Join MPA alumni, faculty, staff, friends of the program and their families at the School of Government to welcome the newest cohort to the program and kick off the academic year at the annual UNC MPA Alumni Kick-Off Picnic! This is a family friendly event with tasty food and great conversation!
Eugene Bradley grew up close to Morehead City, North Carolina, where he lived until 2012 when he accepted a full-time Kansas Air National Guard position. Currently residing in Lawrence, Kansas with his family, Bradley is now enrolled as an online student in the UNC MPA program.
Bradley decided to pursue the UNC MPA to help increase the opportunities once he retires from the military. An active advocate for guardsmen in Kansas and across the country, he expressed a desire to continue serving the public, even after he hits two decades of military service.
“I am trying to seek out opportunities that will challenge me while also allowing me to work with a new set of people,” he said.
Enrolling in the UNC MPA program has allowed Bradley to gain experience working in a non-military setting, particularly by competing in the NASPAA Simulation Challenge. This Challenge is an annual competition where NASPAA-affiliated programs invite students to participate in a competition with a cash prize to help solve a particular public sector challenge. The 2023 topic—wildfires.
Bradley was placed with a team of five other students from across the country, and participants were placed in various roles within a town task force to build the mountain town’s wildfire mitigation plan.
As in real-life public sector roles, the teammates 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.
Bradley’s travel to the competition, held in Denver, Colorado, was supported and sponsored by the UNC MPA program’s Malchus Lynn and Dr. Amanda Giannini Watlington Fund, an endowment established by alumnus Mal Watlington ’69 and his spouse. This endowment also sponsored the nomination of four other current students who participated in this year’s competition.
Following the experience, Bradley expressed gratitude in stepping outside of his comfort zone.
“More often than not, I bring back new tools or lessons that I can apply to my full-time position,” he said.
Bradley was also grateful to join a team with perspectives from incredibly diverse backgrounds. Ranging from actual wildland firefighters to more traditionally young graduate students fresh out of college, each contributed to the challenge with their differing perspectives.
“I learned a lot from this experience and especially my teammates,” he said. “We had good respect for each other and balanced our competition goals well while also having fun, ensuring it was an effective mitigation plan.”
With a focus of the competition being equitable policies, the teammates also learned how many underserved populations are often forgotten in the wildfire mitigation process. The group learned what risks the disadvantaged community members saw, including higher risk of property loss, inhalation and health concerns stemming from prescribed burns, and other results made from decisions that affect the disadvantaged.
Bradley credited the UNC MPA program for teaching him the importance of equitable policies in balancing the needs of all interested parties.
“The immense opportunities in class to debate and discuss our material helped prepare me for intense discussions we tackled during our mitigation plan with people I had never met,” he said. “I’m a better communicator, listener, and I can analyze things far better now when I hear from multiple sides.”
After he graduates in December 2023, Bradley’s plan is to stay with the military for at least another five years. After his service, his goal is to return to North Carolina with his family to work in local government and—ultimately—enjoy retirement along the coast when his public service career concludes.
Now in its 26th year at the School of Government, the UNC-Chapel Hill Master of Public Administration program has once again been named one of “America’s Best Graduate Schools” by U.S. News & World Report in its 2024 rankings.
The program improved its ranking among the top 20 public affairs programs in the nation. It is ranked 19th overall and remains the top-ranked MPA graduate program in North Carolina. This marks the 11th 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. UNC MPA also improved its ranking in the public finance and budgeting specialty, jumping four spots to rank 22nd in the country.
The program retained its top-20 standing in the public management and leadership field, ranking 13th overall.
This year’s list—released April 25, 2023—saw numerous University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill graduate programs earn high rankings. UNC MPA joins 15 other University programs in increasing their rankings this year, including programs in the Gillings School of Global Public Health, School of Nursing, College of Arts and Sciences, School of Education, and Kenan-Flagler Business School. Rankings for graduate medical and law programs will be released at a later date.
Find all of the U.S. News & World Report rankings online.
by Kathryn Paquet
When Josh Edwards ’05 enrolled at Wake Forest University as an undergraduate student in 2000, he thought he was destined for law school. While completing the required reading for his state government course, however, a name in his textbook changed everything.
“My state government textbook included a chapter about local government that the professor spent little time covering, but it caught my interest,” Edwards said. “As I read through it and followed up on the footnotes, I noted the lion’s share were attributed to a David N. Ammons. I spent time learning about Dr. David Ammons and his countless articles on local government performance management, and it brought to light a career I had never been aware of. When I applied to UNC, it was top of my list because of him.”
Edwards is joined by a long list of alumni whose UNC MPA experiences were defined by Ammons’s work, teaching, and mentorship. Having arrived at the School of Government from the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government in 1996, Ammons taught countless courses to North Carolina local government practitioners and UNC MPA students alike. Within the MPA program, his resume includes courses like City and County Management and Productivity Improvement in Local Government. In 2001, Ammons was appointed MPA director, a position he served in until 2006. His career is defined by his incomparable body of work in the field of local government performance management, for which he is renowned not just across the nation but also around the world.
When Ammons was recruited by the School of Government 21 years ago, he hoped he would find a strong student body and state and local government practitioners eager to learn more about performance measurement.
“Everything reached my hopes and expectations,” Ammons remarked. “So many features of the Carolina MPA program set it apart from others. Because of our location in a School that does so much work with local governments and state agencies, a student in this MPA program has professors who know the work of governments and the challenges they face better than professors in most other programs. Their insights and connections are very beneficial to our students.
It’s been a privilege to be a professor and MPA director here, and to have had the opportunity to work with a group of wonderful colleagues and an amazing collection of students and alumni.”
After 21 years of service, Ammons began a phased retirement in 2017, stepping away from the lectern in the Knapp-Sanders building. Despite his absence from the classroom, Ammons’s impact continues to reverberate strongly as ever.
When Pat Madej ‘16 enrolled in the MPA program in 2014, he received the opportunity to work as Ammons’s research assistant. As it was for Edwards, the experience was integral to Madej’s introduction to local government and his development as a public leader.
“Working with David provided me with a great deal of opportunity—in my two years of working with him, I was able to conduct practical research that aided me in my search for a job. I even had the chance to attend a national conference with him as co-author of a published academic paper,” Madej said.
“As a first-generation college student who was new to the world of graduate school and public administration, David’s mentorship and guidance truly helped me spring into my career as a public servant equipped with the skills and experiences I needed,” Madej added.
While Madej learned a great deal about research and data from his time as Ammons’s research assistant, he also gained invaluable knowledge on how to be a strong leader— lessons he uses daily in his position as senior budget and management analyst for the City of Durham.
“The thing is, David didn’t need me to help him as his RA—it was out of what I believe is his passion for building up those around him that he let me stay on, work with him, and get my name in as a co-author on one of his papers,” Madej said. “That really meant a lot to me, and whether I’m training new budget analysts who join our team or mentoring an intern, I also do what I can to ‘pay it forward,’ and build people up so they can grow, too.”
Currently serving as assistant manager of Athens-Clarke County, Georgia, Edwards also continues to feel the impact of lessons learned from Ammons.
“As I have helped build offices focused on strategy and data, and worked to incorporate both into organizational cultures, I have often revisited his books and remembered him during tough moments when progress is slower than I hoped,” Edwards said. “Every time I have switched jobs, I have talked with David before transitioning and asked him for advice. I am thankful that my opportunity to learn from David started at UNC, but it didn’t end there. He was one of my first and best examples of what public service commitment truly means. David’s legacy is not only the many performance measurement systems set up across the world, but the hard work so many of his students do in the trenches every day, improving their communities thanks to him.”
“While David is an internationally recognized scholar on performance management, I would venture to say that it is almost impossible to measure his impact—though if anyone could do it, it would be David,” added Willow Jacobson, Robert W. Bradshaw Jr. Distinguished Professor of Public Administration and Government. “So many of us have benefited from David’s tutelage, mentorship, and friendship. For me, I know that David has made me a better scholar, teacher, and through his modeling of mentorship, I hope, a better mentor.”
In November 2019, the David N. Ammons Scholarship Endowment was created, with fundraising efforts beginning in 2020. The scholarship will support at least one student enrolled in UNC-Chapel Hill’s MPA program, with preference given to a student who intends to pursue a career in local government.
While the annual ICMA national conference serves as an invaluable resource for current and aspiring public service leaders, the cost to attend can be prohibitive for many graduate students. In 2019, a group of UNC MPA students devised a plan to bridge the gap.
The program’s ICMA student chapter reached out to the School of Government Advancement Office to look for ways to support their travel and accommodations at the upcoming national conference in Nashville.
The Advancement Office, working closely with the MPA program, reached out to UNC MPA alumni who were known to attend the conference. The response was immediate with nearly $3,000 raised in support of students hoping to attend. The generosity of these individual alumni donors—combined with support from the Public Service Enrichment Endowment—enabled all 12 members of the student chapter to travel to and stay in Nashville for the conference.
In thanking the donors, the students wrote, “It was a unique learning and networking opportunity. Every one of us returned with a variety of initiatives we hope to implement once we start our careers. … Thank you again to everyone who made it possible to push the careers of Carolina MPA students forward. Go Heels!”
Read their thank you message in the Winter 2020 issue of IMPACT.
This story appeared in the Winter 2021 issue of IMPACT.
On February 3, 2020, the City of Durham’s Budget and Management Services division held interviews for their annual summer internship position at the School of Government. Molly Gaskin ’21 was offered the position and excitedly accepted, looking forward to achieving her professional work experience (PWE) requirement and learning the inner workings of the City’s government through budget sessions, shadowing police officers, and going on solid waste ride-alongs. Then COVID-19 happened.
“Several parts of our job description and onboarding process instantly went out the window,” said Pat Madej ’16, Gaskin’s supervisor and senior budget and management analyst for the City of Durham. “The task of getting the actual work done felt easy but clearing these hurdles to organically meet with other staff meant we needed to get creative as we brought Molly into the department and organization’s culture.” In order to ensure Gaskin was still able to integrate into the organization, Madej created an “open-door policy” on Zoom and led daily full-team check-ins.
Additionally, Gaskin had the opportunity to lead an original qualitative research project examining whether departments considered equity implications when making budget requests. Before beginning, Gaskin had never conducted her own qualitative research.
“It was really great to be able to practice some of the techniques that we learned in our research course in an actual project that I got to see through from start to finish,” Gaskin said.
“Molly’s thorough research and fresh perspective provided us with really useful data that we will use to build on our process in the future,” Madej said. “My goal with hosting the PWE has always been to create a win for everyone, and I think we achieved that again.”
While Durham has hosted UNC MPA interns for many years, the Town of Holly Springs took the leap for the first time in 2020, hosting Clay Fleming ’21. Like Madej, Corey Petersohn ‘16 had a vision for Fleming’s PWE experience that would require re-working after the pandemic began. However, by the time Fleming started the position in May, the state had moved into phase two, so he joined Petersohn and the rest of the team in person with safety precautions.
Fleming’s experience was shaped not only by the pandemic, but also by the growth of the Black Lives Matter movement after the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. As protests spread around the country, Holly Springs residents began a movement of their own to demand that funds be allocated to purchase body cameras for the police department.
“I got to sit in on conversations with council members, the town manager, police, and IT, and everyone had varying perspectives,” Fleming said. “One of the biggest skills I took away is the ability to step back and look at an issue with a bird’s eye view to investigate what’s at the heart of what’s going on and understand people’s motivation.”
Despite the curveballs thrown by the pandemic, Petersohn, like Madej, feels the PWE experience was extremely valuable.
“This was the first time Holly Springs hosted a PWE, and it was a great learning experience for both Clay and us,” Petersohn said. “In the long term, by hosting an MPA intern, we are building the next generation of public service leaders. By offering these developmental opportunities to students, we are contributing to the diversity of their experiences and skill sets, from which we all can benefit.”
Interested in hosting a summer intern or learning about best practices for remote internships? Contact Kristin Pawlowski or click here to learn more.
This story was written by Makayla Hipke and appeared in the Summer 2020 edition of the iMPAct Alumni Newsletter
When the Spring 2020 academic semester at UNC-Chapel Hill kicked off on January 8, it was business as usual for MPA students, faculty, and staff. Just eight weeks later, everything would change.
As confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) began to rise in the United States by late February and into early March, universities hurried to respond and create contingency plans.
Universities were quickly determined as possible hotspots for COVID-19 spread; settings posing a high risk for viral contact included dormitories and communal housing, classrooms, lecture halls, and laboratories.
On March 5, MPA Program Director William Rivenbark sent his first communication to faculty about possible COVID-19 impacts and requested that instructors begin preparing for the possibility of remote instruction for on-campus students. Students departed for spring break on March 9. By March 11, university leadership notified students that they would not return to campus after spring break.
To make a mid-semester switch to exclusively online course delivery was unprecedented, yet universities across the world were being asked to do just that. The challenges for the MPA team were multifaceted: they were attempting to communicate with students, assist faculty, follow university guidance, and care for their own families.
“The speed in which it happened made it challenging,” MPA Managing Director Heather Duhart said. “We wanted to make sure our students had the information they needed, but the university had to make those calls and communicate them to us. We had to learn to say, ‘We don’t know yet.’”
The MPA program had several advantages that helped ease the transition. Given that the program already has an online option for students, many faculty members have extensive experience teaching online. And the program’s staff is used to carrying out their work—with students and with each other—remotely.
Another advantage was the MPA faculty’s familiarity with thinking creatively about how to deliver content and achieve learning outcomes. Because MPA faculty also work in service to local and state governments, they were already accustomed to the nontraditional academic schedules and teaching approaches.
“There was a true level of care and responsibility from our faculty that paid off,” Rivenbark said. “We asked so much of them, and they took it on and made it work. It’s a true credit to them.”
The challenges, however, were undeniable. While many had resources already prepared for online instruction, others were starting from scratch. For example, faculty member Kara Millonzi had just started a half-semester course designed for in-person delivery, and needed to move it to fully remote—all while responding to local governments’ urgent questions about the pandemic and juggling familial responsibilities at home.
“The best way I can describe March and April is ‘a whirlwind,’” Millonzi said. “There was a critical period where local governments needed immediate information about the legal implications of COVID-19. I also teach a course that had just started. I was impressed with the students’ willingness to roll with the changes and their ability to continue to actively engage with the content under very challenging circumstances.”
While class delivery for the online format did not see many changes, students and faculty—like much of the world—also were experiencing the stressors and impacts of COVID-19. Many were working on the front lines of pandemic response and faced the challenges of adapting to a new normal in their own lives.
The loss of program events was keenly felt. This included end-of-year events like graduation, which was set to recognize 78 new alumni who represented graduates from the past year. Program staff and faculty sought to mitigate the impact of these challenges through online connection and have continued this focus through the summer. The MPA Alumni Board also hosted a special “welcome to the alumni ranks” happy hour event for graduates in May.
As many organizations transitioned to remote work, faced budget cuts, and furloughed employees, students were particularly concerned about the status of the Professional Work Experience (PWE) component of the MPA degree. Thanks to the support of program alumni and community partners—coupled with the perseverance of students—all students secured summer PWEs. Kristin Pawlowski, associate director of alumni engagement and employer relations, and the program were grateful for the efforts of alumni who stepped up and helped make this possible through support positions, providing feedback, and through mentorship.
“It was inspiring to see our alumni community, who themselves were on the front line of the pandemic, still eager to give back to the program,” said Pawlowski. “We were humbled to see a record number of alumni supporting current students, and others offering time to provide mentorship to graduates from the Class of 2020 and peers in the field.”
Program faculty and staff are now preparing for the fall semester in the face of myriad uncertainties. What is clear is a commitment to continue to serve and engage our students to the best of our ability and to help as they prepare to be public service leaders.
Elizabeth Langefeld, associate director of academic advising and student life, is relaying one principle message to faculty and students: “authenticity over production value.” The focus will not be on perfection but on creating meaningful opportunities to connect, form bonds, and develop shared experiences.
For many, the COVID-19 pandemic has created ripple effects that will permanently change how everyone works and interact with each other. The MPA program is no exception.
“We’ve all gone through this experience together,” Duhart said. “It’s forced us to do things differently, and I’m curious to see how it changes the program in the long term. No matter what, it’s been encouraging to see everyone pitch in to make this work.”
While these changes are inevitable, the program’s commitment to its mission will remain unchanged.
“The last few months should remind us all of the importance of good public leadership,” said Rivenbark. “Our mission is to prepare public service leaders. We will remain unwavering in that commitment.”
As a new student in the Master of Public Administration program at UNC-Chapel Hill, Shayla Douglas received the J. Edward Kitchen Scholarship. Douglas joined the program after serving in the inaugural cohort of Lead for North Carolina Fellows in 2019.
This scholarship honors its namesake, a graduate of the program who served as president of the Alumni Association as well as the School’s Foundation Board of Directors. Kitchen is a longtime supporter of the program and spent 30 years working for the City of Greensboro, where he eventually served as manager.
Kitchen was an avid supporter and played an instrumental role in ensuring LFNC had a successful first year—it’s only fitting that the recipient of his namesake award not only shares a degree but also a dedication to serving communities across North Carolina.
Now in her first semester of study, Douglas plans to study in the program’s second-ranked local government concentration and specialize in City and Regional Planning. Douglas said her fellowship experience solidified her passion for local government and created a path for her to expand upon it in her postgraduate education.
When Douglas first became aware of the LFNC program, she said she considered herself a “perfect fit” and applied to join its first cohort. Douglas was promptly accepted into the program and matched to work as an LFNC Fellow for the Town of Pembroke, where she served as an assistant to the Town Manager. In this role, she assisted with the implementation of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) transition plan and worked on behalf of the municipality with the North Carolina Parks and Recreation Trust Fund.
“These projects involved multiple citizen input sessions, which showed me the impact and influence that local governments have on citizens,” Douglas said.
In addition to these duties, Douglas independently managed large-scale projects—varying form chairing committees to boosting response rates among the town’s residents to the 2020 Census.
During her residence in Pembroke, Douglas said the town—both its local government employees and residents—made her feel welcome.
“From my first day they made Pembroke feel like home,” Douglas said. “This was very meaningful for me to have these relationships as a 20-year old out in the world alone for the first time.”
Her experience working in local government ultimately inspired her to apply to the UNC MPA program. When recounting the inspiration LFNC brought to her, Douglas said it was invaluable in illustrating the importance of centering young people around the mission of good governance.
“To me, it showed that young people do have a passion for local government and will be the change that local governments need to see.”
Prior to her time in Pembroke, Shayla interned for Democracy Matters and presided over a chapter at UNC-Chapel Hill while an undergraduate student. She later earned a bachelor’s degree from the University in political science and history.
After completion of the MPA program, Douglas plans to work as a city or county manager. She expressed a dedication to keeping an open mind that the local government field may ultimately lead her down a different path and is also considering working in the parks and recreation or clerkship fields. Regardless, her dedication to serving local government persists.
“I plan to continue a career in local government and bring positive change to my community,” Douglas said.