U.S. Office of Government Ethics 1201 New York Avenue, NW Suite 500 Washington, DC 20005-3917 August 29, 2006 DO-06-026 MEMORANDUM TO: Designated Agency Ethics Officials FROM: Robert I. Cusick Director SUBJECT: 2007 Training Awards The Office of Government Ethics is launching a new award program. We are pleased to invite submissions of nominations for training awards to be presented at our 2007 national conference in March. The deadline for receipt of the nominations is November 30, 2006. Training is a critical component of a successful ethics program, and all agencies share the challenge of creating effective educational programs and tools. At the same time, many priorities compete for agency resources. Over the years, many agencies have developed extraordinary training products; other agencies have often borrowed and adapted the programs to meet the needs of their employees. Still, many great programs have gone unheralded. The new award program is intended to recognize educational achievements and to enhance the ability of the ethics community to add value by leveraging our resources. We are looking for creative and innovative products that can be readily adapted by other agencies for their own use, as well as for educational products that otherwise demonstrate noteworthy contributions to the ethics community. We believe that there is a particularly acute demand within the ethics community for interactive products that take a fresh approach to addressing core topics. Training by the ethics community is the principal avenue for explaining to thousands of federal employees why ethical behavior is important in government and for instilling respect for the principle that public service is a public trust. Model training efforts underscore that the ethics community must strive to do more than merely fulfill minimal ethics training requirements. Effective training not only conveys technical information about what behaviors are in keeping with and outside the rules, but also ensures commitment to establishing and maintaining an ethical culture within the agency. The awards will be formally presented at the 2007 Office of Government Ethics conference. You are invited to nominate your agency’s efforts as well as those of other agencies. Please contact Kaneisha Cunningham at ktcunnin@oge.gov or (202) 482- 9228 to arrange for the best means to submit your products. Please contact Carolyn Chapman, Associate Director, Education Division at cwchapma@oge.gov or (202) 482-9222 if you have any questions.