The UNC School of Government’s Master of Public Administration Class of 2024 gathered with faculty, family, friends, and staff on May 11 to celebrate their graduation from the program. The ceremony, held at the Frank Porter Graham Student Union, honored 52 on-campus and online graduates—who completed the program in Summer 2023, Fall 2023, and Spring 2024, respectively.
UNC MPA Director Willow S. Jacobson and School of Government Dean Aimee N. Wall welcomed and congratulated graduates for their achievements.
Carl W. Stenberg, James E. Holshouser Jr. Distinguished Professor of Public Administration and Government, presented the annual Wright Research Paper Award, honoring the legacy of its namesake—former faculty member and public administration visionary Deil S. Wright.
Stenberg presented the 2024 honor to Jonathan Douglas Hill for his paper on Evaluating the Organizational Location of Keep America Beautiful Affiliates.
In his address, commencement speaker Dean Emeritus Michael R. Smith remarked upon the challenges that the future public service leaders of UNC MPA will face in their roles— challenges in the public sphere that are increasingly multifaceted and complex on multiple organizational and sectoral levels—and necessary to aim to solve.
“For complicated decisions, you are never going to have enough information because— wait for it—you cannot predict the future,” he advised the graduates before him. “You have to find ways to be comfortable and get other people comfortable with recommendations and decisions based on the information you have at the time.”
“We need you to take bold action as public service leaders. There are lots of headwinds today that make it harder than ever to take bold action, but we need public service leaders who will push through those headwinds.”
Before the hooding and pinning ceremony of the graduates, Director Jacobson wished her former students and future public service leaders well in their careers—and urged them to harness the values they learned in the program as they effect positive change.
“As you take on leadership positions, it will take courage to face challenges, uncertainty, and hard choices,” she said. “At those moments, I hope you will draw on your public service values and your ethics as you approach them and know that you can do remarkable things. Your commitment and courage will continue to have a lasting impact on the world around you and the issues you care about.”
The School of Government and UNC MPA program extend their congratulations and warm wishes to all graduates of the Class of 2024.
Dr. Maureen Berner, and UNC MPA student and current physician, Dr. Amro Ilaiwy were published in the North Carolina Pharmacist, official journal of the North Carolina Association of Pharmacists. The Journal is a resource for pharmacists and health professionals in North Carolina, providing drug and practice information from across the state and around the world.
Their piece, “Who Gets What? Drivers of Emergency Room Use and Access to Medication Assistance Programs in North Carolina.”, is an analysis of Prescription Assistance Programs in North Carolina and their effect on healthcare use based on the volume of local emergency room visits.
“Having professors collaborate with students with a wide variety of backgrounds, just getting started on their careers or seeing how to apply their current specialty in a new way via applied research projects is a win-win-win for students, faculty, and communities in North Carolina” said Dr. Berner.
Dr. Ilaiwy was the driving force behind this publication, and Dr. Berner aided in the research process.
“As a physician who provided care to many patients via the Cumberland County Medication Access Program (CCMAP), I saw tremendous value in gaining better understanding of how these programs work and identifying opportunities for improvement. Dr. Berner inspired me to conduct a program evaluation as part of the PUBA720 class in hopes of bridging the knowledge gap both on a local and state level” Dr. Ilaiwy states.
Two major findings came out of this research. The first finding was that residents within rural counties utilize emergency services at a higher volume than residents in urban counties. Dr. Ilaiwy describes this discovery can be attributed to lack of access to urgent care or primary care facilities in rural areas. Moreover, residents of rural counties are less likely to have adequate or health insurance in general. The second finding presented in the publication was there appeared to be no association between increased access to medication assistance programs in rural counties and lower ER visit volumes per capita.
Dr. Ilaiwy warns, “One caveat to note here is higher numbers of MAP sites within a county may simply reflect declining insurance coverage and increased need for prescription assistance.”
This collaboration allowed Dr. Ilaiwy to develop a deeper understanding of program evaluation. He was also able to gain experience working with, collecting, and analyzing data.
“Students like Amro support my love of working with our students as much as (I hope) my working with him has allowed him to advance is passion for helping people live better and longer lives” states Dr. Berner.
The UNC School of Government is proud to share the continued success of its Master of Public Administration program. Now in its 27th year at the School, the UNC-Chapel Hill MPA has once again been named one of “America’s Best Graduate Schools” by U.S. News & World Report in its 2025 rankings.
The program earned a 23rd overall rank in the public affairs category and remains the top-ranked MPA graduate program in North Carolina. This marks the 12th consecutive year UNC MPA has maintained its position among the top 25 public affairs programs in the United States.
In addition, the program retained its prestigious second-ranked position in the local government management specialty area. As part of the public affairs category, U.S. News ranked Carolina programs and specialty areas based in the School of Government and the College of Arts and Sciences’ department of public policy.
The program improved its top standing in the public management and leadership field, improving three spots to rank 10th in the nation. UNC MPA also improved its position in the public finance and budgeting specialty, ranking among the top 20 programs in the field at 18th best in the nation.
“The work we do—through research, advising, and instructing—generates award-winning, transformative scholarship that shapes the practice and future of public administration,” said UNC MPA Program Director Willow S. Jacobson. “ We are grateful to our esteemed public affairs counterparts for recognizing our continued impact and achievements.”
“As always, our faculty, staff, students, and alumni are united in ensuring the program enjoys continued success in the coming year and beyond.”
This year’s list—released April 9, 2024—saw numerous University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill graduate programs earn high rankings. Altogether, 23 programs increased their rankings, including multiple programs in the Gillings School of Global Public Health, School of Nursing, School of Education, Kenan-Flagler Business School, and UNC School of Law.
Find all of the U.S. News & World Report rankings online.
In early March 2024, the UNC MPA program sponsored four current students to participate in the annual NASPAA Student Simulation Challenge. The Challenge invites NASPAA-affiliated program students to participate on teams from other NASPAA-accredited schools in a competition with a cash prize to help solve a particular public sector challenge. This year’s topic was on ‘humanitarian aid and refugee asylum programs’. Paired with other students from Villanova University and Georgia Southern University, UNC MPA students Ben King, Angel Padilla, Lorenzo Pedro, and their teammates won the 2024 NASPAA Simulation Challenge.
UNC MPA Students from left: Angel Padilla, Allie Omens, Lorenzo Pedro, Ben King
Teams were tasked with serving leaders of countries confronted with the sudden arrival of refugees fleeing a war zone. They had to decide which policies to implement to get the best results for their country’s economy, stability, and international reputation. Some policy choices focused on border control, housing, and education, and decisions had to be made while staying within a strict budget. The students also negotiated a regional response, allocated limited resources, and weighed short-terms costs against long-term benefits.
Competition participant Allie Omens, an online UNC MPA student living in Nashville, TN and working for Metro Nashville Waste Services leading outreach efforts, said the experience left her better equipped to navigate tough decisions as a public administrator.
“In our post-simulation debrief with Competition staff, one thing we discussed was the idea of ‘selective equity’. At the start of the simulation, most countries embraced generous aid packages and relaxed asylum policies. But as the simulation went on, the necessity to manage our budgets compelled many of us to scale back assistance. This led to the difficult task of deciding which refugees merited our country’s assistance, creating a genuine moral dilemma. As people striving to be equitable public administrators in real life, facing these simulated choices compelled us to face the discomfort of complex humanitarian crises and other wicked problems.”
As in real-life public sector roles, the students had competing interests and goals as assigned before the competition. The challenge is similar in many other workplaces—how to balance multiple priorities within the group while putting together a collaborative plan to reach a shared goal.
Lorenzo Pedro, another online UNC MPA student from Morganton, NC works as a Legislative Liaison for the North Carolina Department of Transportation and intends to use the MPA degree to better inform himself on collaboration between governments and nonprofit organizations.
He found the competition to be stimulating practice and preparation for a real public sector situation. “Each round offered valuable insights into impactful proposals concerning the immigrants we were helping and our citizens. We also recognized the unpredictable nature of policy implementation, stressing the need for adaptability and flexibility in our approach.”
Each year, the UNC MPA program sponsors students to participate in this theory to practice professional development opportunity.
Looking back on the experience, participant Ben King reflected that “my biggest takeaway from the event was the ability to connect with other students interested in public service from across the country. Everyone was super nice, and we were able to make some good friends who we will still keep in contact with.”
Angel Padilla, another participant in the simulation, summed it up succinctly.
“Through this opportunity, I gained experience making critical decisions under strict time constraints, applied budget management skills through frequently changing costs, and improved my debating skills.”
by Stephen Wright
This year, an MPA student with a record of service and dedication to the public interest was recognized with the prestigious Harvey Beech Scholarship.
As a child welfare advocate and online student in the Master of Public Administration program here at the School of Government, Angelica Foster feels that the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and especially the UNC MPA program, was the only choice she could have made in pursuit of her master’s degree. To her, becoming a 2024 recipient of the UNC Harvey Beech Scholarship solidified that choice and builds upon the legacy of the first African American to graduate from the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law.
The Harvey Beech Scholarship is awarded annually to UNC-Chapel Hill students interested in careers in law. Recipients are selected based on academic progression, GPA improvement, and contributions to campus life. Only five Carolina students receive the award per year.
The award is named for Harvey Beech, who was born in Kinston, North Carolina, in 1923. He attended Harris Barber College in Raleigh and later Morehouse College in Atlanta alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1950, Beech was asked to join a court case that would ultimately lead to him and four other African American students being admitted to UNC School of Law in 1951. Beech graduated in 1952 and had a successful career as a criminal defense and personal injury lawyer for more than 35 years, becoming a well-regarded civic leader in his hometown of Kinston. Beech would ultimately pass away in 2005, having paved the way for other African American students to attend and transform UNC-Chapel Hill.
Foster saw a kinship with Harvey Beech’s advocacy and serves as a child welfare advocate herself. Her belief that no child should go through the pains of abuse and mistreatment, along with deeply personal experience with the issue, informs her desire to one day serve as a family court judge and be avoice for children. For her, public service means becoming a “force for leadership and change,” rising to occasion and paving the way forward.
For Foster, receiving this scholarship is more than a means of furthering her own public service goals; it is a testament to all that African Americans have done, and must still do to create a place for themselves at Carolina.
“My ancestors built this university but could not attend it,” said Foster. “They built this university and did not have a choice. Harvey Beech paved the way forward.” She also highlights that as a Black woman, “It’s not about glass ceilings, it’s almost like cement; it’s just that much harder. I do this because my ancestors could not, and to pave the way for my own daughter and others to come.”
We look forward to celebrating all of your accomplishments! The ceremony will start at 10 am in the Frank Porter Graham Student Union Auditorium, with lunch to follow for graduates and their guests in the Knapp-Sanders Dining Room.
Join UNC MPA on April 9th from 5-7:30pm in our nation’s capital to (re)connect with MPA alumni, students, prospective students, faculty, and staff for drinks, lite bites, and great conversation for our Happy Hour Hub. First round and nibbles are on us.
Calico
50 Blagden Alley Northwest
Washington, DC 20001
This event is open to all affiliated or interested in the MPA program at UNC. Registration is required.
*If you would like to help organize a Happy Hour Hub in your community, contact Brandon Foster at foster@sog.unc.edu or 919.962.0426.
Did you know 100% of our students are looking to start, advance, or change their careers? Attend this event to learn more about what the MPA can do for you. Join Director of Admissions, Cara Robinson and Associate Director of Career Services and Professional Development, Allison Binkley as they discuss the versatility of the MPA degree, our program outcomes, and how we support leadership development for all of our students.
Join UNC MPA in Raleigh to (re)connect with MPA alumni, students, prospective students, faculty, and staff for drinks, lite bites, and great conversation for our Happy Hour Hub at Trophy Brewing on Morgan Street. First round and nibbles are on us, register HERE!
Trophy Brewing
827 W Morgan Street
Raleigh, NC 27603
If you would like to help organize a Happy Hour Hub in your community, contact Brandon Foster at foster@sog.unc.edu or 919.962.0426.
Rebecca Badgett and Bill Rivenbark conducted tailored Unit Assistant List (UAL) training sessions to address the financial challenges of counties and municipalities. With the support of Lead for North Carolina Fellow LaShonda Sousa, they delivered five training sessions to over 70 municipalities. Learn about the significance of UAL training, the strategic approach to measuring success, and how the team promotes fiscal responsibility in the classroom.
This event is open to the public and is sponsored by the Carolina Center for Public Service in conjunction with Carolina Engagement Week.
UNC School of Government- Rm 2402, Knapp-Sanders Building 400 South Rd, Chapel Hill NC