Earlier this summer, OIP introduced a new training program – the Director’s Lecture Series.  Focusing on FOIA Fundamentals and Achieving FOIA Goals, the first two sessions of this series provided agency personnel with the opportunity for discussion and an open dialogue with OIP Director Melanie Ann Pustay and other attendees.

Next week we will hold the final seminar of this summer series with a lecture and discussion of OIP’s recently released review and assessment of progress in implementing Attorney General Holder’s FOIA Guidelines.  The 2012 assessment of agency Chief FOIA Officer Reports provides a “visual snapshot” of agency activities in key areas of FOIA administration, illustrating “the many areas where agencies have made real progress [and highlighting] areas where further improvement can be made.”  The details for this lecture, which is open to all agency FOIA personnel, are:

Director’s Lecture Series
Tracking Agency Progress to Implement the FOIA Guidelines
Department of Justice, Robert F. Kennedy Building
10^th and Constitution Ave., NW – Great Hall
August 15, 2012, 10:00 am – noon

Registration required.  You will need a picture ID to enter the building for this seminar.

The lecture will provide an opportunity for agency personnel to discuss the 2012 assessment with Director Pustay, as well as the OIP guidance for further agency improvement included in the assessment.  Director Pustay also welcomes feedback from agencies on milestones to consider in future assessments in the years ahead.

If you are interested in attending this event, you can register by e-mailing your name and phone number to OIP’s Training Officer, Bertina Adams Cleveland, at DOJ.OIP.FOIA@usdoj.gov.  If you have any questions regarding this event, please contact Ms. Adams at (202) 514-1010.