving ideas. The committee will make recommendations for reforms to the current funding formula established in 1985 with the Quality Basic Education Act.

To find out more: Carl Vinson Institute of Government

On June 25-28, 2011, at the 2011 Georgia Municipal Association Annual Convention in Savannah, Georgia, the Vinson Institute unveiled three new courses for participants—Recreation and Parks: Innovations and Best Practices, Technology Solutions for Cities, and Making Citizen Engagement Work in Our Communities. Convention attendees included mayors, city council members, city managers, clerks, and others from around the state. More than 1,000 elected and appointed municipal officials participated in Vinson Institute training courses.

To find out more: Carl Vinson Institute of Government

On June 7, 11, and 14, 2011, the Fanning Institute facilitated a series of town hall meetings in Macon, Georgia, for the Knight Foundation of Macon. The Knight Foundation of Macon hired the Fanning Institute to conduct public meetings in anticipation of their upcoming mayoral and city council elections with the goal of understanding residents’ concerns and priorities. The final report will be used to create debate questions for the mayoral candidates. Fanning Institute faculty members Joe Whorton, Emily Boness, Emmett Shaffer, Jan Coyne, Joy Wilkins, Carolina Darbisi, David Meyers, and David Hooker facilitated the town hall meetings.

To find out more: Fanning Institute

During June 2011, the first month since release of the Web-based, open source data management system, 121 new users registered and downloaded data from the site, tripling the monthly average from the previous year, and users downloaded almost 13 times more data than the monthly average under the old system. With funding from the United States Agency for International Development, the Vinson Institute’s Office of Information Technology Outreach Services created a new home for a decade-old online data delivery system. The repository is designed to facilitate crisis response by providing spatial data to the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations during events across the globe.

To find out more: Carl Vinson Institute of Government

On May 20-22, 2011, with funding from the Woodruff Foundation, the Vinson Institute led the first meeting of the 2011 Georgia Legislative Leadership Institute (GLLI). Legislators from both houses—four senators and 19 representatives—selected by the General Assembly’s leadership attended the meeting to learn more about developing as successful leaders in the legislature. The second meeting of the two-part GLLI sequence will take place in fall 2011. GLLI is conducted every other year, alternating years with the Vinson Institute’s Biennial Institute for Georgia Legislators.

To find out more: Carl Vinson Institute of Government

On May 2, 2011, Assistant State Director Eric Bonaparte facilitated a breakout session at the Start Up America forum in Atlanta, Georgia. This event was one of 10 such meetings organized around the country and hosted by the White House. This is an initiative by President Obama to promote and assist business creation and growth in America. The results of the forums will be used to formulate additional federal policy initiatives.

To find out more: Small Business Development Center

In May 2011, a second phase of work began relating to the requirements of the Patient Care and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA). Governor Nathan Deal issued an executive order to establish the Governor’s Health Exchange Advisory Committee and tapped the Vinson Institute to play a role in designing and managing committee activities. The committee is examining Georgia’s approach to the establishment of Small Business Health Exchanges and how they may or may not be of value in supporting small business profitability and growth.

To find out more: Carl Vinson Institute of Government

In May 2011, the Vinson Institute and leaders from the Georgia General Assembly agreed upon plans for the Institute to develop and coordinate the Georgia Legislative Environmental Policy Academy with funding from the R. Howard Dobbs Foundation. Beginning in fall 2011, legislators serving on the House and Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committees will have the opportunity to attend the academy twice yearly to gain insight into major environmental issues facing the state. The academy will consist of a series of classes designed to provide unbiased background information on topics such as water supply, coastal development, and federal regulations.

To find out more: Carl Vinson Institute of Government