Grant Funding Study of Public Management and Performance in English Local Authorities

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) of the United Kingdom has awarded a $1.4 million grant to study how organizational strategy and managerial actions affect the performance of local governments in England.  Local authorities are roughly analogous to general-purpose local governments in the U.S.  The four-year study, now underway and scheduled to continue until late 2010, is directed by four co-Principal Investigators: Dr. Laurence J. O'Toole of this department, along with Dr. George Boyne of Cardiff University in Wales, Dr. Richard Walker of Cardiff University and the University of Hong Kong, and Dr. Kenneth Meier of Texas A&M University and Cardiff Business School.

CDC Research Contract Awarded

TheU.S.Centers for Disease Control, through itsDivision for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, has contracted for a two-year study being conducted by several researchers in this department.  The project, funded at $250,000, focuses on the implementation of state-level policies aimed at the establishment of "primary stroke centers" to provide acute care to patients who are at the early stage of dealing with stroke.  Stroke is the third-leading cause of death in the U.S. and has been a priority of a number of state governments.  Dr. Laurence J. O'Toole is Principal Investigator for the project.  Also at work on the study, which is expected to produce a number of research articles, are Dr. Gene Brewer of the faculty, Dr. Cathy Slade of the University faculty, and three PhD students.  The study will continue until September 2010.

Doctoral Graduate Appointed President of College of Coastal Georgia

The Board of Regents has approved the permanent appointment of Dr. Valerie Hepburn as President of the College of Coastal Georgia in Brunswick. She has served as the college's interim president since July 1, 2008. Dr. Hepburn received her PhD in Public Administration from UGA in 2006.

GSPA Food Drive A Success

In December of 2008, MPA students participated in a food drive for the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia, collecting 484 pounds of food. Graduate Students for Public Administration held a competition between the first-year and second-year MPA students and the faculty, to see who could collect the most food. The second-year students were the winners.

Two Students Win the Jerry R. Griffin Scholarship Award

Two University of Georgia MPA students have been awarded scholarships for $1,000 each through the Jerry R. Griffin Masters in Public Administration (MPA) Scholarship Program, which is sponsored by the Association County Commissioners of Georgia Foundation.  Kim Larson, of Lilburn, is currently interningwith the City of Suwanee in the Office of the City Manager. Candice Jackson, of Scottdale, is currently interning with DeKalb County in the Department of Process Improvement.  A central purpose of the Foundation is to support deserving students who have decided to concentrate in the field of public administration while attending graduate school at The University of Georgia.  The Association County Commissioners of Georgia has been a long-time supporter of University of Georgia's MPA program and has hosted several MPA students as interns.

Professor Whorton Named Interim Director of Fanning Institute

Associate Professor of Public Administration and Policy, Joseph Whorton, has been named interim director of the Fanning Institute. The appointment was highlighted in Columns, UGA's faculty/staff newspaper.

"His appointment by Art Dunning, vice president for public service and outreach, is effective Nov. 17. 'We are fortunate that an individual with Joe’s knowledge and experience is available and willing to serve in the important role of interim director,' Dunning said. 'His background and knowledge of Fanning’s mission and its clientele will ensure as seamless a transition as possible."

"For nearly three decades, Whorton has served the state of Georgia by assisting governors and other elected officials and by helping shape public policy to improve government. Among his recent accomplishments, he has been the architect of Partners for a Prosperous Athens, an ongoing community-based effort to address issues related to poverty in Athens-Clarke County. Georgia Trend presented him with the 2007 Georgia Excellence in Public Service Award, which honors individuals who epitomize the best in public service in Georgia."

Representatives From GAO Meet With Students

On Wednesday, September 17, U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) staffers (and MPA alumni) Lori Atkinson, Matthew Myatt, and Jennifer Harman held an information session for current MPA students to talk about a career with the federal government in general, and specifically with GAO. 

The GAO serves as "the investigative arm of Congress", and routinely hires our students both as interns and for full-time positions for the DC office, as well as other regional offices.  Since 2004, the GAO has hired five students, first as interns and then, upon their graduation, for full-time positions.  Seven additional students have interned with GAO, two of whom interned this summer (one in DC and one in Atlanta) and are currently completing their second year.  Lastly, another graduate accepted a full-time position with GAO, without a prior internship there.

Academy of Management's IDEA Award Given to Professor Guo

Professor Chao Guo has been selected by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management as a recipient of the inaugural IDEA Award for research promise, for his conference paper entitled “The Rise and Fall of Entrepreneurial Opportunities: A Process Model for Corporate Entrepreneurship” (co-authored with Charlotte R. Ren).   

Doctoral Alumna Receives Research Award

Beth Gazley (PhD 2004) has co-authored a research article that has been selected by the Public and Nonprofit Division (PNP) of the Academy of Management as the best journal article published last year in the field.  The article, coauthored with Jeffrey L. Brudney, is entitled "The Purpose (and Perils) of Government-Nonprofit Partnership" and appeared in the September 2007 issue of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly.  Beth is Assistant Professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University.  This is the second time Beth has received recognition from the Academy of Management PNP Division: she also received the PNP  Division's William H. Newman nomination in 2006 for best conference paper based on a dissertation.

MPA Students Recognized as Outstanding Teaching Assistants

MPA students Aaron Mertz, William King, David Adams, Mallory Myers, and Danielle Atkins have been selected as outstanding Teaching Assistants for the Spring 2008 semester.  They assisted in delivery of the undergraduate introduction to American government course in the Department of Political Science.

Four MPA Students Named Presidential Management Fellows

Current MPA students Taryn Anderson, Courtney Bell, Josh Bull, and Mary Ellen Wiggins have been awarded the prestigious Presidential Management Fellowship (PMF) and will be attending the PMF Job Fair in late April in Washington, DC. The PMF is the new name for the highly regarded Presidential Management Internship program. Since 1977, the PMF program has served as a fast-track for admittance into employment in the federal government. Taryn grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio and earned her undergraduate degree from The Ohio State University in strategic communications. She is studying both Public Policy and Nonprofit Administration in the MPA program. Courtney was raised in Vestavia Hills, Alabama. She attended Presbyterian College and majored in English. For her MPA coursework, she is specializing in Public Policy. Josh was born to parents who were both missionaries and later worked for the United Nations. He has lived in Israel, Haiti, Ecuador, and Argentina but calls Atlanta, Georgia home. He attended Georgetown University and majored in International Politics. He is currently specializing in Nonprofit Administration in the MPA program. Mary Ellen Wiggins grew up in Decatur, a suburb of Atlanta, and graduated from Wellesley College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Urban Studies. Her specialization in the MPA program is Public Policy.

MPA Student Janelle Williams named one of UGA's "Amazing Students"

Janelle Williams, a soon to be graduate of the MPA program, was recently named one of the University of Georgia's Amazing Students.

See her complete profile here.

2008 Getzen Lecture given by Lee Hamilton

The annual Getzen Lecture on Government Accountability was given by Lee Hamilton on Wednesday, April 9th, at 2:00 p.m. in the Chapel. A reception followed in the lobby of Candler Hall. Mr. Hamilton's remarks were titled "Making Government Work Through Accountability."

Lee H. Hamilton is president and director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and director of The Center on Congress at Indiana University. Hamilton represented Indiana’s 9th congressional district for 34 years beginning January 1965. He served as chairman and ranking member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, chaired the Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran, the Joint Economic Committee, and the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress. As a member of the House Standards of Official Conduct Committee Hamilton was a primary draftsman of several House ethics reforms.

Hamilton was appointed to the National War Powers Commission, a private, bipartisan panel led by former Secretaries of State James A. Baker III and Warren Christopher, to examine how the Constitution allocates the powers of beginning, conducting, and ending war. Hamilton was named co-chair of the Iraq Study Group, a forward looking, bi-partisan assessment of the situation in Iraq, created at the urging of Congress. Hamilton served as Vice-Chair of the 9/11 Commission and co-chaired the 9/11 Public Discourse Project, established to monitor implementation of the Commission’s recommendations. He is currently a member of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, the President's Homeland Security Advisory Council, the FBI Director’s Advisory Board, the CIA Director’s Economic Intelligence Advisory Panel, the Defense Secretary’s National Security Study Group, and the US Department of Homeland Security Task Force on Preventing the Entry of Weapons of Mass Effect on American Soil.

David Bradford appointed to Busbee Chair in Public Policy

The Department of Public Administration and Policy is excited to announce it has appointed Dr. W. David Bradford as the first holder of the George D. Busbee Chair in Public Policy. Bradford will fill the position in fall 2008. Bradford has served as the director for the Center for Health Economic and Policy Studies at the Medical University of South Carolina since 2002. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Louisiana State University and has focused his research on health economics, industrial organization, and microeconomic theory.

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Kickin' it for Kids Fundraiser

This year's service learning project for Dr. Wilkins' Public Administration and Democracy class was a kickball tournament to raise funds for the Triple Play Foundation. The Triple Play Foundation is a non-profit organization that was established in order to help strengthen underprivileged communities by raising funds for youth sports in communities in the Atlanta and Athens areas.

The tournament took place at the UGA Intramural Fields on March 28th, from Noon-5:00. This outdoor festival featured a 16 team kickball tournament and all proceeds will be donated to the Physical Education Department of Fowler Drive Elementary School in Athens.

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