October-December 2012 (Vol. 11, No. 4)
28th Biennial Institute Prepares Legislators for 2013 Session
Members of Georgia’s General Assembly met in Athens for the 28th Biennial Institute for Georgia Legislators to discuss the upcoming legislative agenda, statewide budget outlook, and policy options. (more)
Institute’s Sanford to Present in Free Webinar on Public Sector Retirement Plans
State and local government officials can learn more about changes and trends in public sector defined contribution retirement plans during a free webinar on February 28 that will feature Paula Sanford, a financial specialist at the Vinson Institute. (register) Sanford is coauthor of a recent report released by the National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators about the evolving role of defined contribution plans. (more)
Vinson Institute Announces New Development Authority Training
Development authority board members and elected officials can now engage in training through the Vinson Institute in order to better understand the responsibilities of the authorities and gain information about financing and planning local development. The new development authority training satisfies the statutorily mandated training requirement for board members. (more)
Institute Demographer Assists Planning for State University System
The University System of Georgia Board of Regents has access to information about Georgia’s future population growth and higher education needs to aid its strategic planning efforts thanks to demographic projections provided by Institute demographer Matt Hauer. (more)
Jones Takes the Reins of Vinson Institute Training
Stacy Jones arrived at the Vinson Institute in October as the head of the Institute’s extensive training division, which provides professional development to thousands of state and local government officials and employees in Georgia each year. (more)
Chinese Women’s Group Targets Leadership Skills at Vinson Institute
Delegates from the Shanghai Women’s Federation met with women leaders around the state and focused on leadership and management development during a three-week program coordinated by the Institute’s International Center. (more)
Gordon Addresses State’s Workforce Needs at Lt. Governor’s Summit
Business, education, and government leaders from around the state learned about the results of a recent survey of employers about Georgia’s workforce needs from the Institute’s Rob Gordon at the Lt. Governor’s Business and Education Summit in Rome. (more)
Institute and ACCG Launch Lifelong Learning Academy for Commissioners
A new training and certification program for county commissioners will help officials advance their careers by learning the fundamentals of county governance and specializing in concentrations such as finance, management, or economic development. (more)
Vinson Fellows Present Research in Culmination of Internship Program
The Vinson Institute’s fall semester undergraduate interns presented the results of their work on topics from Georgia’s immigration policy, certification of judges, and city-county tax negotiations to Eastern European immigration. (more)
New Online Course Covers Government Purchasing Strategies
Government finance officers and others can learn approaches to purchasing that help provide value to their organizations in a new online course available from the Vinson Institute’s Financial Management Program. (more)
Vinson Institute Talks Economic Development with State Agency
During a visit to the UGA campus, representatives from the Georgia Department of Economic Development learned how Vinson Institute and other UGA public service programs help communities position themselves for economic growth. (more)
Institute’s Marlowe Joins Public Service Trip to Costa Rica
UGA and Chinese environmental design students were accompanied by the Institute’s Chrissy Marlowe and other UGA faculty to Costa Rica, where they helped produce landscape and drainage plans for a new community center. (more)
