January 8, 2001 DT-01-003 MEMORANDUM TO: Designated Agency Ethics Officials FROM: Barbara A. Mullen-Roth Associate Director for Education and Program Services SUBJECT: Introductory Ethics Courses Offered in February in Washington, DC The U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) will offer introductory ethics courses on February 13th and 27th at the Department of Labor (DOL) and on February 14th at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The course schedule and descriptions follow: Tuesday, February 13, 2001(DOL) How to Identify Disqualifying Financial Interests 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon SF 278 Review Course [Revised] 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Wednesday, February 14, 2001(OPM) SF 278 Review Course [Revised] 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon Post Employment 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Tuesday, February 27, 2001(DOL) Seeking Employment 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon Widely Attended Gatherings 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. The How to Identify Disqualifying Financial Interests course provides new ethics officials with seven steps to identify disqualifying financial interests. This course also serves as a "nuts and bolts" refresher on 18 U.S.C. § 208. The new and improved SF 278 Review course has been streamlined to focus reviewers on the substantive issues involved in the review process. Attendees will be expected to come to class with a basic understanding of the reporting requirements found in 5 C.F.R. 2634. The class will focus on the criminal conflict of interest issues associated with each part of the form, how to identify potential conflicts, methods for resolving conflicts, and helpful hints for researching investments via the Internet and other research tools. The Introductory Post-Employment course provides both an overview of the post-employment statute, 18 U.S.C. § 207, as well as a step-by-step methodology for analyzing post-employment situations. The Seeking Employment course is a "back to basics" course designed to introduce new ethics officials to the seeking employment rules as well as key terms and concepts used in the rule. (A shorter version of this course was offered at the 2000 Ethics Conference.) The Widely Attended Gatherings and Other Events gift exceptions course covers Speaking and Similar Engagements and Widely Attended Gatherings. Students are asked to bring their own "invitations" to class. Class time is spent discussing the six steps used to analyze these events and then using these steps to analyze the student's specific invitations. All courses are offered free of charge; however, advance registration is required. Each person planning to attend MUST register by faxing a completed registration form to OGE as soon as possible, but not later than one week before course date. Registration will be handled on a first-come basis and each course is limited to 40 participants. NO TELEPHONE OR E-MAIL REGISTRATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED. Please fax completed registration forms to: Sheila Powers OGE Event Coordinator FAX Number: 202-208-8039 (or 8038) OGE will confirm each student's registration by return fax several days prior to the date of the course. Because you are our primary means for advertising training courses, please circulate this memorandum with attached registration forms among your ethics officials as soon as possible. OGE plans to conduct additional introductory and intermediate ethics courses throughout FY 2001. You can access confirmed OGE training information, cities and dates by calling OGE on 202-208-8000, extension 8201 or logging on to the OGE Web site at www.usoge.gov (under "What's New"). For any additional information about OGE training courses, you may contact Ms. Powers via E-mail: or phone: 202-208-8000, extension 1104. Attachments: Registration Forms