The School of Government is proud to release a new design of our course offerings on sog.unc.edu. The new page has been designed to make finding course details and registration easier and more efficient for all users.
![Course Page Redesign New course page screen shot](https://www.sog.unc.edu/sites/default/files/cover_images/Screen%20Shot%202017-09-01%20at%202.31.04%20PM.png)
On Saturday, August 12, 2017, the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC) honored the UNC School of Government with their Distinguished Service Award. Established in 1970, the award celebrates an individual or an entity that “has rendered a truly outstanding and distinctive service to the cause of improving local government above and beyond his usual duties or occupation.”
![NCACC 2017 Annual Conference President's Banquet Dean Mike Smith accepts the Distinguished Service Award from the NC Association of County Commissioners](https://www.sog.unc.edu/sites/default/files/images/2017_Annual_Conference_Presidents_Banquet.jpg)
Assistant Professor Whitney Afonso's article, "State LST Laws: A Comprehensive Analysis of the Laws Governing Local Sales Taxes," has been published in the top-ranked Public Budgeting and Finance journal.
![Whitney Afonso Whitney Afonso](https://www.sog.unc.edu/sites/default/files/cover_images/Afonso_2012_MG_0205.jpg)
![](https://www.sog.unc.edu/sites/default/files/cover_images/Cities%20and%20Towns_ManagerModule_0.png)
Faculty member John Rubin is known for his expertise in criminal law and indigent defense, his creation of the Collateral Consequences Assessment Tool (C-CAT), and his many contributions to the School of Government's North Carolina
![](https://www.sog.unc.edu/sites/default/files/cover_images/Rubin_John_2016_MG_9722.jpg)
In the video, "Food for the Summer," School of Government and MPA faculty members Maureen Berner and Margaret Henderson highlight how one mayor convened local government and community organizations
![](https://www.sog.unc.edu/sites/default/files/cover_images/FoodSummer.jpg)
State Treasurer Dale Folwell will address local government officials in attendance for the sixteenth annual North Carolina State Treasurers Conference. This one-day conference provides a forum to update local government finance officials and independent auditors on current governmental accounting, auditing, and financial management issues.
![North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell](https://www.sog.unc.edu/sites/default/files/cover_images/Dale_Folwell_thumbnail_200.jpeg)
NC Attorney General will address substance use challenge faced by all local health departments at conference presented and hosted by the UNC School of Government
Media representatives are invited to cover this event, which is not open to the public.
![NC Attorney General Josh Stein NC Attorney General Josh Stein](https://www.sog.unc.edu/sites/default/files/cover_images/High%20Res.jpg)
Faculty member Charles A. Szypszak is teaching two courses at Adam Mickiewicz University (AMU) Faculty of Law and Administration in Poznań, Poland, from May 22 to June 10.
![](https://www.sog.unc.edu/sites/default/files/cover_images/Chuck_Students_DSCN0667%20%282%29.jpg)
“We decided we wanted to do something significant in our lives in gratitude for what the University has meant to us and our children,” said Richard Vinroot of the $1 million pledge he and his wife, Judy Vinroot, made in 2009 to the School of Government.
Forty-five years of close personal, professional, and public friendship provided a focus for that decision: the funds would be endowed in honor of Richard and Judy’s long-time friend, Robert W. Bradshaw Jr.
![Judy and Richard Vinroot](https://www.sog.unc.edu/sites/default/files/cover_images/_MG_1677cmyk.jpg)
Faculty member Aimee Wall works with North Carolina public officials in the areas of North Carolina social services law and animal services law. Until 2011, she worked primarily in the public health law field with health directors and others across the state. But when she was contacted in 2015 by Francis Kateh, former Anson County health director, she was asked to think a bit beyond her normal beat.
![](https://www.sog.unc.edu/sites/default/files/cover_images/Ebola-Virus-sign.jpeg)
US Supreme Court case Peña-Rodriguez v. Colorado, decided on March 6, 2017, recognized the contributions of a 2014 School of Government publication.
![](https://www.sog.unc.edu/sites/default/files/cover_images/Raising-Issues-of-Race.jpg)