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Washington, D.C.The long-time leader of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) will join Washington's American University as Practitioner?in?Residence where he will teach and study a wide range of issues dealing with the implementation of public policy.

NTEU President Robert M. Tobias, who is not seeking re?election next month after 16 years as head of the nation's largest independent union of federal employees, will also work to develop at AU an institute for the Study of Public Policy Implementation.

Tobias, who also will teach in AU's School of Public Affairs, said he is "delighted both to be able to join the faculty of this nationally?ranked school, and to be in the exciting position of being able to develop what I hope and believe can become an important public policy and management vehicle for research and teaching."

Walter D. Broadnax, Dean of the AU School of Public Affairs and a former deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), said he welcomes the addition of Tobias to the School of Public Affairs faculty and said that "his rich experience over many years will bring real energy to the study of the impact of public affairs in our nation and around the world."

Once developed, the Institute for the Study of Public Policy Implementation will gather and analyze data and examine policy issues such as what constitutes effective management strategies in the public sector; how best to align political appointees and Career Senior Executive Service (SES) management executives; and how to create a workplace where public employees will be encouraged to make the maximum contribution possible.

In addition to his American University duties, Tobias said he will begin in December writing a bi?monthly column for Government Executive Magazine. The subject of his first column, he said, will, be managing an effective labor?management relationship.

While president of NTEU, Tobias was in the forefront of developing labor?management partnership in the federal sector, arguing forcefully that such partnerships were and are the key to having the voices of employees heard in meaningful ways when decisions affecting them and their agencies are in the process of being made.

He often has pointed to the critical role being played by employees of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), as that agency undergoes its most far?reaching restructuring in half?acentury, as proof of the importance not just for employees and the agency, but for taxpayers, of the partnership concept.

Tobias also has been appointed by President Clinton, subject to Senate confirmation, to serve on the IRS Oversight Board, which was created under the 1998 IRS restructuring law.

Tobias served NTEU in a variety of capacities for 31 years, including four terms as I president, beginning with his election in 1983. Earlier this year, he informed NTEU chapter leaders and staff around the country that he would not seek re?election at the union's convention in August.