Washington, DC - Federal Executives nationwide will now have the opportunity to attend the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) Federal Executive Institute's (FEI) educational programs in Washington, D.C. Since its opening 37 years ago, FEI's seminar programs have primarily taken place at its Charlottesville, Virginia campus. The newly launched seminar series will offer seven of FEI's most popular open enrollment courses (see list below). Later this year, FEI will also offer a four-week Leadership for a Democratic Society program, FEI's flagship program, at a soon to be announced off-campus location.

The seminars in Washington will be both more accessible to upper level Federal leaders in the D.C. area, and executives planning a visit to their headquarters office will be able to incorporate a seminar into their travel plans. The cutting edge leadership development seminars are designed for SES members, GS-15s, and their equivalent and are not limited to those working in D.C.

OPM Acting Director Dan G. Blair said, "OPM's FEI has taken their most popular courses which cut across a broad range of issues affecting most agencies and made them available in the Nation's capital, the single city with the greatest number of Federal executives. This new training opportunity is in response to emerging needs of Federal executives who require more flexible accessibility and have limited time."

The series has already experienced unprecedented success. The first seminar, Planning and Organizational Strategy for Public Sector Executives with Dr. Michael Barzelay of the London School of Economics, was sold out days after being announced.

The FEI seminar series will continue through the Fall. The next year's schedule will be released in July, 2005. Upcoming courses include:

• June 22, 2005 - Creative Leadership
• June 29-30, 2005 - Collaborating Across Organizational Boundaries
• July 12, 2005 - Emotional Competence: Working With Others for Results
• July 20, 2005 - Wellness in the Workplace
• August 15-18, 2005- The Aspen Institute Seminar on Leadership, Values and the Global Community
• September 20-22, 2005 - Building High-Performance Organizations in the 21^st Century

"The courses address the challenges Federal executives face and give them an opportunity to expand their knowledge with greater convenience," said Blair. "I encourage executives governmentwide to take advantage of the excellent FEI course offerings that are available here in Washington, D.C. and those in Charlottesville."

FEI is the Federal government's premier leadership development center for senior executives. It opened its doors in October 1968 and, to date, over 30,000 federal and international executives have graduated from its programs.

For more information about these courses or to register for a program, visit the Federal Executive Institute website at www.leadership.opm.gov or contact the National Sales Office at 1-866-302-4258.

Our mission is to ensure the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce. OPM supports U.S. agencies with personnel services and policy leadership including staffing tools, guidance on labor-management relations and programs to improve work force performance.