During Hometown Legislative Action Week in early February, the Municipal Elected Officials Institute of Government and Advanced Institute together graduated 85 municipal elected officials, including 69 graduates of the MEO Institute and 16 graduates of the Advanced MEO Institute. Find press releases for all graduates from both programs at www.masc.sc (keyword: newsroom).
For more than three decades, the MEO Institute has worked to give elected officials the knowledge they need to help their municipalities operate responsively, efficiently and effectively. Graduating from the MEO Institute requires officials to complete two daylong sessions, Session A, which digs into such topics as public meetings, strategic planning and goal setting, as well as Session B, which includes such topics as business license tax administration, ethics, liability and annexation.
Graduation also requires officials to complete five other sessions, available as online, on-demand sessions, and which will resume as in-person sessions at locations around the state after the pandemic disruptions end. These courses are
- Basic Budgeting and Municipal Finance,
- Forms of Municipal Government,
- Freedom of Information Act in SC,
- Municipal Economic Development, and
- Municipal Governance and Policy.
The Advanced MEO Institute gives MEO Institute graduates an opportunity to continue their education. Graduation from the Advanced MEO Institute requires participants to complete any four of the six available courses, ordinarily offered each February and October. The courses are
- Advanced Advocacy and Intergovernmental Relations,
- Advanced Budgeting and Finance,
- Advanced Leadership and Governance,
- Advanced Municipal Economic Development,
- Municipal Utility Policy and Administration, and
- Public Safety Policy and Administration.