Teaching officials and community leaders about their roles and responsibilities or expanding their knowledge base in specific topic areas strengthens the likelihood that they will carry out their jobs more efficiently and effectively. Teaching citizens about government helps make better citizens. Education has been a core activity of the Vinson Institute since its founding. In 2004, more than 13,000 individuals participated in some 400 instructional programs, while 5,000 others learned more about the Institute through presentations at conferences, meetings, and seminars in Athens and around the state. Thousands of Georgia's youth learn about good citizenship through educational publications and teacher programs.

Vinson Institute training faculty formulated a new Management Development Program (MDP) for state government supervisors and midlevel managers, with a curriculum modeled after the popular local government MDP and a strong emphasis on building leadership skills critical to succession management. Faculty also developed several new courses in conjunction with the Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) and the Georgia Municipal Association. A new curriculum initiated for the clerks certification program places it more closely in line with current national standards.

Other training initiatives included a professional development program for the Georgia Records Association, an executive development program for Gwinnett County managers, and a new line of services for auditors in the Georgia Department of Audits and auditors in the Georgia Department of Transportation. Record numbers of new city councilmembers and county commissioners came to Athens in 2004 to learn all the basics for navigating city or county government at the Newly Elected Officials Institutes. The Certified Commissioner Advanced Program was recognized for outstanding achievement by the National Association of Counties.

New and veteran state lawmakers gathered in Athens in December 2004 for the 24th Biennial Institute for Georgia Legislators. This nationally recognized program, conducted since 1958, provides an instructional setting for newly elected officials and an opportunity for all legislators to attend policy sessions focusing on such current issues of concern for the state as corrections, transportation, education, and Medicaid. In November, more than 60 new legislators participated in the first Orientation Day at the Capitol in Atlanta.

The Institute continued its growing presence on the international stage through activities that help transfer its knowledge and experience in government operations to emerging democra

The International Center for Democratic Governance (ICDG) celebrated the fifth anniversary of its joint training program with China's Beijing Administrative College.

Other international outreach included provision of a public policy graduate course as part of an ongoing project with the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs and local government economic development instruction for Ukrainian regional officials. ICDG also facilitated a study abroad program to the Ukraine for University of Georgia students.

The Institute's mission includes a belief that an active, informed citizenry is critical to a strong democracy. Providing educators with the knowledge and materials that they need to prepare their students for that role continued in 2004 with summer seminars on local and state government and law-related education. In an affirmation of the high caliber of its civic education program, an Institute faculty member was appointed to the national Campaign to Promote Civic Education. The Vinson Institute also continued to coordinate the Legislative Intern Program for the Georgia General Assembly, which provides college students with the opportunity to gain firsthand experience in state government.

The Institute's textbook program and the popular GeorgiaInfo section of the Institute's Web site are two means by which civic education reaches thousands of Georgians. Both the Georgia Studies and law textbooks were published in new editions in 2004.