The 2019 Conference of Minority Public Administrators (COMPA) National Conference

Baltimore, MD March 5 – 7, 2019

Call for Proposals
A Call for Action: The Public Administration Seat at the Decision Making Table

Public administrators consistently face challenges and adverse situations as we aim to provide equitable and effective services to residents in our communities. It has become understood that in order to assist others and ultimately achieve success, we will face countless obstacles and impediments. One challenge is not having a seat at the decision making table. Another set of challenges stem from a lack of fiscal and human capital resources, political avarice and minimal concern for disenfranchised groups. Yet another issue is related to the inability to collectively organize sufficient support amongst constituents. Overall, being a public administrator today has never been more difficult. However, while these and other issues remain, the spirit of public service has not been broken. There are countless examples of individuals and organizations that are striving to overcome the fiscal, political and administrative issues that we face as a field.

The 2019 conference theme is based upon the idea of promoting and highlighting the need to have the voice of public administrators as part of the decision and policy making process. Public administrators must have a prominent seat at the decision making table. One of the goals of the 2019 Conference is to demonstrate and reiterate the importance of the skill set, experience, knowledge and perspective of Public Administrators. Another goal of the upcoming conference is to create pathways for the next generation of our leadership to have a seat at the decision making table, take action and continue blazing trails of success.

The conference program committee is pleased to invite proposals to the conference from academics, practitioners and students. The proposals should be related to the conference theme and sub-themes noted below:

Track 1: Social Equity and Justice Track
2: Infrastructure & Urban Planning Track
3: Disparities (Health Care, Housing, Education, Employment)
Track 4: Public Policy & Management
Track 5: Public Budgeting & Finance
Track 6: Citizen Participation & Engagement
Track 7: Global Public Administration & Immigration
Track 8: Nonprofit Management & Leadership
Track 9: Higher Education Administration
Track 10: Transparency in Government

Submission of Paper and Panel Proposals

The conference program committee welcomes proposals for high-quality conceptual papers, qualitative and quantitative empirical research papers, and policy - and practice-oriented papers. In addition to individual paper proposals, the committee encourages the submission of complete panels consisting of no more than four papers. Panel submissions should bring together complementary papers that address similar research questions or topics. Panel proposals should provide information on the overall theme of the panel and indicate how each of the proposed papers connects to the panel's theme.

Proposals from individuals at all stages of their careers are welcome. Proposals and poster presentations by graduate students are particularly encouraged.

The deadline for submission of proposals is January 7, 2019. Proposals will be evaluated by the conference program committee and proposers will be notified of the committee’s decisions via email. Email your proposals to Dr. Gloria Billingsley, Jackson State University, at: [email protected]

Proposals should include the following information:
  • Proposal Title
  • Abstract (200 – 350 words)
  • Presenter(s') name, institutional affiliation, address, email address and contact number

Best Paper Awards
Conference participants are encouraged to submit their full conference papers to be posted at the conference website by April 15th, 2019. The lengths of papers should be between 7,000 and 10,000 words, including references and endnotes. The papers should be sent electronically to Dr. Gloria Billingsley, Jackson State University San Bernardino, at: [email protected]. Authors should use the most recent edition of the American Psychological Association style guidelines (http://www.apastyle.org/) when they format their papers. The papers should be submitted in a Microsoft Word or compatible format. The conference planning committee will evaluate full paper submissions and will provide the following best paper awards:

1st - $1,500
2nd - $1,000
3rd - $500

An additional $500 will be awarded to the best paper from an undergraduate student.

All papers will be judged on clarity, coherence, organization and relevance to the conference theme.

Special Symposium Edition
Participants may submit their revised papers after the conference for possible publication in Special Symposium editions of the Journal of Public Management and Social Policy or the International Journal of Organization Theory and Behavior. All papers submitted for the journals will be peer reviewed.

Conference Location
The plenaries and panels of the conference will be held at the BWI Hilton,1739 W Nursery Rd, Linthicum Heights, MD 21090. We have limited block of rooms at the rate of $125 per night for single and double occupancy.

Registration Fee
Early registration is $250.00 on or before January 15, 2019. Late registration, after January 15, 2019, is $300.00. Student registration is $150.00.

More information about the conference program, registration and hotel will be available soon on the COMPA conference website, www.Compaspanet.com.