Featured Programs
Development Authority Training
Development authority board members and elected officials can now engage in a new Vinson Institute training program that will help them learn to better contribute to local economic development and understand the role of development authorities. Participants cover valuable information on legal issues, ethics, open meetings requirements, financing development authority operations, strategic planning, and more.
Biennial Institute for Georgia Legislators
Legislators count on the Biennial Institute to provide information and training that will help them make better-informed decisions for Georgia. A recognized event on the state's political calendar since 1958, it offers lawmakers valuable time for learning, networking, and exploring state issues prior to the legislative session.
GOV360™
Government managers, directors, executives, and other leaders have access to an exciting new professional development tool with GOV360™, the first 360-degree assessment tool designed specifically to address the needs of today's government setting.
LOST Mediation Services
Cities and counties engaged in local option sales tax negotiations have access to trained mediators, attorneys, and local government experts through a partnership between UGA's Vinson Institute and Fanning Institute. The joint venture brings to bear considerable and broad expertise of both organizations to help cities and counties reach agreement in a process that can be challenging.
Applied Demography Program
The most successful governments are those that not only deal with current challenges but also are able to see into the future. The Vinson Institute's Applied Demography Program helps today's proactive government leaders peek around the corner by combining local trends with forecasts for national, state, and regional population changes and migration.
Armed with data and projections provided by the Institute's expert demographers, governments can make informed, preemptive decisions about issues such as resource management, education, housing, and service delivery so that governments do not have to be caught flatfooted in the face of population changes.
Online Training Courses
Today's busy government officials and employees can turn to the Institute's expanding range of online courses to help them fulfill their professional development needs—at their own pace and on their own schedule.
The Vinson Institute's online training courses combine quality training with flexibility to meet the schedule and budget realities of today's government officials and employees.
Offered in cooperation with UGA's Center for Continuing Education, the courses cover important topics specific to state and local government, especially in the critical area of financial management.
Special Topic Workshops
What are the skills possessed by successful leaders? In special topic workshops, local government employees identify and learn about these crucial skills to help them improve their leadership and build effective teams.
The courses cover a wide range of subjects, from public speaking to project management. This variety allows a government to customize its own curriculum by combining the courses that fulfill its most pressing staff training needs.
Office of Information Technology Outreach Services
Governments depend on the Institute’s Office of Information Technology Outreach Services (ITOS) to develop and implement Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and train governments in how to use it. Through GIS, governments have information more readily available and can improve operations.
GIS technology organizes all kinds of geographically based data, like transportation systems, land parcels, and tax records, into a practical format. The database systems allow users to access the information quickly and easily and compare data trends. They can also produce maps, charts, and graphs along user-specified criteria.
Local Government Environmental Management
Local officials can count on the Vinson Institute for services to help them address the increasingly complex environmental management issues they confront daily.
Financial Management Program
State and local government finance officials can stay up to date on accounting procedures while enhancing their management skills through both classroom and online training opportunities offered by the Vinson Institute.
Retreats
Local decision makers wanting to regroup and refocus to better serve their communities count on the Vinson Institute’s expertise in facilitating customized retreats.
Historic Preservation Commission Training
Individuals with local historic preservation responsibilities can learn the ins and outs of the process through a new customized training program.
Performance Measurement
Realizing efficiencies in local government operations is more important than ever in today’s public environment. Performance measurement studies from the Vinson Institute offer leaders a practical, quantitative way to collect information and assess operations.
Economic Impact Analysis
State and local leaders count on the Vinson Institute for customized economic forecasts to help them make more informed planning decisions.
Local Government Studies
Local officials can make sure their governments are in the best position possible to serve citizens now and in the future with the help of customized studies from the Vinson Institute.
Special Topic Workshops
What are the skills possessed by successful leaders? In special topic workshops, local government employees identify and learn about these crucial skills to help them improve their leadership and build effective teams.
Tax and Expenditure Data Center
Officials and citizens can turn to the Tax and Expenditure Data Center for local revenue and expenditure data in a form that is readily accessible and enhances governmental decision making.
Environmental Policy Program
Government officials at all levels look to the Institute’s Environmental Policy Program for specialized services to help them deal with critical issues like water resource management, air quality, growth management, and environmental sustainability.
Executive Searches
From crafting the job listing to closing the search, Institute human resource management special- ists help governments and other public entities carry out searches for executives, managers, and department heads that are objective, legally sound, and successful.
Georgia Leadership Institute
The State of Georgia relies on the Georgia Leadership Institute to provide its agency employees with high-quality training emphasizing performance, integrity, and customer service.
Planning and Zoning Training
Specialized training equips commission members and local officials with the tools they need to successfully manage the critically important—and often controversial—planning and zoning process.
Survey Research
State and local governments and others can call on Vinson Institute survey research specialists for timely, data-driven information that provides insight into public viewpoints related to critical policy issues.
Office of Information Technology Outreach Services (ITOS)
Local and state governments rely on ITOS to help bring order to their complex collections of digital information about roads, utilities, county parcels, parks, emergency medical services, and much more.
Management Development Program for Georgia Local Government
City and county managers, supervisors, and department heads gain the tools essential for success through the Management Development Program for Georgia Local Government.
International Outreach - Africa
Helping African countries in transition move toward government that emphasizes responsiveness, transparency, and efficiency is an important goal of the Institute’s international activities.
Financial Management Program
Governmental finance officials can stay up to date on accounting procedures and enhance their management skills through the many training opportunities offered by the Institute’s Financial Management Program.
Planning Retreats
Commissions or councils wanting to regroup and refocus so that they can respond more effectively to their community’s needs can do so in the Vinson Institute's facilitator-led planning retreats.
Classification/Compensation Studies
Governments can make sure that they have legally sound, up-to-date job classification/compensation systems with help from Vinson Institute human resource management specialists.
Online Training Courses
Government employees can fit continuing education into their demanding schedules through the Vinson Institute’s online training courses.
Consolidation Studies
Government officials and community leaders gain a thorough understanding of the potential impact of consolidation through customized studies by Institute faculty.
Staffing Studies
Local governments committed to operating at the highest levels of customer service and fiscal responsibility can benefit from staffing studies conducted by Vinson Institute human resource management specialists.
Promotions Testing
Public service agencies can provide employees with the best opportunity for successful advancement with help from the Institute's promotional testing services.
International Center
Governments in transition worldwide take advantage of the Vinson Institute’s expertise about state and local governments through the International Center. Since 1998, the Center has been conducting education and training programs, consulting, and exchanges on five continents in countries such as Kenya, Bulgaria, Mexico, Brazil, and China.
Master of Public Administration Program
Preparing students for professional careers in public service is the goal of the Master of Public Administration Program, an academic program of the University of Georgia that is cosponsored by the Vinson Institute and the Department of Public Administration and Policy.
Financial Management Program
State and local officials count on the Vinson Institute’s wide-ranging instructional program in financial management to help them carry out their duties with accuracy and efficiency. The 2008-2009 schedule is now available.
Georgia Legislative Leadership Institute
Lawmakers interested in improving their leadership and problem-solving skills work with nationally renowned scholars, professional development experts, legislative leaders, and colleagues from across the nation at the Georgia Legislative Leadership Institute, a professional development program for members of the Georgia General Assembly.
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Whether it's for creating, updating, or integrating data, Georgia’s local leaders have come to depend on the Vinson Institute’s Information Technology Outreach Services (ITOS) division for assistance with all their Geographic Information Systems (GIS) needs. But now, ITOS’s work has expanded and is receiving state, national, and international recognition.
Georgia Legislative Intern Program
Undergraduate students can become part of a dynamic state government through the Georgia Legislative Intern Program. Approximately 30 students from the state's public and private universities and colleges are selected each year to learn firsthand about Georgia's lawmaking process.
Certified Commissioners Advanced Program
County commissioners ready to take their governing skills to the next level will find the training they need through the Certified Commissioners Advanced Program (CCAP), coordinated by the Vinson Institute and the Association County Commissioners of Georgia.
Planning Retreats
Regroup, refocus, and plan to better meet community needs in planning retreats offered by the Vinson Institute for local officials. In a relaxed, informal atmosphere, officials can come together to learn how to function more effectively as a team while working through current issues and preparing for the future.
State Leadership Training
State leaders have the vital task of meeting complex organizational issues to move Georgia forward, and a series of Georgia Leadership Institute programs administered by the Vinson Institute provides the tools they need to hone their leadership skills, develop successful work teams, and manage major organizational processes.
Survey Research
From citizen surveys to program evaluation to data collection and analysis, policymakers can count on the Vinson Institute for survey research support as they consider critical issues facing the state.
Management Development Program for Local Government
Enhancing the knowledge and skills of city and county managers and supervisors so they can be results-oriented leaders today and in the future is the goal of the Management Development Program for Local Government.
Financial Management Program
State and local government personnel turn to the Institute's financial management instructional programs to help them acquire and maintain the up-to-date knowledge and skills required to carry out their responsibilities.
Environmental Policy Analysis
State officials responsible for making complicated decisions related to the future of Georgia's environment and natural resources can count on the Vinson Institute for objective, systematic policy analysis of key issues.
Human Resource Management Program
Governments wanting to recruit, motivate, and retain a quality workforce can count on the Institute for assistance in developing human resource management tools to help them achieve their goals.
Executive Leadership Program
State agency administrators who want to help their organizations grow in service and effectiveness can turn to the Executive Leadership Program for advanced instruction in developing the skills and knowledge they need.
Local Government Studies
Local leaders and government officials can make better-informed decisions about issues they face—from service delivery to incorporation and consolidation—with objective information and insights gained through customized Local Government Services.
Local Government Newly Elected Conferences
New local government officials acquire a road map for navigating their public service careers when they attend orientation programs designed just for them through the newly elected officials conferences.
China Municipal Training Program
Helping the next generation of Chinese municipal and provincial managers enhance their public management skills and knowledge is the goal of the Sino-American Joint Training Program, now in its ninth year.
Local Government Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
As more Georgia local governments of all sizes move toward using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology in their operations, a special unit of the Vinson Institute is providing assistance each step of the way.
