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The MPA Online Newsletter |
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Faculty Publications Political
Science |
From the Director The fall semester is well underway. We welcomed 18 new students this fall into the MPA Program. Twenty-one people graduated last fall and spring from the program and one in the summer. We continue to work with a number of not for profit agencies on internships for students interested in that field, and state and local government as well. Thus, this year we have students interning with Sexual Trama Services of the Midlands, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Voices for Children, the SC Bar, the Municipal Association of South Carolina, and state agencies including the Office of Human Resources, the Department of Commerce, the Energy Office and at the local level the City of Columbia and the Town of Lexington. The MPA program completed its reaccreditation last year and is now officially reaccreditated by NASPAA through 2011-12. We continue to try hard to stay in touch with our graduates and urge all of you to email me with news that we can share in our newsletter. Charlie Tyer, Director T he public administration faculty continues to be highly productive in their research and publication efforts. Below is a listing of published and forthcoming books and articles by some of the faculty within the past year. Graham, C. Blease "South Carolina: Executive Budgeting Brings a Stronger Gubernatorial Voice to the Table," in Edward J. Clynch and Thomas P. Lauth (eds.) Budgeting in the States. Westport, Connecticut and London: Praeger, 2006, pp. 189-211.
Hays, Steven W. Tompkins, Mark
Charity G. Moore, Janice
C. Probst, Mark Tompkins, Steven Cuffe, and Amy
B. Martin, "The Prevalence of Violent Disagreements in US Families: Woods, Neal Woods, Neal D. and Michael Baranowski. 2007. “Governors and the Bureaucracy: Executive Resources as Sources of Administrative Influence.” International Journal of Public Administration. Forthcoming. Bowman, Ann O’M. and Neal D. Woods. 2007. “Strength in Numbers: Why States Join Interstate Compacts.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly. Forthcoming. Woods, Neal D. and Michael Baranowski. 2006. “Legislative Professionalism and Influence on State Agencies: The Effects of Resources and Careerism.” Legislative Studies Quarterly. Forthcoming. Woods, Neal D. 2006.
“Administrative Rulemaking.” In The Executive Branch of State
Government: People, Process, and Politics, Margaret Ferguson, ed.
Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 113-115. Recent Graduates and Awards Congratulations to the following MPA graduates who graduated from the program in 2005-2006. Fall graduates included: Melissa Chandler, Doug Cogdell, Russell Hightower, Gray Ladd, Ashley Tenney and Erica West. Spring graduates were: Ben Angstadt, Jann Ewbank, LaCrystal Jackson, Moryah Jenkins, Sabrina Kidwai, Alisha Larson, Rachel Levinson, Matthew Melton, Michael Nuckowski, David Powers, Ameenah Pridgen, Joshua Richards, Angel Roddy, Ed Waller and Kristen Wilkinson. Graduating in the summer was Jane Davis. Inducted last year into the PA honorary society, Pi Alpha Alpha were: Melissa Chandler, Ashley Tenney, Ben Angstadt, Jann Ewbank, LaCrystal Jackson, Moryah Jenkins, Alisha Larson, Rachel Levinson, Matthew Melton, Michael Nuckowski, Ameenah Pridgen and Ed Waller.
Yeva Avakyan (2001)
Yeva has changed jobs. She now is with
the International Programs Group of World Vision United States in DC as
International Program Officer managing funding portfolios in China,
Russia, Bosnia, Albania, Kosovo and Georgia. Prior to this she worked for
World Vision in Armenia and Lebanon and was involved in program design,
monitoring and evaluation. World Vision is a Christian relief and
development organization dedicated to helping children and their
communities worldwide reach their full potential by tackling the Carmen Harper Thomas (2002) On February 15, 2006 the membership of the South Carolina Law Review elected Carmen Harper Thomas as the Editor in Chief of Volume 58. Thomas is a graduate of the University of South Carolina's Honors College and holds a Master's Degree in Public Administration from USC. Before attending law school, Carmen worked in state government as a planner with the Budget and Control Board and in developing federal grants with the state Department of Commerce. Her note on recent South Carolina LLC litigation will be published in the Law Review's upcoming Annual Survey of South Carolina Law. Kate Billing (1995) Kate worked in the SC Energy Office from 1996 to 2004, leaving to go to the SC Budget and Control Board, Office of State Budget, where she worked until recently in 2006. She recently left the budget office and is now on the staff of the SC Senate Finance Committee. Melissa Chandler (2005) Melissa Chandler, graduating in the fall of 2005, has taken a position in Washington, DC as a Legislative Correspondent with SC Representative Joe Wilson. Lee Dutton (1986) Lee graduated back in 1986 and says the MPA has served me well. He is currently the Executive Assistant to the Director at the South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services. His current duties include working with the South Carolina General Assembly and developing and implementing policy for the statewide alcohol and drug abuse system. "The foundation gained during my experience with the MPA program was invaluable - next year, I complete 20 years with the State of South Carolina." Margaret Griffith (2004) Margaret worked with the SC Emergency Management Division for almost two years as the Individual Assistance and Citizen Corps Coordinator. She has recently changed positions to a new private company, PBS&J (an engineering firm) as an Associate Project Manager. She works within the Risk and Emergency Management Sector of the company providing emergency management services to government who use the company as their contractor. Michael Herring (1976) Michael Herring, city administrator for Chesterfield, MO, received the J. T. Bell Award from the Missouri City Management Association as the outstanding city manager in Missouri. He is also president-elect of the St. Louis Area Insurance Trust, a self-insurance pool representing 23 cities in the St. Louis suburban area. Michael received his undergraduate degree in 1974 from USC also. Ashley Jacobs (2001) Ashley is changing jobs in November and will become the deputy county administrator in Dorchester County, SC. She worked with Richland County from 2001 through March of 2006. Since leaving the county she has served as Judicial Director of the SC Workers Compensation Commission. Alisha Larson (2006) Alisha has taken a job with the SC Legislative Audit Council. Rachel Levinson (2006) After receiving her MPA in the spring of 2006, Rachel has enrolled in law school at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Charlene Liggins (2002) Early in 2006 Charlene left downtown Washington, DC and returned to NIH in Bethesda, MD. She will be working as a public health advisor for the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development coordinating and managing communication efforts aimed at reducing fetal and infant mortality rates. Chantal Fryer (1997) Chantal has left her position with the SC Energy Office and is now Recycling Market Development Manager with the SC Department of Commerce. Allison Harvey (1996) Allison Harvey has left the Town of Kiawah Island as town administrator and assumed the same role for the Town of Clover, SC. Brent McAbee (1978) After 28 years with the City of Wilmington in various positions Brent is retiring as Finance Director at the end of 2006.He will remain as a Special Assistant to the City Manager to work on a merger of city and county water and sewer operations scheduled to take place by the end of 2007. After finishing the MPA program at USC, Brent passed the Certified Public Accountants examination in 1983 and plans on continuing a limited accounting practice after leaving the City. He has a daughter who is now enrolled in the other "Carolina" located in Chapel Hill. Julia McCutcheon Wilkie (2005) In August Julia began a job as a Planner I for Florence County. Previously she worked as the Director of Commitment for the Richland County Probate Court. Holly Hembree Richardson (1999) In January of 2006 Holly began new job is as a Planner II for Georgetown County. She started this job in January after 6 1/2 years with the City of Georgetown. She and her husband had a baby, Maggie in 2004. She just turned 2 this past August. They live in Pawleys Island. Russell Hightower (2005) Russell has taken a position as a lobbyist and director of public policy with the SC Association of Realtors. The association is the largest in the state serving over 19,000 members. Roxanne Matthews (2001) Roxanne Matthews was promoted to Assistant to the Richland County Administrator in February 2006. Previously, she was the Research Manager and a Research Analyst for the County. She will have been with the County for five years in April 2007. Her new responsibilities are primarily major projects management, including the relocated State Farmers' Market, the mass transit system (CMRTA), Economic Development, the homelessness project, the new recreation / entertainment complex in northern Richland County, among others. Stephanie Monroe (2005) Stephanie is currently with Upstate Forever promoting active living in Spartanburg County. Russell Ott (2003) Russell worked with the Lower Savannah COG upon graduation from the MPA program, but left last year to assume a position as lobbyist with the SC Farm Bureau. Craig Parks (1999) Craig joined the staff of the Senate Finance Committee in January 2006 as a Senior Research Analyst specializing in the areas of Tax Policy and Higher Education funding. Prior to the Senate, Craig spent six years as a Fiscal Policy Analyst for the State's Board of Economic Advisors after having worked with the Employment Security Commission directly after grad school. Craig is the lucky husband of Amy Parks, a faculty member in USC's College of nursing, and is the proud father of Anna Grace Parks, their 19th month old daughter. Plagens, Greg (1999) Greg Plagens completed his Ph. D. at USC this summer and has taken a faculty appointment at the University of Akron in Ohio. Phil Slayter (1989) Phil has taken the position of planning director for Colleton County, SC. Formerly he worked with the Central Midlands Council of Government, and most recently completed another graduate degree at MUSC in hospital administration. Kendra Stewart (1995) Kendra went on to receive a Ph. D. from USC after her MPA, and then joined the faculty at Eastern Kentucky University. She recently was promoted to Associate Professor and received tenure, and is currently acting as interim MPA director there. Greg Sommers (2001)
Ed Waller (2006) Upon graduating from USC, Ed took a job at Presbyterian College with the Army ROTC program. He has just left there to go to a basic officer leadership course at Fort Benning, GA and from there will go to Fort Leonard Wood, MO for an engineering course. He then returns to SC and will be with the SC Army National Guard, the 122nd Engineer Battalion in Batesburg, SC. He will then resume his search for employment. Ashley Tenney (2005) Ashley has recently moved from Charlotte and taken a job with Powell Goldstein, a large Atlanta law firm, in the marketing department. Cathy Werner (1992) After one and one‑half years as Director of Foundation Relations at Virginia Tech, Cathy left at the end of May to take the position of Director of Foundation and Government Relations for the Philadelphia Orchestra. Lauren Wise (2005) Lauren has taken a position as grants manager with the SC Department Commerce.
More to come with the next issue!!! Attention Alumni!!! We need to hear from you. Let us know about events in your life, career, etc. and we'll include that in our online newsletter to share with your colleagues around the state, country and world. Photos are welcome.
LET US KNOW WHAT YOU’VE BEEN UP TO One of the most challenging aspects of the MPA Program is maintaining contact with the hundreds of individuals who are among our alumni and friends. To help us in this regard, and to provide past classmates with updates on your lives, we would greatly appreciate it if you would take a few seconds to provide personal and/or professional feedback. And, with the advantages of on-line technology, it couldn’t easier to give us a quick snapshot of what you’ve been up to recently. Please take a moment to write us at the following email address: Any news concerning job changes, career accomplishments, families, and geographical relocations will help us to enlarge our next account of ALUMNI ACTIVITIES and to share in your achievements. Please be sure to include an email address and/or street address in your communications, and tell us what year you graduated. And, photos are encouraged!! THANKS!!
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The University of South Carolina
Pictured
at left are some of the spring 2006 graduates who attended the annual
awards luncheon in April 2006.
Greg
(pictured on the left) currently serves as administrator of the Warwick River Christian School in
Newport News, VA.