An executive order signed by President Donald Trump earlier this month would shut down the Federal Executive Institute, a leadership training center based in Charlottesville since 1968.
Located on a 14-acre campus about a mile from the University of Virginia, the FEI has trained more than 30,000 senior federal employees over the past 57 years.
The February 10 order calls for the Office of Personnel Management to “take all necessary steps” to close the Federal Executive Institute, claiming the facility contributes to policies that benefit government employees instead of “the American family.”
“The Federal Executive Institute should therefore be eliminated to refocus Government on serving taxpayers, competence, and dedication to our Constitution, rather than serving the Federal bureaucracy,” the order reads.
The order does not specify when the dozens of people employed by the FEI will be forced out of their offices—and likely, out of work. Staff include resident faculty members and adjunct professors from universities across the nation.
One employee, in an anonymous interview with The Daily Progress, said the institute will close its doors March 14. Employees can either relocate to the nearest OPM office in Washington, D.C., or leave the government. It’s unclear whether the transfer option will protect employees’ jobs, especially given Trump’s focus on eliminating federal positions across departments.
FEI employees were among those offered buyouts through the administration’s Fork in the Road program—eight months of pay and benefits to federal workers who resign immediately. Roughly 75,000 employees have accepted the offer at press time, approximately 3.3 percent of all eligible individuals.
The FEI declined C-VILLE’s request for comment.
