Small Agencies, Big Issues: Upcoming Training Opportunity for FOIA Professionals

Class is in session for small agencies looking to better resolve FOIA disputes. However you get to training, please join us! (ARC Identifier 532148)

OGIS will offer an all-day Dispute Resolution Skills for FOIA Professionals training program on Monday December 3, 2012, at the National Archives building in Washington, D.C.

While we’ve offered this training program — which equips FOIA professionals with practical communications and dispute resolution skills — for nearly three years, this session will be a little different. This time, we’ve tailored the training for FOIA professionals from smaller agencies.

Small agencies face big problems when it comes to FOIA. Naturally, small agencies tend to have small FOIA staffs, but resource issues aren’t the only challenges they face. Small agency FOIA shops also contend with referrals and consultations (often with larger agencies) and the need to develop a team approach to responding to FOIA requests. In small agencies, the FOIA shop may consist of one FOIA professional, which can make it difficult to handle competing priorities. All the more reason to have good communication skills to avoid disputes. We will examine each of these issues on December 3 and discuss ways to tackle them.

If you are a small agency FOIA professional, we hope that you will join us for this special session. Please email ogis@nara.gov for more information and to register.