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November 29, 2023
ASPANet.org | PA TIMES.org
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ASPA 2024 Annual Conference Early-Bird Registration Rate Available through December 21
As 2024 Annual Conference presentation notifications are distributed, remember anyone can register on the conference website at any time. (If you have not received your notification yet, give us a few more days: It takes a couple weeks to send them all.)
Early-bird registration rates are available—just $439 for members, $539 for nonmembers—and in effect through midnight eastern time on December 21. Register now for the lowest rates available; we will not be extending this deadline. (Student and new professional members may register for only $259 at any time.) View all registration details online here.
We are excited to welcome everyone to Minneapolis, Minnesota, next April and are looking forward to all of the research and insights we will share together.
We look forward to seeing you in Minneapolis!
*ASPA registration rates do not include any extra fees that apply for special events. Individual registrants may pay increased rates to add on programing to their basic registration.
Final Days to Vote in ASPA's Elections
Voting in ASPA's 2023-2024 election is open through next Wednesday, December 6, at 11:59 p.m. EST. All ASPA members have the opportunity to vote for the individuals they believe should serve in ASPA's leadership. If you have not submitted your ballot, do so soon.
This year, the following positions are open for election:
- District Representative (for Districts I, II, III, IV and V) who will serve a three-year term representing their electoral District within the United States.
- Student Representative who will serve a one-year term representing both Student and New Professional members of ASPA.
Click here to learn more about the candidates running for office.
You will need your ASPA login information to vote. Please contact our membership team at [email protected] for assistance. (Need a paper ballot mailed to you? Please contact Jordan Thomas, ASPA's governance and program associate, for assistance.)
This is your opportunity to engage in ASPA's democratic process and choose who will represent your needs and concerns on the National Council and beyond. Vote by next Wednesday, December 6!
E-Learning at Your Fingertips
ASPA staff work tirelessly to keep your skills up to date and the information flowing all year long through our e-learning program. Visit our website to see more details about upcoming KeepingCurrent, BookTalk and Student and New Professional series programming.
KeepingCurrent: Speaking Truth to Power: Lessons in Administrative Courage
November 30 | 4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. EST
Presenters:
Susan Gordon, Former Career Civil Servant and Technology Consultant
Don Kettl, Co-Moderator, Former Dean, University of Maryland School of Public Policy
Andrew Podger, Former Commissioner, Australian Public Service
Zoë Rouwhorst, Policy Officer, Netherlands Government
Ron Sanders, Co-Moderator, Former Chair, Federal Salary Council
It takes courage to be a public servant these days...courage to speak truth to power, or as the Australians say, to provide “frank and fearless advice” to those elected or appointed political officials. That’s a challenge under any circumstance, but when you factor in such things as the Trump administration’s aborted Schedule F proposal or its prospective reprise by the American Enterprise Institute, all ostensibly to ensure that career civil servants are more "accountable" to the electorate, the courage "factor" goes up exponentially. And when public servants do not demonstrate such courage—that is, when they decide that their careers are more valuable than the truth—bad public policy happens. Join us for this webinar, in partnership with Public Administration Review for a robust discussion about this important topic.
Students and New Professionals: The Cover Letter Conundrum
December 5 | 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. EST
Sponsored by the University of New Mexico
Presenters:
Patria de Lancer Julnes, ASPA President and Rosenthal Endowed Professor and School Director, University of New Mexico
Ana Maria Dimand, Moderator, Assistant Professor, Boise State University
Bill Shields, Jr., Executive Director and CEO, American Society for Public Administration and Adjunct Professor, American University
According to ResumeLab, 83 percent of employers say cover letters are important when making hiring decisions. But, they are not a regurgitation of your resume or CV in paragraph form. They are not generic letters in which you simply switch out the name of one organization for another. And, they certainly are not optional. Constructing them is an art form, deserving serious attention every time you write one. Cover letters have their own tricks, dos, don'ts and hidden “tells” that can attract, or scare away, prospective employers. This webinar is designed for those on both the academic and practitioner job markets. Join Bill Shields and Patria de Lancer Julnes as they walk you through cover letter essentials: what to include, what not to include, length, tone and so much more. From best practices to silent death knells, they will help you grasp how to put together an ideal letter that represents you and gets the employer’s attention.
BookTalk: Religion and Public Administration: An Introduction
December 7 | 1 p.m. EST
Presenters:
Edoardo Ongaro, UKAPA Fellow, Professor of Public Management, The Open University, UK
Michele Tantardini, Assistant Professor of Public Administration, Penn State University
International and comparative in approach, Religion and Public Administration: An Introduction analyzes religion's social and public dimensions and its interplay with public administration as a field of social scientific inquiry and an area of professional activity. Taking methodological agnosticism as its sociological perspective to the study of the religious experience and considering the diverse religious composition of societies across the world and the differences in the religious regimes, from religious liberalism to theocracy, the book offers a comparative perspective to the study of the influence of seven organized religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Shintoism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam—on public governance and public administration and management. This webinar will provide a global/comparative perspective to the study of the influence of religion on public administration. Our presenters will investigate the relationship between the religious and public administrative systems and their functions around the world.
From the Archives
BookTalk: Technology and Public Management
Students of public administration, public policy and nonprofit management require a strong foundation in how government and non-governmental organizations are connected with information technology. Whether simplifying internal operations, delivering public-facing services, governing public utilities or conducting elections, public administrators must understand these technological tools and systems to ensure they remain effective, efficient and equitable. Technology and Public Management, by Alan Shark, explores the latest trends in technology, providing real-life examples about the need for policies and procedures to safeguard technology infrastructure while providing greater openness, participation and transparency. This BookTalk took place in April; listen in now and learn what Shark shared! (Members only.)
ASPA Student and New Professionals Webinar Series Continues for Fall/Winter
ASPA's student and new professionals webinar series has begun and continues through March 2024 with additional topics. These 90-minute events—free to attend, whether you're a member or not—are planned to help students and recent graduates with career development, job search fundamentals and more.
The following webinars are scheduled between now and March 7, with at least one more coming soon! Find complete details on our website.
- The Cover Letter Conundrum
December 5, 1 p.m. EST
Register
- So, You Want to Work in State or Local Government
December 14, 1 p.m. EST
Register
- The Nonprofit Compensation Equation
January 16, 1 p.m. EST
Register
- Hot Jobs in Government
March 7, 1 p.m. EST
Register
These events are planned for current students and recent graduates but anyone may attend. As is the case with all of ASPA's webinars, events are free for live participation; members automatically receive access to our webinar archive to view the programs after the events have concluded. Details will be added to our website as they are available.
Please share this information widely; we look forward to seeing our student and new professional members online for one of these webinars soon!
Public Administration Review Call for Practitioners
Beginning January 2, 2024, Public Administration Review (PAR) will feature a new section entitled “Practically Speaking” (PS) that seeks to strengthen ties between scholarly research—a traditional focus of PAR—and its more practical implications for those in public service. Ron Sanders, a long-time practitioner as well as an academic, is serving as associate editor of PS and is looking for reviewers to help him out.
If you are currently a PAR academic reviewer with any experience as a practitioner and are willing to serve as a PS reviewer, please log in to the PAR system and, under the Areas of Interest or Expertise category, annotate your personal profile with the key word "practitioner." That way, PAR editorial team members can search for you and reach out to see if you are willing to help us review a particular PS submission.
If you are not currently a PAR reviewer but (a) have experience as a public administration practitioner and (b) are willing to serve as a reviewer for PS submissions, please use the same website, add your name and profile to the PAR reviewer roster and annotate it with the same key word (“practitioner”).
Note that whether you are a current PAR reviewer or wish to be, the workload will be minimal. You might see one PS manuscript a year for review, with most of the work to be done by the manuscript authors and our editorial team.
Public Integrity Receives Impact Factor
Taylor and Francis is proud to announce that Public Integrity has received its first impact factor of 1.6.
Clarivate has, for the first time in the 2022 Journal Citation Reports (JCR) release, extended impact factors to journals indexed in the Emerging Sources Citation Index. The top cited article from the journal in the 2022 JCR is "Towards a More Just Nonprofit Sector: Leveraging a Critical Approach to Disrupt and Dismantle White Masculine Space" (Ashley E. Nickels and Kirk A. Leach, volume 23 issue 5, 2021, accessible here). The article received 11 citations in the assessment period.
In addition to the new impact factor, Public Integrity’s CiteScore increased significantly in 2022 to 5.0, from 3.9 in 2021, and readership of the journal (via downloads through tandfonline.com) has increased by 14 percent year to date in 2023.
T&F Portfolio Manager Hannah Shakespeare and Global Head of Portfolio Vicki Whittaker extends every congratulations and thanks to Public Integrity. Special thanks go to the journal’s authors and wonderful editorial team, led by Editor in Chief Amanda Olejarski and Managing Editor Sue Neal, for their continuing work in developing the journal’s demonstrable impact and reputation in the field. It is our great pleasure to work with you all.
National Civic League All-America City Award
The National Civic League (NCL) announces that applications are open for the 2024 All-America City Award. With a rich history dating back to 1949, this award has been honoring communities that harness the power of civic engagement, collaboration, inclusivity and innovation to effectively tackle local challenges.
The 2024 theme, "Strengthening Democracy through Local Action and Innovation," aims to spotlight communities bolstering democratic processes through innovations such as making it easier to vote, engage in community affairs and participate in leadership roles.
Mark your calendar! The deadline for optional letters of intent to apply is coming up on December 14, 2023; final applications must be submitted by February 13, 2024. NCL will announce the top 20 finalists in March, who will have the opportunity to convene in Denver, Colorado, from June 7-9, 2024, to showcase their community's achievements at the All-America City Award event. Don't miss your chance to shine on this national stage!
For additional information, watch this informational webinar and download the 2023 application.
October's PMM Is Free to View
Taylor and Francis is proud to announce that the October edition of Public Money and Management is free to view for three months—through the end of the year. This is the third of the PMM/CIGAR collaborations and can be found online here. Including topics such as AI, the commodification of the public good, social media and more, this is a packed edition. Download your copy today.
And, follow their LinkedIn page for future updates like this!
Public Administration Today Highlight
Public Administration Today features white papers, research and blogs from across the profession. If you're interested in more—especially your own curated news feed in your inbox every week—visit the website, create an account and check off your interest areas so you can stay up to date about the latest research being released!
Disaster Zone Podcast: A Sampling of Drone Policy in the U.S.
Via Government Technology: This podcast is for anyone who has an interest in drones and how they can be used for good—and what others are doing today with the technology. A discussion of the laws as they currently stand today and their origins also is included.
Tips, Resources and the Fun Stuff
We Forgot Our Manners During Work-from-Home—How to Relearn Office Etiquette
Pros offer Office Etiquette 101 lessons as workers return to their desks.
Six Hacks to Look and Feel More Confident At Work
Most high-performers share one thing in common: They all suffer, or have suffered at some point in the past, with impostor syndrome. If you have ever felt that you were incapable or inadequate to perform your role, or undeserving of receiving recognition and praise at work even though you know you earned it, or ever questioned yourself and doubted your abilities when in a room surrounded by your peers, chances are, you're experiencing some form of impostor syndrome.
An Open Season Checklist for Active Federal Employees
Tips for saving money on health care and to help guide you through the process of choosing a plan in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.
In the News
Today's headlines contain plenty of news coverage of some of our nation's most pressing public administration challenges. ASPA has curated some of the most important stories from recent weeks. If you have not seen these yet, make sure you read them now!
Infrastructure
Public Finance
Public Service
Social Equity
Members in the News
Apprenticeship Programs Are Growing As the Public Sector Faces Workforce Shortages
By Katherine Barrett and Richard Greene
Trump Has a Master Plan for Destroying the "Deep State"
By Donald Moynihan
Tell Me Something Good...
Need some good news in your world? Check this out:
This NASA Team’s Work Means the Whole World Can Sleep a Little Better
As if pandemic, threats of nuclear war and a lack of Tesla charging stations aren’t enough to worry about, there is always the possibility that an asteroid could hit the earth and wipe out all of us.
A team at NASA discovered a way to alter the path of an asteroid, should one come too close.
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Around Public Administration
Here are the most recent updates from across the profession. Did we miss you? Send us your news and we'll include it in the next round!
Upcoming Events:
Calls for proposals, calls for nominations and other updates:
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SPAR Best Book Award 2024
ASPA's Section on Public Administration Research (SPAR) invites your nominations for the SPAR Best Book Award. The Section welcomes nominations for books on public administration published in 2022 and 2023. The criterion for the award is a book that significantly contributes to research in public administration. All research methods are welcomed, as are books across the wide range of public administration research. Books primarily written as textbooks will not be considered. The Section welcomes international publications written in English. Only books that contribute to public administration research and theory will be considered. This recognition will be awarded at ASPA's 2024 Annual Conference. A nominating committee comprised of SPAR members will review each nomination and choose the award winners. All nominations for books published prior to October 15, 2023 must be received by November 15; all nominations for books published after October 15, 2023 must be received by December 15. Nominations should list the book title, author and publisher, and include at least a one-page summary outlining the unique contributions of the book. The nomination documents should be sent to the review committee chairperson by email. A copy of the book (hard copy or electronic version) must be sent to each member of the review committee by the dates listed above. Contact the review committee for more details.
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SAPA Call for Paper Proposals
Aligned with ASPA's 2024 Annual Conference theme, “Building Resilient Communities,” the Section on African Public Administration (SAPA) invites members in the United States, the African continent and globally to submit their paper proposals on the concept and task of resilience building in the African context. As recognized by the ASPA community in the conference theme, the definition of resilience is driven by local stakeholders as they take charge of the identification of local needs and the formulation of local solutions. The concept of resilience has attracted policymakers, public administrators, practitioners and academics since the 1960s with roots in Paulo Freire's work on the effects of colonial oppression and the ensuring loss of land and community traditional practices. Robert Chambers 1980s action research on rural development further expanded the concept of resilient livelihoods in the face of external shocks and crises and ways to build resiliency in the face of chronic vulnerability and unexpected external shocks and crises, both internal and external. Edward Carr further conceptualizes resilience as “not the mere response to specific impacts as much as the ability to respond over time, recover and return to normality after confronting abnormal, alarming, and often unexpected threats.” In attempting “to address the questions of resilience of what and resilience to what.” Raymond Tutu and Janice Busingye point out the need to further investigate the resilience attributes like “stressors driving change,” “anticipatory learning,” and “social capital.” This call for papers invites scholars and practitioners to debate, within the African continent context, effective and innovative strategies to enhance communities’ ability to prepare for, cope with, rebound from and adapt as needed to unexpected events and threats facing their local systems and livelihoods. SAPA's academic affairs committee welcomes the submission of proposals for individual papers and fully formed panels in alignment with the symposium theme. Please submit your proposal to Shin Kue Ryu, SAPA academic affairs committee chair by November 30, 2023. Click here for more information.
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2024 SICA Call for Awards
ASPA's Section on International and Comparative Administration (SICA) is seeking nominations for its awards program. All nominations must be received by December 15.
The 2024 Fred Riggs Award for Lifetime Achievement in International and Comparative Public Administration: The Fred Riggs Award was established by SICA in 1985 to recognize scholars who made significant and widely recognized contributions to the conceptual, theoretical and/or operational progress in the fields of international, comparative and/or development administration. This award is named in honor of Fred W. Riggs, a pioneer in these fields and a leading founder of SICA. The award is made annually at the SICA Business Meeting held in conjunction with ASPA's Annual Conference. Each letter of nomination should indicate in some depth the person's intellectual achievements and relevant qualifications for the Fred Riggs Award. You should include the nominee's CV, as well as any other supporting documents. There should be at least two letters of recommendation with at least one letter from a SICA member. All nomination materials should be sent directly to Aroon Manoharan.
The 2024 David Gould Scholarship: The David Gould Scholarship offers talented graduate students in the fields of public administration, public policy or international development some support to facilitate their participation in the ASPA Annual Conference. This scholarship is named in honor of David Gould, an active SICA member and long-time professor of public administration at the University of Pittsburgh. He was among those killed in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, December 21, 1988. Each year one or two students receive a nominal stipend ($500) to attend ASPA's Annual Conference and SICA’s Riggs Symposium. For the 2024 conference, the stipend will help students defray registration costs. In order to nominate a graduate student for a Gould Scholarship, please send a letter of nomination by a faculty member and the student’s CV to Charlene M. L. Roach.
The 2024 Jeanne-Marie Col Leadership Award: Established by SICA in 2016, the Jeanne-Marie Col Leadership Award recognizes individual members who have made significant contributions to the development of the Section. Send all nominations to Jeanne-Marie Col Leadership Award Chair Aroon Manoharan. Letters of nomination should indicate detailed contributions of nominees to, and leadership roles within, SICA. You should include an explanation about how the nominee’s contributions have helped to transform and enrich SICA and how SICA will continue to benefit in the future from the nominee’s work. Include relevant supporting documents as well. Each nominee will require at least two letters of nomination from SICA members. The Jeanne-Marie Col Leadership Award committee will give due consideration to all nominations and related materials after the submission deadline. The committee will announce the winner in January 2024 and present the award at the SICA Business Meeting at ASPA's 2024 Annual Conference.
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2024 Marc Holzer Public Performance Symposium Call of Proposals
ASPA's Section on Public Performance Management (SPPM) extends an invitation to academics and practitioners to submit proposals for the 2024 Marc Holzer Public Performance Symposium, taking place during ASPA's 2024 Annual Conference on Friday, April 12, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. The symposium’s theme, "Navigating Performance Ecosystems for Resilient Performance Management," captures the essence of navigating distinct aspects of resilient communities through the lens of public performance. This theme seeks to explore how public performance can play a pivotal role in advancing the development of resilient communities that are adaptable, inclusive and sustainable. The discourse of the symposium aims to push the boundaries of existing practices, provide innovative solutions and motivate diverse audiences to deepen the application of resilient practices in performance management and transformative strategies for enhancing resilient and effective public systems. A proposal submission must include 1) title and abstract (limited to 200 words), 2) presenter’s information (name, affiliation, position and email). All proposals are due by December 20, 2023. Please direct your submission to [email protected]. Given the limited availability of panel slots, the organizing committee will promptly review proposals submitted on time. The symposium is sponsored by SPPM, the National Center for Public Performance at Suffolk University Boston and Public Performance & Management Review.
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Public Budgeting & Finance Call for Papers
Since 1981 scholars and practitioners of applied government finance have turned to Public Budgeting & Finance to find understandable, reliable, thoughtful and critical analyses of the issues and practices important to the field. In this spirit, Public Budgeting & Finance invites contributions to a special issue focused on property tax administration and policy. Editors are seeking two types of contributions in the special issue: (1) full manuscripts containing original research; (2) proposals providing commentary on policy and/or practice. Completed manuscripts containing original research will be peer-reviewed on an expedited basis. Full manuscripts should be sent no later than December 31, 2023. Editors are especially interested in high-quality empirical manuscripts that explore and provide evidence relevant to policy and/or practice. The papers can intersect with property tax administration in any way. Editors are interested in all aspects of property tax administration, as well as topics that focus on the intersection of the property tax and public policy issues of enduring societal importance. Major considerations will be high-credibility research and topics of broad importance with the potential to influence subsequent policy and research. Manuscripts should be submitted via the PB&F submission website as a new submission toward a special issue. Editors also invite commentary proposals that will undergo editorial review (not peer review). These submissions can be commentaries on current policies or the state of research. Editors also would welcome teams proposing “point and counterpoint” essays that respond to one another. Proposals should include a working title and an abstract or thesis statement not to exceed 250 words. Editors will invite authors of selected proposals to submit full essays not to exceed 5,000 words. Send proposals to [email protected] no later than December 31, 2023. For questions, please reach out to co-editors Craig Johnson and Justin Ross. Click here for more information.
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2024 COMPA Conference Call for Proposals
The COMPA 2024 conference will take place February 25-28 in New Orleans. The theme is "Reshaping Public Administration: A Search for Self-Determined, Participatory and Sustainable Governments." The conference serves as a call to all public servants—scholars, public and nonprofit practitioners, and community advocates and stakeholders—who seek to rethink the future of local communities by revisiting past and present experiences as the foundation for engaging debate on reshaping self-determined, participatory and sustainable local community initiatives. COMPA 2024 challenges public administrators, researchers, scholars, policy wonks, think tanks, nonprofits, faculty, students and both scholars and practitioners across multiple fields and professions to rethink the future of local communities by revisiting past and present experiences as the foundation for engaging debate and reshaping self-determined, participatory and sustainable local community initiatives. We will examine the future of local government and tackle those issues that most directly impact each of us. We welcome research and praxis from different backgrounds and methodological orientations, current updates to traditional models and frameworks, and other emergent perspectives on all issues of public service related to the theme. All proposals are due December 15. Click here for more information.
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Sixth World Conference on Remedies to Racial and Social Inequality Call for Papers
The Sixth World Conference on Remedies to Racial and Social Inequality will be held in Cape Town, South Africa, September 3-5, 2024 at the University of the Western Cape, Bellville Campus. Bringing together leading scholars, affected communities and global changemakers to discuss and implement remedies to racial and social inequality, this conference will take place at a critical juncture when globally interdependent peoples face acute instability, uncertainty and social injustice. The matrix of issues and problems we hope to address include spatially interdependent and intersectional forms of economic development that manifest unevenly within and between countries in health disparities, educational disparities, structural poverty, gender inequality, food and water insecurity, energy and climate crisis, political disenfranchisement and violence, mass incarceration, traditional and digital technologies disparities, youth disenfranchisement, community violence, the structural exclusion from wealth and more. The focus of this conference will be to map these pressing problems and find and set into motion solutions, remedies and action steps to address the roots of inequality. This Call for Papers is open to scholars and activists from around the world, not only South Africa and other African countries, and with particular encouragement for emerging scholars and community-engaged researchers. Committed to a non-racial vision for our world, and with situated knowledges, we also welcome presenters offering cross-national, cross-continental and internal comparative regional perspectives within nations and across continents so that the bases of solidarity, similarity, interdependence and difference might be explored. All abstracts must be submitted by January 3, 2024. Click here for more information.
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SPALR Annual Awards Call for Nominations
ASPA's Section on Personnel Administration and Labor Relations is seeking nominations for its annual awards. All nominations must be received by Section Chair Salta Liebert by January 8, 2024.
- Outstanding Practitioner Award – given in recognition of a practitioner in the field of public personnel administration who has made significant and notable contributions to the field.
- Jonathan West Outstanding Scholar Award – given in recognition of a scholar who has made substantial contributions to the academic literature in the field of public personnel administration.
- Dissertation Award – given to recognize an outstanding dissertation in the field of public personnel administration completed the preceding year (2023).
- Stephen E. Condrey Service to the Section Award – given in recognition of the member who has made significant contributions to the Section during the preceding year.
- Outstanding Book Award – given to recognize a book, published in the preceding year, that has made a significant contribution to the field of public personnel administration.
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18th Annual E-PARCC Teaching Case and Simulation Competition Call for Submissions
The Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration (PARCC) at the Syracuse University Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs invites submissions for its 18th annual E-PARCC competition to further stimulate the creation of effective and innovative teaching cases and simulations. E-PARCC, a project of the “Collaborative Governance Initiative,” provides free online resources for those who teach conflict and collaboration around the world. More than 3,000 visitors per month from more than 40 countries take advantage of E-PARCC materials. The E-PARCC competition now consists of two tracks: (1) collaborative problem solving, collaborative governance and network governance and analysis; and (2) collaborative methods in international development. Entries for the competition should be tailored for one of the two tracks. Among other options, entries might focus on the use of collaborative methods to: identify public policy and management problems and/or create and implement policy and management solution; develop innovations that improve the design, delivery and evaluation of public services and programs; apply participatory and consensus building methods to address and overcome societal divisions; and improve open, transparent and accountable government and governance through advocacy and public action. All entries must be original and not published elsewhere. Submit the entry with the cover page to [email protected] by February 15, 2024, with the subject line: E-PARCC (your last name). Contact Catherine Gerard, interim director of PARCC, with any questions. Click here for more information.
PA TIMES Online
Here's a selection of current pieces on PA TIMES Online, covering a range of issues within the profession. We accept individual articles on a rolling basis; if you have a piece you think would fit our publication, submit it to [email protected] for consideration. (Please review our submission guidelines in advance!)
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