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When it was time for Maggie Bailey ’21 to look for her first post-MPA job, she didn’t have to look far. She found the right fit within the walls of the School of Government, joining the School’s Criminal Justice Innovation Lab as its second project manager. The role was a natural transition for Bailey after serving as a research assistant in the Lab as a student.
“The Lab has afforded me the opportunity to leverage skills I gained in the MPA program,” Bailey said. “The program does a great job bridging theory and practice. The practitioner’s lens is evident in all the work the School of Government does. It’s exciting to work on projects that directly support stakeholders and inspiring to see how those stakeholders make measurable changes.”
The Lab is one of 10 entrepreneurial initiatives at the School. These specialized, public-service oriented units focus on a variety of critical issues, including public service leadership, criminal justice, economic development and community revitalization, and environmental finance. They generate local government fellowships, produce public policy analysis, and educate public defenders. As this work expands and grows, these initiatives are forging deep connections with UNC MPA alumni and students to support their efforts.
Jess Dorrance (’04) returned to the School in 2021, joining the ncIMPACT Initiative as research director after working at the UNC Center for Community Capital. Returning to the School to work on research and evaluation was “such an easy decision” for Dorrance. With ncIMPACT and UNC’s Carolina Across 100 initiative, Dorrance has the chance to continue deploying skills she first learned as an MPA student.
“The curriculum, the things I learned, and the relationships that began with MPA have carried through the years,” Dorrance said. “At its essence, our work at the ncIMPACT Initiative is about collaboration. That was such a big part of MPA: working collaboratively with groups, with cohort members, and directly with organizations or communities to help them solve problems or address issues.”
MPA students engage in the work of entrepreneurial initiatives by serving as research assistants, graduate assistants, or conduct their Professional Work Experiences (PWEs) with initiatives, generating practical scholarship that leads to real-world impacts in North Carolina communities. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship that expands the work of initiatives, provides unique, hands-on learning experiences for students, and allows public officials to gain the resources they need.
“Our students move foundational research forward and take on projects that help us be responsive to stakeholder needs,” Bailey said. “Students learn about criminal justice in North Carolina and work on projects directly affecting people’s lives. We’re lucky to have programs like UNC MPA as partners.”
Bailey and Dorrance join other MPA alumni providing leadership to innovative entrepreneurial initiatives at the School. That list includes Dylan Russell ’17, executive director of Lead for North Carolina; Emily Williamson Gangi ’01, policy engagement director for the ncIMPACT Initiative; and Lydian Altman ’84, teaching assistant professor for the Center for Public Leadership and Governance. Each program benefits not only from the expertise of these alumni, but also from the practical skillset of the MPA students supporting them.
“Our team is fairly small, which allows us to be adaptable and responsive,” Dorrance said. “But we are tasked with completing a significant amount of work with limited staff capacity. The MPA students help boost that capacity and bring their enthusiasm, skills, and diverse perspectives to enhance our work.”
The School of Government is pleased to congratulate North Carolina native and UNC MPA graduate Philip Rogers ‘05 on his election as 12th chancellor of East Carolina University. Rogers’s appointment was formalized by the UNC System Board of Governors on December 17, 2020.
“Given my previous experience at ECU and the wide array of authentic relationships I’ve maintained with university stakeholders through the years, I am confident in my ability to be an asset to the university and region from day one,” Rogers said in a release from ECU. “It is also vital to lead with a listening ear and servant’s heart when considering the top priorities to address together as a university.”
Rogers graduated with his MPA from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2005. He earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from Wake Forest University and a doctorate in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania.
“Philip’s election as 12th chancellor of East Carolina University is not by accident,” said MPA Program Director William Rivenbark. “From the time he matriculated as a student, Philip wanted to pursue a public service leadership position with passion. He also understood the importance of embracing a lifestyle of ethics, integrity, and hard work to serve others in our society. His role at ECU is an embodiment of our program’s mission statement to prepare future public service leaders. We are very proud of him.”
In nominating Rogers for the position, UNC System President Peter Hans described Rogers as “a driven leader who brings energy and vitality to ECU. He has broad national higher education experience and deep local roots in Greenville. Philip is invested in ECU for the long haul and will bring steady, stable leadership.”
Rogers previously served as chief of staff at ECU from 2008–13. Most recently, he served as senior vice president of learning and engagement for the American Council on Education (ACE) in Washington, D.C. While with ACE, he was responsible for the organization’s academic, research, and innovation strategy. Rogers is slated to begin his duties as ECU chancellor on March 15, 2021.
UNC MPA alumna and former School of Government Foundation Board member Elizabeth Biser ‘17 has been appointed Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Biser took her oath of office on July 1, 2021 in Raleigh.
“I am honored and humbled to lead the agency charged with providing environmental stewardship for the health and prosperity of all North Carolinians,” Biser said in a release announcing her appointment. “I look forward to working with key leaders, stakeholders and people throughout North Carolina to fulfil this important mission.”
Biser will be charged with oversight of North Carolina DEQ, which protects the state’s environment and natural resources. Its programs seek to safeguard air, water, land, coastal fisheries, and the public’s health; the agency also offers technical assistance and encourages responsible behavior and respect toward the environment. Her appointment is subject to confirmation by the North Carolina Senate.
Biser was appointed to the position by Governor Roy Cooper in late June. She most recently served as president of Biser Strategies LLC and senior policy advisor for The Recycling Partnership.
“Elizabeth Biser is a strong leader who has experience with this environmental agency and knows its critical work in North Carolina,” Cooper said upon Biser’s appointment.
Biser is a double graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, holding a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Public Administration. She has a strong background in environmental affairs. In addition to her work at Biser Strategies LLC, she served as vice president of policy and public affairs at The Recycling Partnership, government relations and policy director for Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard LLP, and as director of legislative and intergovernmental affairs at the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (the predecessor of DEQ). Biser served on the School’s Foundation Board from 2019 to 2021.
When challenged to put theory into practice for his professional work experience requirement at MPA@UNC, Joseph Pierce knew exactly what he wanted to do. Committed to transparency in government, the Holly Ridge, North Carolina, town manager wanted to help citizens understand how their local government worked so they could make it work for them.
To advance this goal, Joseph created Citizen’s Academy, a six-week program aimed at educating citizens about the functions of their local government.
The program offers a high-level view of what administrators and the legislative body do to make the town continue to run, and allows citizens to meet with government leaders and department heads to ask questions about how spending priorities are set and decisions made.
“They can’t say enough about how much they appreciate it,” Joseph said of citizens and local leaders who use it. “I think that it has been the biggest tangible thing that I’ve been able to produce for the town.”
The academy may be one of the most tangible outcomes that came out of his experience with MPA@UNC, but Joseph says it’s not the only one.
“The typical online student is a practitioner,” he said. “They’re already in the field. They’re working. They’re doing something good with a nonprofit or for the public. So they have that practical experience that really adds a specific dynamic to the program.”
With 14 years in the military, 10 years in law enforcement, and an MS in Management Science behind him, Joseph brings a lot to that dynamic himself. Those years in law enforcement—including a stint as assistant police chief—taught him how to navigate the political environment while interacting with the public and elected officials.
“I was able to direct, guide, and manage a group of people in a sometimes very volatile environment,” he said.
As he looks forward to graduating in May 2018, Joseph says his family and MPA@UNC’s online format made it possible for him to continue working while pursuing his degree.
The father of four boys—ages 6 months to 7 years—says, “I didn’t do it alone. I can tell you that. I’ve got terrific in-laws who helped out with the baby. And my wife’s been a terrific supporter, juggling her work, finding babysitters, and covering when I was busy with work or school. We’re both UNC grads, so she understands the quality of the education here.”
After graduation, Joseph will take those lessons and the Citizen’s Academy concept with him to serve as the town manager of Burgaw, North Carolina.
Casselle Smith’s passion for public service began in her hometown of Greensboro, North Carolina. She remembers accompanying her mother and brother to Yum Yum, a family-owned hot dog store on the UNC-Greensboro campus. Her mother, who worked at Cone Mills and was a union shop steward, would pass out union leaflets as they enjoyed the summer evenings.
Casselle draws a great deal of inspiration from her mother. “She was college-educated but forwent becoming a professor to be a labor movement activist,” says Casselle. Though union organizing kept the family in what some would call “disadvantaged” circumstances, Casselle and her brother—School of Government Assistant Professor Karl Smith—always believed that they could do anything and be anything they wanted. It is that feeling of empowerment and promise that Casselle wants for “every poor kid growing up in a low-income neighborhood.”
While standing by her mother’s side on union blitzes in Salisbury, North Carolina, Casselle learned firsthand that “the most powerful way to organize workers was from within.” That insight would prove to be useful in her future.
At Howard University, she double-majored in sociology and administration of justice and was an intern with the Public Defender Service (PDS) for the District of Columbia. As a Fellow for PDS after graduation, she found that she could make real change in the lives of individuals who had been pushed to the margins of society. “We were not just fighting for their freedom from incarceration; we were trying to help them see beyond their distrust in a system that had failed them, and to break them out of their own entrenched disillusionment,” says Casselle.
She went on to Harvard Law School because she believed that a legal education would “help me effect systemic change in the structural inequality that has plagued so many communities for generations.” At the end of her first year of law school, Casselle was granted membership in the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, the nation’s oldest student-run legal services center and one of three historic honor societies at Harvard Law School. After serving as a student attorney who practiced housing law and represented indigent tenants in the Boston Housing Court, she became the organization’s president.
So what drew Casselle to the MPA program? Though law school provided her with opportunities to broaden her worldview and with many useful skills, she says the MPA marries critical thinking and analysis with the skills of public management. Additionally, she says, “It is wonderful to be involved in a school that plays such an integral part in supporting my home state. I am able to learn the hard skills of public management through the North Carolina lens.”
In her spare time, Casselle likes to lift weights, an activity she describes as pushing through the weakness to find strength. “If poverty were eradicated tomorrow,” she says, “I might might leave public service and become a personal trainer.”
Casselle Smith received the 2010–2011 Diversity in Public Service Scholarship.
Something about Chanitta Deloatch is infectious: you catch the public service bug just from listening when she speaks. When I met her during the MPA student orientation, I knew right away I wanted to talk with her.
Chanitta is from Murfreesboro, a small town in northeastern North Carolina with a population of just over 2,000. She describes the town as a place where “everyone knows everyone or they know someone in your family.” This small town upbringing gave Chanitta a strong sense of community, which has shaped her public service ideals. “I know how much was put into me by my community,” she says. “I want to give back.”
Chanitta loves to travel, and she has especially fond memories of her trip to Europe as a high school student. “As I look back, the trip was wonderful,” she says, “but the experience of getting there is what I remember most.” Her family could not finance her travels. Determined to go, Chanitta raised money by washing cars and writing letters to businesses and people in the community asking for their support. “My community gave me that opportunity,” she says.
Chanitta was raised by her grandparents. Her mother, with whom she had daily contact as a child, was a senior in high school when Chanitta was born. Chanitta has never met her father. She credits her family and church youth leaders for her own commitment to education and public service. “They always told me my options were endless,” she says.
Chanitta’s church community encouraged her to get involved in public speaking, and she was often asked to speak at
church events. “Those experiences gave me the opportunity to verbalize to other young people that they should always reach for the sky,” she says.
The first person in her family to go to college, Chanitta graduated from East Carolina University with a degree in criminal justice. In her studies, she was particularly moved by a juvenile justice course, especially when she learned about the high rate of incarceration among African-American males. “I chose a career in public service because I believe change needs to happen,” Chanitta says. “I believe the only way to do that is through the public sector.”
As an undergraduate, she interned with the court services branch of the NC Department of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention in Pitt County, and she was hired as a juvenile court counselor upon graduation. Although she loved being a court counselor, Chanitta wanted more interaction with the clients she served. “With a case load of 32 children, one visit per child was about all one could do each month,” she says. “That just True Carolina Blue: Chanitta Deloatch wasn’t enough interaction to create the impact that I wanted to have.”
Chanitta found the MPA program’s dual-degree option with the School of Social Work especially appealing. It was a large part of her motivation in applying to UNC-Chapel Hill. “It meant a lot to me to be accepted at the University of North Carolina,” she says. “I believe the prestige of a UNC degree will go a long way in my career.”
Chanitta received a Nanette V. Mengel Scholarship from the MPA program. She is also a North Carolina Child Welfare Education Collaborative Scholar through the School of Social Work and is obligated to work in a local Department of Social Services for two years upon graduation. “Those scholarships made all the difference
to me,” she explains. “I could not have come to graduate school without financial aid. I really appreciate the support
I have received from the Mengel family and MPA alumni.”
Chanitta is looking forward to serving children and families, but she ultimately hopes to create and manage public policy. “The MPA degree is going to make that possible. I believe my options are endless after graduation. I don’t want to settle or restrict myself. At the end of the day, it’s not about the money, but the change I will be able to effect. For me, that is true happiness.”
This profile was first published in the Fall 2008 issue of Impact newsletter.
Tyler Thomas grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina, but calls Pembroke home. “Robeson County is where all of my family is from,” he says. “I have a large family with lots of aunts and uncles, three brothers—one is my twin—and two sisters. Most of our summers were spent in Pembroke.” Tyler explains that his family is part of the Lumbee tribe. “My mother took an active role in ensuring we maintained a connection to our roots,” he explains. “I appreciate that connection and really enjoy attending family gatherings and helping my grandmother in the garden. That’s when I hear great stories about our family’s past.”
Tyler has always had a passion for helping people, an example he learned from his mother, who is a retired elementary school music teacher, and his father, who works for Goodwill. “I have always had a desire to give back, especially in the American Indian community. The connection I feel to my Lumbee heritage is very deep.”
In his application for the MPA program, Tyler wrote, “Every time I visit down home, I pass a tall white-columned landmark, the heartbeat of the first state-supported university for Indians, UNC-Pembroke. There, in that moment of recognition, I feel a deep connection to my surroundings—Robeson County, the land of the Lumbees, and my beloved homeland. I have a commitment and desire to serve America’s ‘First People,’ and I believe the nation’s first public institution [UNC-Chapel Hill] can facilitate my accomplishing this goal.”
Tyler believes that the ethics training he is receiving in the MPA program will also help and guide him in his career. “Growing up, I witnessed and read about a lot of corruption, especially misuse of public resources,” he says. “I think I have the people’s best interest at heart, and I hope to one day be making ethical decisions to better the communities where I work and live.”
Tyler received a degree in exercise and sports science from UNC-Chapel Hill. While an undergraduate, he was president of the Carolina Indian Circle and a member of the American Indian Center’s Internal Advisory Committee. As part of his work at the University’s Office for Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, he encouraged high school students to attend college. At UNC’s Graduate School recruitment fair, he was drawn to the MPA program. “The values stated in the recruitment material really spoke to me,” he says, “and I find the MPA alumni network and small student cohort to be of real value. Also, I was interested in having a generalist degree. The skill set I acquire will be useful, regardless of where I go in my career.”
Tyler is part of a first-year team evaluating the Work Mentor Program for Builders of Hope, a nonprofit organization that provides affordable housing and job training. He is preparing for a summer internship with Robeson County local government and looking forward to helping his home county.
Tyler is a 2009–2010 recipient of a Hayman-Howard-Wright Scholarship.
This profile was first published in the Spring 2010 issue of Impact newsletter.
Nearly 200 are enrolled in MPA@UNC, the online format of the Master of Public Administration program housed at the UNC School of Government. One of those students, Lorrie Fair Allen, is returning to UNC more than a decade after her undergraduate tenure at Carolina, which included three NCAA women’s soccer championships.
Allen, an olympic silver medalist and FIFA World Cup champion, works for the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project and volunteers as a sports envoy for the U.S. State Department. She expects to complete her master of public administration degree in the summer of 2019.
“This MPA will prepare me for life,” Allen said. “It’s preparing me for how to attack the advocacy side, the policy side. I know it’s going to help me be better at my job.”
The online format of the MPA program gives Allen flexibility to complete her degree while juggling a full-time job and a family. Allen had an opportunity to interact with students from both the online and on-campus formats at a special weekend of instruction in November 2017.
Learn more about Allen’s story at UNC’s YouTube channel.
To learn more about MPA@UNC, visit onlinempa.unc.edu.
On February 3, 2018, UNC Master of Public Administration alumna and current City of Rocky Mount Manager Rochelle Small-Toney was recognized and honored as a “Tar Heel Trailblazer” at the halftime of the UNC men’s basketball game.
Small-Toney was the first African-American women’s varsity basketball player at UNC-Chapel Hill, playing on the 1977–78 team. The award, given by Carolina Athletics during Black History Month, “recognizes individuals who paved the way for success in all aspects of the student-athlete experience, shining a spotlight on pioneers who have made memorable and lasting contributions at UNC and beyond.”
A 1978 graduate of the of the UNC MPA program, Small-Toney’s career in public service spans more than three decades. She was the first female and first African-American city manager of Savannah, Georga. She became manager of the City of Rocky Mount in July 2017 and is the first woman ever to serve in the manager role.
“For such a great university as UNC to look back on my past and to select me as a Trailblazer, it’s just one of the greatest highlights of my life at this point,” Small-Toney said. “I’m extremely proud, as I’ve always been, to say that I’m a Tar Heel and that I wear my blue very proudly. But to be recognized by the University is just beyond my wildest dreams or imagination.”
Read Carolina Athletics’ story on Rochelle Small-Toney at goheels.com.