UNC Master of Public Administration faculty members contribute their talents through a variety of public administration national leadership and service positions. Reflecting the breadth of expertise of its faculty, UNC MPA faculty provide service as committee members, board members, and editors of some of the nation and world’s leading scholarly public sector organizations.
“Our faculty have been extraordinarily successful connecting the School’s model of engaged scholarship with the broader national academic and professional communities,” said UNC School of Government Dean Aimee N. Wall. “As recognized experts in their fields of public administration, they are making practical and significant contributions that not only advance the field but directly benefit our students and North Carolina’s public officials every day.”
Read more about the variety of public service organizations and positions with which UNC MPA faculty engage.
Whitney Afonso, Professor of Public Administration and Government
Editorial board member| Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory; Public Budgeting & Finance
Executive committee member | Association for Budgeting & Financial Management
Finance committee member | Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration
Leisha DeHart-Davis, Professor of Public Administration and Government; Director, Local Government Workplaces Initiative
Founding board member | Consortium of Race, Gender, and Equity Researchers
Board member | Center for Organizational Research and Design, Arizona State University
Editorial board member | The American Review of Public Administration; State and Local Government Review
Willow S. Jacobson, Director, UNC MPA Program; Robert W. Bradshaw Jr. Distinguished Professor of Public Administration and Government
Board member | The Section on Personnel Administration and Labor Relations, American Society for Public Administration
Editorial board member | Public Personnel Management; Review of Public Personnel Administration; Korean Journal of Policy Studies
Jonathan Q. Morgan, Professor of Public Administration and Government
Board of directors | International Economic Development Council
Kimberly L. Nelson, Professor of Public Administration and Government
Board member |The Section on Intergovernmental Administration and Management, American Society for Public Administration
Co-editor | State and Local Government Review
Co-chair | Local Government Education Committee, Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration; Graduate Education Committee, International City/County Management Association
Editorial board member| Public Administration Review; The American Review of Public Administration
William C. Rivenbark, Professor of Public Administration and Government
Editorial board member | International Journal of Public Administration; Public Administration Quarterly; Public Administration Review
John B. Stephens, Associate Professor of Public Administration and Government
Steering committee member | University Network for Collaborative Governance
Leisha DeHart-Davis is a professor of public administration at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is also the director of the Local Government Workplaces Initiative at the School of Government. LGWI is a research program that investigates workplace climate and employee engagement. This information aids local government agencies in creating great work environments. DeHart-Davis also researches organizational behavior within the public sector, organizational structure, and workplace incivility. She is also a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration which is a nonprofit organization that provides expertise on public policy and governance issues. DeHart-Davis is also a two-time published author of Creating Effective Rules in Public Sector Organizations and Understanding Gender Imbalance in Public Sector Leadership. Her research articles have also been published in Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Public Administration Review, International Public Management Journal, Administration and Society, and Review of Public Personnel Administration. The article is an interview with Leisha DeHart-Davis about her service through research to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It discusses her career path and her passion for local government. It also highlights her overall dedication to the School of Government and the Carolina community.
Read the full interview written by UNC Research here.
The School of Government is pleased to announce that Willow S. Jacobson has been selected by the National Academy of Public Administration for inclusion in its 2023 Class of Academy Fellows, in recognition of her years of public administration service and expertise.
Jacobson is a distinguished professor of public administration and government at the School, where she also serves as associate dean for graduate studies and director of the UNC Master of Public Administration program. She is an expert on human resource management, leadership development, and organizational theory and behavior. Jacobson’s research has appeared in publications including Public Administration Review and Public Personnel Management.
Previously, she directed the LGFCU Fellows program, which she helped create in 2011 to develop local government leaders in North Carolina. She earned a Ph.D. from Syracuse University and joined the School’s faculty in 2003.
She joins fellow faculty members Leisha DeHart-Davis, Kimberly L. Nelson, Carl W. Stenberg, and David N. Ammons (ret.) as current Academy Fellows.
“I am very pleased to welcome Willow Jacobson to the Academy’s 2023 class of Fellows,” said Terry Gerton, President and CEO of the Academy. “Our distinguished Academy Fellows are nationally recognized and respected for their expertise in the field of public administration and Willow is no exception. We proudly welcome this outstanding new class of Fellows that will help advance the Academy vision – a just, fair, and inclusive government that strengthens communities and protects democracy.”
Selection of the Academy’s new Fellows follows a rigorous review of the individual’s contributions to the field of public administration and policy. A Fellows Nominating Committee makes its recommendations to the full Fellowship, which then votes on those individuals to be elected. The 2023 class joins nearly 1,000 Academy Fellows—including former cabinet officers, members of Congress, governors, mayors and state legislators, as well as prominent scholars, business executives, and public administrators.
Induction of the new Fellows will occur during the annual Academy Fall Meeting, which will take place in-person November 1-3 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, D.C., with a focus on “The Grand Challenges in Public Administration.”
Meet alumna and instructor Katie Loovis and hear her thoughts on a public service career, leadership, and the MPA program. Along with her work with the UNC MPA program, Professor Katie Loovis was recently named as Executive Director for the North Carolina Community Colleges Foundation.
What do you teach in the MPA program, and how long have you been affiliated with the program?
I have the pleasure of teaching Nonprofit Management (PUBA 756) to UNC-Chapel Hill Master of Public Administration (MPA) students and many other master’s students who join the course from other disciplines, including business, public policy, and law; as well as some exceptional undergraduate students who want to challenge themselves with a masters-level course. I taught this course in the fall semester of 2021 and will do so again this Fall 2023.
I’m a 2002 graduate of the UNC MPA program and have enjoyed staying in touch with several MPA classmates and UNC School of Government (SOG) faculty members and administrators over the last twenty years. Also, I previously served on the MPA Alumni Association Board of Directors and now serve on the SOG Foundation Board of Directors. As you can imagine, I feel a kindred spirit with those in the MPA program and so appreciate and respect everyone at the SOG for continuing to hold dear the values of being non-partisan, policy-neutral, and responsive.
What’s your education background?
I earned a BA in communication studies with honors in 1999 and an MPA in 2002 from UNC-Chapel Hill, and am currently earning an EdD from NC State in Community College Leadership. I expect to complete my doctorate in 2024. At the same time, I earned a 100-hour graduate level teaching certificate from NC State, which has helped inform my teaching philosophy and practice in the classroom at UNC.
I love been looking at careers like yours – ones that take a lot of pivots. You’ve been in government, business, non-profit. You’ve focused in workforce development and now education. You’ve gone from nationally focused work to more locally focused work and now state focused work. What is the common thread in your career?
I am really grateful to have had such an interesting and meaningful career journey that has allowed me the opportunities to serve in the public (White House), private (GSK), and nonprofit (Achieving the Dream) sectors, as well as with the US Chamber and a local chamber of commerce.
Public service has been a common thread throughout my career. Looking back, I’ve been drawn to the place where the sectors intersect for the good of communities and individuals. I have found that big, thorny issues like closing achievement gaps, increasing access to medicines, or improving the talent pipeline requires leaders from business, government, and the nonprofit sectors to work together. No one sector can do it alone! I really enjoy being at that point of intersection where the sectors come together with shared vision, programming, and accountability, and, together, make a measurable and lasting impact in the lives of others.
Most recently, I’ve had the honor of being a part of a collective impact initiative, called the Summer Careers Academy, which was selected into the UNC SOG’s ncIMPACT “Carolina Across 100,” “Our State, Our Work” initiative. The SOG is a true think tank/do tank when it comes to sector intersection and accelerating positive results for our state. Anita Brown-Graham and her team at the SOG deserve a lot of credit, recognition, and support for their groundbreaking work in partnering for the public good!
Talk about something specific you try to teach your students that you have found as necessary and an important part of all your roles (can be a skill, attribute, concept, etc.)
There is a wonderful Chinese proverb that says, “Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.”
I have found many UNC students to be intelligent, dutiful, high achievers. While these are virtuous attributes, they can be limiting factors when students are trying to make sense of the best career pathway for them, especially if they want their career to be an extension of their life purpose. The path of public service, especially with local non-profit organizations, while tremendously meaningful, requires a great deal from its executive directors. I try to give my students a realistic perspective of the many responsibilities of a non-profit executive (as well as the joys!) and also give them the opportunity to reflect on their own personal and professional skills and aspirations.
“Throughout the semester, I invite students to pause and engage in reflection activities to consider who they are, how they are built, and what career pathway(s) are most aligned and will make their heart sing.”
My hope is that, whether they choose to become a paid non-profit professional or a volunteer serving on a non-profit board of directors, they will be well-equipped to add a lot of value and make a positive and lasting difference. (Here is a transcript of a keynote speech I delivered to the Chapel Hill Magazine Women of Achievement 2019 event, which brings this theme of purpose and leadership together.)
In thinking about the course of your career, where do you give credit to its success? In every role that you’ve considered or passed up or taken, what has helped you in navigating the course?
I have benefited in my career from the help of so many people along the way, especially those who coached me through UNC Athletics, taught me at UNC and now at NC State, and those colleagues who gave me great career advice and championed me behind closed doors when employment decisions were made.
One great piece of advice I received from a former White House colleague was: “say yes.” I took this to heart and despite having demanding jobs, I said yes to opportunities to meet with many people I would not have met otherwise. Through these new connections and acquaintences, I also experienced exciting doors open for me, so I encourage all of my students to ‘say yes’.
What do you learn from your students?
My default mode of operating is to be very focused on getting things done. There is not much I love more than checking things off a to-do list. However, being an educator is helping me shift my focus more to other people and their long-term success. Students have really stirred in me a deep sense of compassion for where they are and the challenges they are navigating. As an educator, I see myself as a facilitator of my students’ learning journey. Facilitation is more than simply lecturing, it is helping students connect their personal and professional interests and goals to the course objectives and outcomes, and then encouraging them to explore new ideas and concepts, guiding them through the learning process, and motivating them to apply new knowledge and skills.
Leadership is an important part of the MPA program, and leadership is an important aspect of your new role as Executive Director. This isn’t an interview, but what do you want to say to us about leadership?
Leadership is one of my favorite topics to study. In fact, through my dissertation, I have found that leadership and management are two distinct concepts that are often muddled together. My favorite way to distinguish the two is what Bennis and Nanus (2007) said: “Managers are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right thing.” This purposeful distinction is so important. Public servants must be good at both. Sometimes these two things can be diametrically opposed – managers can be working to maintain the very systems leaders are trying to change – and therein lies the tension. The School of Government does an extraordinary job at helping public servants understand these leadership/management pain points, make sense of their options, and equip them for the path ahead.
I have enjoyed learning about the School of Government’s Center for Public Leadership and Governance and the work that Peg Carlson and her team are doing to build up teams of public servants across the state who can successfully navigate leadership and management challenges.
What advice do you have for those considering a public service career or a career change to the public sector or to those who want to impact in some area but are feeling frustrated.
No matter what career pathway you choose, the reality is that we are living in rapidly changing times. I’ve enjoyed following futurist Heather McGowan who talks about how “the future of work is learning.” She says workers today are likely to have 17 different jobs across 5 different industries and, going forward, 25% to nearly 50% of the work we currently do will be replaced with technology in the next ten years (McGowan, 2019). While nearly all careers are changing, the field of public service has dynamic and important job opportunities in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. I encourage students to keep an open mind and heart about the different sectors of service, and to remember that as Picasso said, “Your call is to find your gift, and your purpose is to give it away”.
UNC School of Government faculty member Carl Stenberg received the Legacy Award in March 2023 at the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) Annual Conference. Given virtually by ASPA’s Section on Intergovernmental Administration and Management (SIAM), this award celebrates public officials whose careers have “centered on advancing the study and practice of federalism in multiple roles.”
Legacy Award winners, an exclusive group, are recognized for making significant contributions to the academic literature on federalism, participating in a wide variety of assignments as part of SIAM, and taking active roles in the field—mentoring young public professionals in the infancy of their careers.
Stenberg has a long and established commitment to the Section, having joined in its founding and playing an instrumental role in advancing its mission to study, understand, and improve federal systems and other forms of intergovernmental relations.
His most recent Legacy Award adds to his collection of accolades from the Section—he has also won both of its Donald C. Stone Awards for practitioner and scholar contributions to the field.
As the nominator for Stenberg’s candidacy, School faculty member Kimberly L. Nelson was pleased to celebrate her colleague’s significant legacy in the field.
“Carl Stenberg has been a guiding force of ASPA’s (SIAM),” she said. “In 2014, he founded the Deil Wright Symposium at ASPA’s Annual Conference. The symposium continues today as the section’s main event, now heading into its 10th year. I can think of no other member who is more deserving of the Legacy Award.”
Willow S. Jacobson, director of the School’s Master of Public Administration (MPA) program, expressed similar esteem for Stenberg’s scholarship and its sustained positive impact within the public sphere.
“Carl is an example of a true engaged scholar, making a meaningful impact on the study and practice of public management,” she said. “His work in intergovernmental relations leaves a lasting legacy to students, the field of public administration, and communities across North Carolina.”
The James E. Holshouser Jr. Distinguished Professor of Public Administration and Government, Stenberg joined the School’s faculty in 2003. He is past president of ASPA and served as director of the UNC MPA program at the School from 2006 to 2011. He teaches local government courses to public officials, including in the Public Executive Leadership Academy, and instructs MPA students. Stenberg holds a BA from Allegheny College and an MPA and Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Albany.
The National Academy of Public Administration announced this week that School of Government faculty member Kimberly L. Nelson has been named to its 2022 Class of Academy Fellows.
The award is one of the most prestigious in the field of public administration. Nelson is one of 35 leaders to earn the honor this year and joins a roster that includes more than 950 Fellows all time. Fellows are former cabinet officers, members of Congress, governors, mayors and state legislators, as well as prominent scholars, business executives, nonprofit leaders, and public administrators.
“I am honored to have been elected as a fellow to the National Academy of Public Administration,” Nelson said.“I am proud to be a part of this distinguished organization and I look forward to working with other Fellows, including my School of Government colleagues, David Ammons, Leisha DeHart-Davis, and Carl Stenberg.”
Nelson is a professor of public administration at the School, educating public officials and teaching in the UNC MPA program. Her areas of expertise and research focus on local government management, local government form and structure, and municipal corruption. She is also co-editor of State and Local Government Review, the co-chair of the ICMA Graduation Education Committee, and is a co-author of Managing Local Government Services (2022, International City/County Management Association). Her scholarship has been featured in publications including Public Administration Review, State and Local Government Review, and American Review of Public Administration.
“This recognition for Kim is well-deserved and a great honor,” said Mike R. Smith, dean of the School of Government. “She has made significant contributions in the field of public administration, especially local government management. The Fellows are an impressive and diverse set of people; joining them is a wonderful achievement.”
Selection of the Academy’s new Fellows follows a rigorous review of the individual’s contributions to the field of public administration and policy. A Fellows Nominating Committee, selected by the Academy’s Board Chair, makes its recommendations to the full Fellowship, which then votes on those individuals nominated to be a Fellow.
Nelson will be inducted to the academy during its annual Fall Meeting, which will take place virtually and in-person November 2-4 at three host sites: Academy headquarters in Washington, D.C., Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and the University of Connecticut in Hartford.
The National Academy of Public Administration is an independent, nonprofit, non-partisan organization established in 1967 and chartered by Congress in 1984. As outlined in its Congressional charter, the Academy seeks to advance government practices through studies and projects held to the highest standards of efficiency and excellence.
Leisha DeHart-Davis is the most recent member of the UNC Master of Public Administration faculty to win national recognition for her scholarship. An article she co-authored, “Gender, Race, and Experiences of Workplace Incivility in Public Organizations“, was recently selected as a co-winner of the 2022 Best Article Award for Vol. 41 of the Review of Public Personnel Administration (ROPPA).
In choosing this annual award, ROPPA aims to celebrate research that examines important topics in public administration, advances the knowledge base around it, and raises questions for the field to address moving forward.
A troubling trend public sector organizations have recently faced is a shortage of workers, particularly in retaining them in governmental positions and losing them to the private labor market. To address this, DeHart-Davis and colleagues from Ohio State University, the University of Connecticut, and the University of Massachusetts Boston sought to examine how the public sector can remain competitive in retaining this sector of the workforce. The answer they found? Create an environment where coworkers treat each other well across gender, race, and other assorted demographics.
“Workplace incivility has been on the rise for a while and can hamper a government organization’s ability to retain good workers. Retention is a particularly important goal for government organizations given the worker shortages they face,” DeHart-Davis said. “To be competitive in the labor market, government organizations need to offer great workplaces, which include employees being respectful of one another.”
To arrive at this conclusion, the School’s Local Government Workplaces Initiative—a program led by DeHart-Davis which conducts research that helps cities and counties improve their workplace climates—collected data responses from a survey asking employees about a range of workplace experiences. The data for the paper was based on responses from two cities and two counties.
For DeHart-Davis, the collaborative approach to addressing this issue of increasing public sector retention perfectly illustrates the unique opportunity the School can provide to its scholars, when connected with other institutions of academia, to connect theory with practice and find concrete solutions to pressing public sector challenges. To be recognized by ROPPA was a welcome honor for the research team, fostering a needed dialogue around strategies to improve human resource management within government.
“ROPPA is a great journal, so it’s an honor to be published there,” said DeHart-Davis. “This award reflects the work of a team of talented researchers from all over the country. It also demonstrates how engaged scholarship works: that practitioner-relevant data can translate to academic research on public sector organizational dynamics.”
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.