Training Policies

1. Only elected officials, city managers, and assistant/deputy city managers are eligible for Municipal Training Institute Certificates.

2. Municipal staff may register for Municipal Training Institute classes. If space is limited, preference will be given to elected officials.

3. Only registered attendees may attend training classes. No family members/guests, please. If family members/guests do attend training luncheons (in instances where extra lunches are available), there will be an additional fee to cover the cost of their meal.

4. Municipal elected officials, city managers, and assistant/deputy city managers may receive up to twelve (12) hours of elective credit for retreats facilitated by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government.

5. Beginning January 2023, officials may receive additional credit hours for retaking up to two classes a year from the Harold F. Holtz Municipal Training Institute’s curriculum, so long as the recipient has not received credit for those classes within the last five years. Otherwise, credit will only be given once for any class.

6. To maintain the Certificate of Dedication, recipients are required to complete nine hours of continuing education credits each calendar year, beginning with the year following receipt of the certificate. Eligible continuing education hours include any class in the Holtz Municipal Training Institute curriculum, so long as the recipient has not received credit for the class within the last five years.

7. To receive training credit, a participant must attend the entire class. For six-hour classes, anyone arriving more than 30 minutes after the class begins, leaving class repeatedly, or leaving the class early will not receive credit. For three-hour classes, anyone arriving more than 15 minutes after the class begins, leaving class repeatedly or leaving class early will not receive credit. Class completion forms must be signed by the participant and the instructor and provided to the instructor at the end of the class. Class instructors will not sign class completion forms in the event the attendance criteria cited herein is not met by the participant.

8. To receive credit, the registration fee must be paid in full.

9. Participants must attend the training program for which they are registered. Switching classes can result in loss of credit.

10. Elected officials, city managers, and assistant/deputy city managers who serve on Development Authority Boards and take the state-mandated Development Authority Board Member Training through the University of Georgia may receive six hours of credit, provided they submit proof of attendance to GMA.

11. All persons elected as members of a municipal governing authority who were not serving as members of a municipal governing authority on July 1, 1990, are required by state law to attend the Newly Elected Officials Institute. Newly Elected officials should attend the Newly Elected Officials Institute within the first year of office. If a new mayor or councilmember took the class in the past and then had a break in service, such official is required to attend the Institute a second time only if he or she was out of office for more than four years or more than one term, whichever is longer.

12. City Clerks will not receive credit toward their certification in the Georgia Clerks Education Institute (GCEI) by attending Harold F. Holtz Municipal Training Institute classes.

13. Participants must not record, live stream, or otherwise transmit video or sound from any training session without express written permission from the Carl Vinson Institute of Government faculty or the GMA Training Manager. Participants acknowledge that any such materials, should such permission be granted, will be the exclusive intellectual property of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government or GMA, as appropriate. Any person who records, streams, or transmits material without obtaining such written permission shall be asked to leave the training session and will forfeit any paid fee without obtaining training credits.

Back to Listing