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Research

Highlights

When you join the Carolina MPA Program, you become a lifelong member of the UNC School of Government community, a global community of top-caliber faculty, students and alumni offering you an invaluable resource of knowledge, support and connection both during and after graduation. Our faculty offer unparalleled dedication. They are leaders in their fields, published in academic journals and authors of textbooks used in other MPA programs. Our faculty pride themselves on being supportive and accessible, and will work closely with you to ensure that you develop the knowledge and skills you need to have an immediate and long lasting impact on not just your career, but on the people and organizations you serve. Our professors are immersed in public service, acting as advisors for public officials at all levels and thus integrate their research and consulting into the classroom.

  • Faculty member Maureen Berner has been selected as a Thorp Faculty Engaged Scholar (FES), a distinction that will support her work on summer meal programs for children in need. Sponsored by the Carolina Center for Public Service, FES brings together faculty from across campus to engage in a two-year experiential curriculum designed to advance their engaged scholarship.
  • Professor David Ammons received the 2014 Joseph Wholey Distinguished Scholarship Award for work in the field of public sector performance, presented by the American Society for Public Administration’s Center for Accountability and Performance.
  • Professor Carl Stenberg is the first School of Government faculty member to be awarded the James E. Holshouser Jr. Distinguished Professorship. Created in 2007 in honor of former Governor Holshouser, the award recognizes Stenberg's leadership as former director of the UNC Master of Public Administration program, his work with North Carolina managers, and his national work in the field of public administration.
  • Associate Professor Leisha DeHart-Davis has been appointed to serve on the board of advisors for the Arizona State University Center for Research and Organization Design. The center promotes, supports, and conducts research on public, nonprofit, and hybrid organizations.
  • Associate Professor Kim Nelson has been appointed co-editor of the Reviews and Essays section of the journal, State and Local Government Review.
  • Professor Maureen Berner has been appointed to serve on the Afterschool Meals and Summer Food National Advisory Committee hosted by the national nonprofits Feeding America and the Food Resource and Action Center.
  • Publications
    • Afonso, Whitney. “Local Sales Taxes as a Means of Increasing Revenues and Reducing Property Tax Burdens: An Analysis Using Propensity Score Matching.” (forthcoming at Public Budgeting & Finance)
    • Nelson, K. L. and J. H. Svara. 2014. Upholding and Expanding the Roles of Local Government Managers: State of the Profession 2012. In 2014 Municipal Yearbook. Washington, DC: ICMA.
    • DeHart-Davis, Leisha, Jie Chen and Todd Little. "Written versus Unwritten Rules: The Role of Rule Formalization in Green Tape." International Public Management Journal 16, no. 3 (2013): 331-356.
    • Stenberg, Carl, David N. Ammons, and Karl W. Smith.“The Future of Local Government: Will Current Stresses Bring Major, Permanent Changes? State and Local Government Review (Fall 2012).
    • Justin Amos '08, Maureen Berner, and Ricardo Morse, “What Constitutes Effective Citizen Participation in Local Government? Views from City Stakeholders.” Public Administration Quarterly, Vol. 35 No. 1.
    • Maureen Berner, Sharon Paynter '03, and Emily Anderson '09, “The Shifting Pattern of Government Support: Food Stamps and Food Bank Usage in North Carolina," Public Administration Quarterly, Vol. 35 No. 1.
    • David N. Ammons, “Economic Stimulus Management,”The Public Manager, 39, No. 1 (Spring 2010), pp. 11-15.
    • David Ammons and Trevor Fleck '11, Budget-Balancing Tactics in Local Government, UNC School of Government, 2010.
    • David Ammons, Ryan Ewalt '08 and Ryan Davidson '08, Development Review in Local Government: Benchmarking Best Practices, UNC School of Government and Alliance for Innovation, 2009.
    • David N. Ammons, Measuring the Results of Economic Stimulus Investments: Local Government Leading the Way. A Policy Issue White Paper prepared on behalf of the Governmental Affairs and Policy Committee of ICMA. Washington, D.C.: International City/County Management Association, October 2009.
    • David Ammons and Joshua S. Edwards '07, "Misrepresentation of Staffing Standards for Police," State and Local Government Review, 40, No. 3, 2008.
    • Morse, Ricardo S., and Terry F. Buss, eds., Innovations in Public Leadership Development (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2008).
    • Morse, Ricardo S., “Developing Public Leaders in an Age of Collaborative Governance,” in Innovations in Public Leadership Development, ed. Ricardo S. Morse and Terry F. Buss (Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 2008), 77-100.
    • Altman, Lydian, and Morse, Ricardo S., “Creating Their Own Futures: Community Visioning and North Carolina Local Governments,” Popular Government, 73, No. 2 (Winter 2008), pp. 20-35. Government leaders often want to shape the long-term direction of their communities. How can they do that effectively?A report on visioning processes conducted in Roxboro, Wilkes County, and Wilson County provides lessons on visioning and strategic planning.
    • Morse, Ricardo S., Terry F. Buss, and C. Morgan Kinghorn, eds., Transforming Public Leadership for the 21st Century (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2007).
    • Henderson M., Whitaker. G, and Altman L., "Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence: The Community’s Role in Weaving a Safety Net", Popular Government. Leaders of a School of Government project building communities’ capacity to stop sexual assault and domestic violence describe the reach of the problem and the need for shared responsibility in addressing it.
    • Ammons, David N., “City Manager and City Administrator Role Similarities and Differences: Perceptions Among Persons Who Have Served as Both.” American Review of Public Administration, 38, No. 1 (March 2008), pp. 24-40.
    • Ammons, David N. and William C. Rivenbark, “Factors Influencing the Use of Performance Data to Improve Municipal Services: Evidence from the North Carolina Benchmarking Project,” Public Administration Review, 68, No. 2 (March/April 2008), pp. 304-318.
    • Rivenbark, William C., David N. Ammons, and Dale J. Roenigk, “Benefiting from Comparative Performance Statistics in Local Government,” Popular Government, No. 3 (Spring/Summer 2007), pp. 34-42.