UNC School of Government faculty member Margaret Henderson has partnered with retired Raleigh Police Department detective Rick Hoffman to publish an extensive list of free and low-cost strategies to help law enforcement begin to address human trafficking.
The article in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin explores tangible initial steps agencies can take to increase their capacity to recognize, investigate, and charge cases of sex and labor trafficking. It provides an array of trafficking indicators, free training resources, language considerations, and community partnerships that law enforcement can use to better address trafficking in their jurisdictions.
While many agencies may currently lack personnel that focuses solely on cases of human trafficking, Henderson and Hoffman’s publication illustrates a multitude of ways for departments to strengthen their efforts.
“No matter the size or budget of any law enforcement agency, there are high quality training resources available online, most of which are free,” Henderson said. “There is really no excuse to remain uninformed about the indicators of sex and labor trafficking, as well as how those crimes are often intertwined with others.”
Human trafficking is commonly broken into two broad generalizations: sex trafficking and labor trafficking. Definitions provided by Polaris and the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act identify sex trafficking as the crime of using force, fraud, or coercion to induce another individual to sell sex. Labor trafficking is the crime of using force, fraud, or coercion to induce another individual to work or provide service.
Statistics from the National Human Trafficking Hotline and other research show survivors of human trafficking are disproportionately people of color. By taking advantage of resources to combat trafficking, law enforcement can promote equity and justice in their communities.
Henderson researches strategies that strengthen cross-sector working relationships and specializes in the practical implications of managing these collaborations. She has generated an array of resources to help local government officials combat human trafficking, and has published a blog post addressing the intersection of COVID-19 risk factors and human trafficking. Henderson regularly partners with School faculty and North Carolina organizations to improve education on trafficking indicators.
School of Government faculty member Kimberly Nelson has been selected to edit State and Local Government Review (SLGR), the premier journal of scholarship on state and local governance. Along with co-editor Eric S. Zeemering, the UGA School of Public and International Affairs Master of Public Administration Director, Nelson will curate the journal and develop its distinctive voice in the areas of state and local government politics, policy, and management.
With the help of an expanded and diversified editorial board, Zeemering and Nelson plan to develop a robust article submission process for the journal and increase the population of peer reviewers. They also plan to increase outreach to professional and academic associations.
For Nelson, this is an invaluable opportunity to further serve the journal’s mission by bridging the gap between practice and policy.
“I’m very excited to take on this role, because SLGR fills such an important niche in public administration and government scholarship,” said Nelson. “State and local governments are closest to the people and improving these governments can lead to meaningful differences in the people’s everyday lives. I look forward to helping connect research with practice in a way that’s rarely seen in academia.”
Historically, the pages of the journal illuminate the challenges faced by state and local policy makers and public managers. Now, as scholars think about the policy and management challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, the political polarization that strains policymaking at all levels of government, and ongoing pressure for innovation in our federal system, Dr. Zeemering hopes SLGR will be among the first journals they think of as a source for high-quality research.
“Particularly now, scholars need journals to operate efficiently and provide valuable feedback during the process of peer review,” said Zeemering. “We are dedicated to managing a professional and constructive peer review process. We believe authors, reviewers, and readers will be excited about the changes coming to the journal.”
As co-editors, Nelson and Zeemering will work in tandem toward this goal – strengthening a collaborative bond between their respective institutions.
“Eric and I will work as partners, restructuring the journal, promoting it, and determining the content,” she said. “We also see this as an opportunity to develop a partnership between two institutions that are leaders in state and local government education and scholarship.
Founded by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government of the University of Georgia, State and Local Government Review is the official journal of the Section on Intergovernmental Administration and Management (SIAM) of the American Society for Public Administration. Peer-reviewed and published quarterly, the Review welcomes manuscripts that focus on state and local governments and those that explore the intergovernmental dimensions of public sector activity. The journal includes general interest research articles, perspectives essays from leaders in state and local government, field notes (including traditional research notes and examples of innovation from practitioners), and response essays. As they move forward with their planned changes, Nelson and Zeemering will enhance the journal as a venue for dialogue among scholars and public service professionals in state and local government.
SLGRis published by SAGE Journals.
After beginning her first term on the governing board for the Association for Budgeting and Financial Management (ABFM) in January 2018, School faculty member Whitney Afonso has been reelected to the Executive Committee as an at-large member. She began to serve another three-year term in January 2021.
“It is an essential part of our mission when Carolina MPA faculty members like Whitney Afonso assume such important leadership roles within the public administration community, said William C. Rivenbark, Professor of Public Administration and Government and MPA Program Director.
ABFM is a section of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), the leading interdisciplinary public service organization involving the science and practice of public and non-profit administration. ABFM aims to promote the professional development of budgeting and financial management in the public and non-profit sectors.
At AFBM’s annual conference on September 28-30, Afonso presented on “Internet Taxation and Local Government Sales Tax Capacity” and “A First Look at the Time to Adoption of Local Option Fuel Taxes.”
Afonso joined the School of Government in 2012. She was named Albert and Gladys Hall Coates Distinguished Term Assistant Professor for 2015–2017. Prior to that time, she taught at the University of Georgia, Department of Public Administration and Policy; and Texas A&M University’s Bush School of Government and Public Administration.
School of Government faculty member Carl Stenberg has been named an honorary member of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA). The award is given to individuals outside the local government management profession for distinguished public service and contributions to the improvement of local government.
“Carl has provided a lifetime of service to our profession,” wrote one ICMA member who nominated Stenberg for the award. “He’s a rare academic who understands the theoretical foundations of management and leadership, but who is also steeped in the practical aspects, especially at the local government level.”
Individuals named honorary members have included, but are not limited to, academic leaders, elected officials, and civic leaders. Since the inception of the award in 1924, only 77 honorary memberships have been granted by ICMA. Stenberg is the third School of Government faculty member to earn the honor, joining Warren Jake Wicker and Don Hayman.
In his award acceptance video, Stenberg said, “ICMA’s commitment to public service, to professionalism, to ethics, to social equity and racial justice has really been critical to building community and to building capacity. I’m proud and I’m appreciative to be recognized for my contribution to improving and strengthening local government through an honorary membership.”
Stenberg is the James E. Holshouser Jr. Distinguished Professor of Public Administration and Government at the School. He works closely with North Carolina’s city and county managers and liaises with the North Carolina City/County Managers Association (NCCCMA). He led the creation of the School’s Public Executive Leadership Academy (PELA) and has written extensively in his areas of expertise, including serving as co-author of “Managing Local Government: An Essential Guide for Municipal and County Managers.” He has contributed to multiple ICMA textbooks and reports, acted as co-editor of “Managing Local Government Services: A Practical Guide,” and authored two Governmental Affairs and Policy Committee white papers for the organization.
“I’ve been engaged with ICMA for over 50 years in a variety of ways, including authoring research reports, books, and white papers; participating in the annual and regional conferences; and collaborating with the past three ICMA executive directors,” said Stenberg. “These activities and relationships have enriched my own professional development, and they’ve strengthened my teaching of current and future city and county managers.
Stenberg arrived at UNC in 2003 after serving as dean of the Yale Gordon College of Liberal Arts at the University of Baltimore, director of the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia, and executive director of the Council of State Governments. He previously served as director of the UNC MPA program at the School from 2006 to 2011.
A fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and former president of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), he has also received the Donald C. Stone Practitioner and Academic Awards from ASPA for contributions to intergovernmental management.
Stenberg was named a 2020 honorary member alongside Phillip C. Harris, district recovery manager for Broward County Public Schools in Florida.
Assistant Professor Whitney Afonso‘s article, “State LST Laws: A Comprejensive Analysis of the Laws Governing Local Sales Taxes,” has been published in Public Budgeting & Finance.
Local sales taxes (LSTs) have received growing attention over the past decade, but a fundamental aspect of LSTs has remained largely unexplored: How do state laws governing LSTs differ from one another? The literature acknowledges that state laws vary widely, but leaves the discussion at that. This research seeks to fill that void by presenting a comprehensive set of state LST laws and creating a resource that will enable researchers to consider these differences in their analyses. State LST laws are framed within the lenses of jurisdictional eligibility and discretionary authority.
Afonso joined the School of Government in 2012. She was named Albert and Gladys Hall Coates Distinguished Term Assistant Professor for 2015–2017. Prior to that time, she taught at the University of Georgia, Department of Public Administration and Policy; and Texas A&M University’s Bush School of Government and Public Administration. Her research into how the choice of revenue streams by state and local governments affect government and citizen behavior has been presented at the annual conferences for the National Tax Association, Association for Budgeting and Financial Management, American Society for Public Administration, and the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. In October 2016, she was recognized by Public Budgeting & Finance with its Jesse Burkhead Award. Her article, “Leviathan or Flypaper: Earmarked Local Sales Taxes for Transportation,” was selected as the journal’s top article in 2015. Afonso earned a BA in political science from Vanderbilt University, and an MA in economics and PhD in public administration and policy from the University of Georgia.
Associate Professor Leisha DeHart-Davis draws on a decade of original research and interdisciplinary scholarship in her new book, Creating Effective Rules in Public Sector Organizations. This book provides the first comprehensive portrait of rules in public organizations and seeks to find the balance between rules that create red tape and rules that help public organizations function effectively, what the author calls “green tape.”
The creation of rules that govern processes or behavior is essential to any organization, but these rules are often maligned for creating inefficiencies. DeHart-Davis builds a framework of three perspectives on rules: the organizational perspective, which sees rules as a tool for achieving managerial goals and organizational functions; the individual perspective, which examines how rule design and implementation affect employees; and the behavioral perspective, which explores human responses to the intersection of the first two perspectives. The book is available from Georgetown University Press.
DeHart-Davis joined the School of Government in 2012. She was named Albert and Gladys Hall Coates Distinguished Term Associate Professor for 2015–2017. She directs Human Capital Matters, a line of programming for human resource professionals in NC local government, and co-directs Engaging Women, a program that seeks to equip women to pursue public service leadership positions. DeHart-Davis was named a Top 100 Local Government Influencer by the Emerging Local Government Leaders Network in 2016. She teaches human resource management and the portfolio course in the School’s Master of Public Administration program. DeHart-Davis holds a PhD in public policy from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
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 to expand efforts to feed hungry kids during the summer. Over several years, Berner has documented food insecurity in North Carolina through research into the chain of services necessary to feed hungry kids and families, from the farms that donate crops to the non-profit, volunteer-run food banks that distribute the food in communities. For more information about this research, visit www.sog.unc.edu/resources/tools/hunger-research.
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. One course, for law students, is Learning Law Through Analytical Dialog. It will enable students to enhance their analytical thinking and expression through legal analysis and engaged dialog. The second isTeaching Law Through Analytical Dialog for doctoral students who teach law subjects and are preparing for careers as law teachers. It is aimed at giving teachers an opportunity to participate in Socratic exchanges, see demonstrations of how such exchanges are most effectively done, consider the advantages and limitations of this method, and experience its use in leading discussions.
AMU is one of the largest academic institutions in Poland. Its faculty are involved in public administration and ourts throughout Poland and the European Union. Szypszak will be collaborating with Hanna Suchocka, the chair of the AMU faculty, who was legal advisor to Solidarity and Poland’s first woman prime minister. Other faculty are known throughout Europe for their work in constitutional reform, human rights, the courts, and other fundamental law and public policy subjects.
In 2015, Szypszak was a visiting professor at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, where he led a doctoral seminar called “Learning Law Through Analytical Dialog” for students in law who plan to be teachers. And in 2014, he was awarded a Fulbright Specialist grant to teach seminars for graduate students and faculty at the University of Wrocław. He also taught a course on current issues in real estate for Polish and international law students.
In the MPA program, Szypszak teaches an introduction to law course and an elective on military leadership and public administration. He also teaches an introduction to legal thinking course in UNC’s undergraduate curriculum. He provides counsel to state, national, and interntional institutions, organizations, and public officials on real property registration and conveyance laws.
UNC President Margaret Spellings will deliver the 2017 Deil S. Wright Lecture on March 31 at the School of Government. The event is free and open to the public. Nationally known as an education thought leader and public policy expert, Spellings most recently served as president of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Texas. Spellings previously served as president and CEO of Margaret Spellings & Company, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, US secretary of education, and chief domestic policy advisor for President George W. Bush. Spellings is a graduate of the University of Houston, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in political science. She also received an honorary doctorate and Distinguished Alumna Award from the university in 2006.
The Deil S. Wright Lecture Series is hosted by the Master of Public Administration program at UNC-Chapel Hill and sponsored by Fidelity Investments and the MPA Alumni Association.
In a blog post for the Harvard Law and Policy Review, faculty member Maureen Berner proposes innovative ideas for reframing food insecurity as an economic development issue.