Congratulations to newly promoted faculty members at the UGA Carl Vinson Institute of Government: Julia B. Haas, Melinda Moore, John Hulsey and Mara Shaw!

These faculty members are experts in their fields, and they are dedicated to serving Georgia and its citizens. Every day, they work to inform, inspire, and innovate so governments can be more efficient and responsive to citizens, address current and emerging challenges, and serve the public with excellence.

Julia B. Haas designs and implements employment testing services for state and local government agencies as part of her work in our Government Services and Research division. She specializes in employee selection and promotion, job analysis, job knowledge test development, and assessment center design and administration. Haas has been promoted to Public Service Associate. 

Melinda Moore works with the Survey Research and Evaluation Support division to direct and design qualitative methodologies for evaluation and research. She has more than 17 years of experience in policy, survey research, evaluation, and case management at the state, national, and international levels. Moore has been promoted to Public Service Associate. 

John Hulsey provides financial management training for state and local government officials and personnel through our Governmental Training, Education, and Development division. He is a certified public finance officer and a certified government financial manager. Hulsey has provided financial management training to more than 3,000 newly elected officials since joining the Institute of Government. He also created our signature finance leadership program, the Public Finance Leadership Academy (PFLA), in partnership with the Georgia Government Finance Officers Association (GGFOA). He is a past president of the Georgia Government Finance Officers Association and an active member of the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada. In 2023, he was honored with UGA's Walter Barnard Hill Award for Distinguished Achievement in Public Service and Outreach. Hulsey has been promoted to Senior Public Service Associate. 

Mara Shaw serves as the institute's associate director for the Governmental Training, Education, and Development division. She also manages all leadership development and financial management training programs for more than 5,000 local and state government officials annually. She works with local and state government officials and staff in managing and providing various professional and leadership development training programs for multiple state agencies and local government professional associations. Among other honors, Shaw was a 2020 recipient of UGA's Walter Barnard Hill Award for Distinguished Achievement in Public Service and Outreach. In 2022, she was honored with the College of Humanities and Social Sciences Distinguished Alumna Award by Valdosta State University. Shaw has been promoted to Senior Public Service Associate.