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The MPA Online Newsletter |
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Faculty Publications Faculty Spotlight Political
Science |
From the Director The spring semester is nearly over. This year has brought some changes. One in particular is the creation of a new college, the College of Arts and Sciences which incorporates the former College of Liberal Arts. We are still adjusting to the new college. In addition a new Dean began work in January. In 2004 the MPA program completed a self-study in order to be reviewed for reaccreditation by the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration. A site visit team will visit USC April 13-15 and interview administrators, faculty, students, alumni and employers of our graduates. This year has seen an increase in the number of dedicated intern placements. In addition to working closely with the City of Columbia, the program has students working with the Babcock Foundation, Greater Columbia Literacy Council, Lutheran Family Services, Sexual Trauma of the Midlands, the SC Bar, and the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Also, we heard from many of our alumni as a result of the initiation of this online newsletter. Continuing with this issue we will share some of what we learned and continue to do so in forthcoming issues. Please keep us informed of your work and accomplishments. 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.
Hays, Steven W. Sowa, Jessica
Ingraham,
Patricia W., Jessica E. Sowa, and Donald P. Moynihan. (2004) "Linking
Dimensions of Public Sector Leadership to Performance." In Patricia W.
Ingraham and Laurence E. Lynn, Jr., eds. The Art of Governance:
Analyzing Management and Administration. Washington, DC: Tyer, Charlie Symposium Editor, “Local Government Administration,” Public Administration Quarterly, Vol. 27, no. 4 (Winter 2004). Included within: “Local Government Enterprise Fund Activity: Trends and Implications,” with Jeffrey Molinari. Public Administration Quarterly, Vol. 25, no. 4 (Winter 2004): 369-391. This past fall Professors Graham and Tyer again made presentations to the South Carolina Education Policy Fellows. In addition, some work continued with the City of Columbia by Professors Graham, Hays and Tyer concerning organization and management issues. Professor Blease Graham continues active involvement with the West Forum discussed in an earlier newsletter. The West Forum is a civic involvement initiative in the Department of Political Science. Based on a founding idea of Department Chair Harvey Starr in 2001 the West Forum is now entering its third year. The Forum is an active partner with the Civic Education Project headed by Professor Charlie Tyer. The Civic Education Project sponsors a summer Institute on SC Government and Politics for SC social studies teachers in June of each year, and also an online course on SC government each spring semester for social studies teachers all over the state. Recent Graduates and Awards Congratulations to the following MPA graduates who graduated from the program in the Fall of 2004: Donald Gamache, John Hopkins, Adriane Livingston, Rebeka Steen and Vicki Williams. Students scheduled to graduate this spring include: Robert Bennett, Dawn Betenbaugh, Jantzen Blackmon, Joe Cronin, Chris Eversmann, Casey Field, Tracy Hamilton, Kurt Hitzeman, Julie McCutcheon, Stephanie Monroe, Wade Osburn, Brandi Palmer, Patricia Priester, Natalie Viers and Lauren Wise. Joe Cronin has been offered a job with Richland County and Vicki Williams has accepted a position with Francis Marion University in Florence. Patricia Priester left a state position within the recent past for a new job with the American Red Cross and Natalie Viers has accepted a job with the SC Municipal Association. Congratulations to all! On April 8th the MPA program
held an Awards Day luncheon for students being inducted into the honorary
society, Pi Alpha Alpha, recipients of the Sam Carter Fund for in-service students and outstanding academic
honors,
Those attending the awards luncheon are pictured below.
Matthew Delk (1982) Matthew returned from Iraq in late 2004. He is a captain the SC National Guard. He received a purple heart and an Army Commendation Medal with Valor device in Mosul, Iraq in October 2004 for his actions in April 2004 when a roadside bomb hit his convoy. (Pictured below receiving his decoration.) The Valor device is a single, one-time award given to those who were awarded the decoration as a result of direct combat with an enemy force and denotes heroism or valorous acts. Matthew is the commander of the 268th
Engineer Detachment (firefighters), a National Guard unit from Columbia,
SC. His convoy was struck by an
Delk has been county manager of Halifax County, NC since November of 2001. Prior to that he was county administrator of Bamberg County, South Carolina. He is a native of Roanoake Rapids, NC. Ben Duncan (1982) Ben has left the SC Governor’s Office and is now Executive Director of the Board of Trustees at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, SC. David Gray (1995) I have worked with the City of Greenville, SC since March, 1996 as the Financial Analyst/Grants Administrator for the Community Development division. I ushered in Outcome-Based funding from our division to the City's non-profit partners. I helped introduced the Funding Focus approach to local government sponsorship of human services in Greenville resulting in national award-winning jobs training (NCDA's Audrey B. Nelson Award) and housing counseling (National Assoc. of Counties Award) programs offered to City residents. Both programs have become national models effectively assisting low-income families out of poverty and need by addressing the "root causes" of poverty and need. I administer the contracts sponsoring these and other activities, facilitate the annual Community Development Block Grant, HOME and HOPWA grant budgeting process as well a act as neighborhood liasion to City Council among other things. For more information about these and other programs offered by the City of Greenville, please visit: www.greatergreenville.com . My spare time is spent as Board Officer (Secretary) of the South Carolina Equality Coalition which defeated bills proposing to ban gay marriage, foster care and adoption in the SC 2004 legislative session ( www.SCequality.org ). I also serve as exhibits/marketing committee member for the Greenville Cultural Exchange Center and as recruiter of the hosts for the Dining With Friends annual Red Party Benefit. I live happily with my partner of 15 years, Frank, in our home in Easley, SC. I attribute my continued successes to the confidence gained during my study in the joint Clemson-USC MPA program. I constantly pull from knowledge and understanding learned while working to earn my MPA and remain convinced this program is one of the most relevant, practical and effective programs available! Ann Humphries (1992)I made a quality of life decision and made a career shift. I joined Carolina Medical Review (CMR), South Carolina's Quality Improvement Organization (QIO), which contracts by law with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) to transform the quality of life for Medicare beneficiaries. Working with physician offices, hospitals, nursing homes, and home health agencies, CMR is the local organization for CMS to promote dramatic improvement in adoption and effective use of healthcare information technology (HIT), performance measurements, process redesign, and organizational culture change. I work with physician offices to boost preventive services around immunizations, mammographies, and diabetes for Medicare beneficiaries. Latest honors: SC Year of the Child Hero, Alum of the Year for Leadership Columbia, Governor's Woman of Achievement, TWIN honoree, as well as a volunteer, to help guide Ridge View High School to become a Red Carpet School and School Improvement Council Riley Award Finalist. I am a Certified Professional Consultant to Management (CPCM), and have a Reactivated RN license. I am married to my husband for over 25 years; two handsome college age sons at Clemson. There's always hope for grad school. Donna Kazia, (1980)
Since
completing my degree I have been an assistant to a city administrator in
Lancaster, South Carolina, served as court administrator for the City of
Greenville, South Carolina, and have worked in various positions with the
Appalachian Council of Governments for the last sixteen years. www.scacog.org Charlene Liggins (2002)I recently completed the Presidential Management Fellowship (PMF) program this past summer. After rotating for two years, I accepted a permanent position at the US Department of the Health and Human Services in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) as a health policy analyst. ASPE is the principal advisor to the Secretary and the White House on the development of policies related to health care and public health, and is responsible for major activities such as policy implementation and coordination, legislation development, strategic planning, policy research and evaluation, and economic analysis. As an analyst, the majority of my time involves developing and managing research projects and also, providing regulatory and legislative analysis in the broader areas of disability, aging, and long-term care policy. Specific issues that I'm responsible for here in ASPE include medical malpractice/nursing home liability, efficacy of state and federal measures to prevent elder abuse, support for family caregivers of persons with disabilities and the elderly, disease prevention activities targeting the aging population, health disparities, and retention of direct care workers and physicians to the long-term care workforce. This job definitely keeps me very challenged and busy. If there are other MPA graduates in the DC area and would like to get together -- here's my contact info: Charlene.Liggins@hhs.gov or (202) 690-5765. Roxanne Matthews (2001)I was recently promoted to "Research Manager" in the Richland County Administrator's Office. I manage the Research Department for the County. I supervise a Research Analyst (which is the position I originally occupied with the County), and provide council members and staff with recommendations regarding various research requests. I am also the Project Manager for the multi-million dollar Hospitality Tax program, as well as the Richland County Ozone Early Action Process, and am involved in Debt Setoff, among other major projects. Gregg Robinson (1993) Gregg recently was awarded a rural development service award at the 2005 Governor’s Rural Summit. Gregg is a project manager at the SC Department of Commerce. Rebecca Russ-Sellers (1995) After spending the last few years in government relations positions, Rebecca is currently working with Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System in Grants Development and Special Projects. She is married and has one daughter, Camille. Gary Thibault (1977) Gary is now the Interim Executive Director of the SC Worker’s Compensation Commission. Formerly he was the Director of Division of Insurance and Medical Services for the Commission. Susan M. Walsh (1982) Susan Walsh is serving as a Foreign Service Officer in Matamoros, Mexico after completing a tour as Supervisory General Services Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Lima, Peru. She has served as an International Exchanges Officer in Public Affairs in Mexico, Consular Officer in Mexico City and as a Consular Officer and Economics Officer in Santo Domingo. Susan graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in Foreign Service and completed a Masters in International Studies and a Masters in Public Administration at the University of South Carolina. She was a Presidential Management Intern with the U.S. Air Force in Acquisition before becoming a Foreign Service officer. Here is her account of her career: When I left USC, I had been chosen as a Presidential Management Intern. Because of my husband’s opportunity to teach at Wittenberg University, I arranged to do my Internship with the US Air Force at the C-17 Systems Program Office at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton Ohio. We had two sons in Ohio, Matthew and James. We moved to Montgomery Alabama with an excellent teaching opportunity for my husband. While raising two small boys, I worked part-time in various jobs at Auburn University at Montgomery' s Center for Business and Economic Development and for a local attorney. I also did very rewarding volunteer work at the Alabama State Archives. I passed the State Department exam in 1993 and moved to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City in 1994. With my background in Public Administration, I chose to be a Management Officer. My first tours were in Mexico City, Santo Domingo and Lima. I am now the Management Officer at the U.S. Consulate in Matamoros Mexico. This is a border post and it is a fascinating place to be in our post-9/11 world. Now my oldest son, Matthew, is a sophomore studying sports entertainment management at the University of South Carolina.
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.
Professor Neal Woods
Professor Woods received his PhD. from the University of Kentucky. Prior
to his doctoral studies, he received bachelor’s degrees in Economics,
(End of spotlight) 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
and those graduating this semester. The in-service award for 2005
went to Dawn Betenbaugh-Stoner . The academic award went to Natalie Viers. (See
photo at left.)
Those inducted into Pi Alpha Alpha this year were: Joe Cronin, Tracy
Hamilton, Russell Hightower, LaCrystal Jackson, Natalie Viers and Lauren
Wise.
improvised
explosive device destroying the first vehicle and disabling two others
that were subsequently were engulfed in flames.
Business
Administration, and Political Science at the University of Kansas. He has
broad research and teaching interests in public administration and public
policy, and teaches MPA classes on public data analysis, the public policy
process, and environmental policy. Professor Woods’ research focuses on
how differing institutional arrangements affect policy outcomes. His
dissertation, which recently won an award from the American Political
Science Association for the best dissertation in public administration,
examines how changes in administrative structure affect the relationship
between bureaucratic actors and their external political environment,
including elected officials and interest groups. He is currently working
on a project examining how public participation in agency rulemaking
affects the content of administrative rules. His work has been published
in the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory,
Policy Studies Journal, Politics & Policy, and State
and Local Government Review.