Carolina MPA Student Digest 6/4/21:
Featured in this Digest:
  • Upcoming Calendar Dates
  • MPA News & Resource Highlights
  • Campus & Beyond Events
  • Professional Development & Volunteer Opportunities
Carolina MPA Calendar
  • June 28: September term registration opens for online classes
  • July 25: Online May term classes end
  • August 18: Fall On-campus classes start
  • September 6: September Term Online classes start
NOTE: The Registrar's Office has now announced the 2021-2022 on-campus Academic Calendar. Upcoming Online format dates are always on the MPA Intranet.
MPA News
 
The MPA Community Connections program is a great opportunity to make meaningful connections within the MPA community. More details about the roles, program duration and opportunity are below. We hope you consider participating in the Community Connections Program as it is a great way to develop meaningful relationships with someone in the MPA community.
 
The MPA Community Connections Program is one avenue to build relationships that can help you realize and achieve the goals you’ve set forth in the professional development plan.
 
Applications are open until Sunday, June 20th apply today! 
Updates on the Carolina MPA Intranet
We hope that all MPA students will take advantage of the resources of the Carolina MPA Intranet. Find future term dates, sample syllabi, and policies. The Intranet is being revamped this summer, but all materials will remain available. The newest page is on the Applied Research Problem, which will be continually updated as the new applied research courses are developed. For those of you continuing with the Portfolio as your thesis substitute, resources will also remain available and updated here.

Did you know that MPA faculty member Anita Brown-Graham hosts a tv show on PBS NC? Catch up on Season 3 episodes of ncIMPACT on Fridays at 7:30 p.m. on PBS NC. All episodes are available for streaming from the ncImpact website as well at https://ncimpact.sog.unc.edu/our-media/our-show/. 
Let your colleagues know about these upcoming episodes of ncIMPACT. Invite your networks to learn with us as we examine important issues around our state including education, jobs, healthcare, and more. 
  • June 18th: Overcoming Homelessness (Buncombe)
  • June 25th:  Economic Mobility (Mecklenburg)

Get connected and learn more:
Carolina MPA Alum Christopher Riddick delivers Commencement Address
Congrats to MPA alum, Dr. Christopher Riddick, for being honored as the commencement speaker this year for his alma mater, Gates County High School in Gatesville, NC. He is currently the principal for the consulting firm ReadySet in the Washington, DC, area. Watch his inspiration for the students above.
University & Beyond Events
  • Local Opportunities
  • June 18-19: Juneteenth Celebrations
  • Professional Development Opportunities
  • Due July 5: SSN North Carolina 2021 Summer Grants Program 
  • Due July 30: ICMA Form of Government Graduate Student Symposium Call for Proposals
  • Due September 21: Schwarzman Scholars Applications are Open
  • July 12-23: Government Finance Officer's Association Virtual Conference


East & West Franklin St
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
Dates: June 18, 2021 - June 19, 2021
Time: 7:00 PM

A coalition of local organizations invites the community to be a part of the first annual Chapel Hill-Carrboro Juneteenth Celebration. Planning partners include the Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Office of Equity and Inclusion, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP, the Marion Cheek Jackson Center for Saving and Making History, and many others. The event will celebrate Black community and culture through arts performances, history exhibits, kids’ activities, and more. This year’s event will be mostly virtual, with a limited number of in-person and hybrid offerings. Events start on June 18 at 7pm and continue throughout the day on June 19.
Hello from SSN North Carolina! We hope you are doing well and staying healthy! SSN's North Carolina Chapter Leaders have decided to continue last summer's mini grants program to support researchers, particularly faculty at public institutions, graduate students, adjunct faculty, and faculty with 9 month appointments. 
We will be offering six to eight awards of $500 to support research projects with a policy focus. Projects can touch on any number of topics such as voting, child care, health, unemployment, small business support, and the future of social services. We would like your final deliverable to be something directed at policy makers. Examples include a memo, an op-ed, a Facebook video, a podcast, a blog post, etc. Awardees will also be invited to share their work with our network at a Fall 2021 event. 
Application are due July 5th and final deliverables will be due September 1.
ICMA is proud to announce a call for proposals for a planned “Form of Government Graduate Student Symposium” to be held during the 2021 ICMA Annual Conference in Portland, OR. This event will enable graduate students to submit papers or presentations that will help guide our understanding of the council-manager form of government.
Any content that shapes our understanding of the council-manager/county manager form of government is welcome, and we are particularly interested in comparisons between the council-manager/county manager form of government and other form(s) of local government (mayor-council/county executive, commission, town meeting, etc.). Group projects, seminar papers, and original research may be submitted for consideration.
Suggested research questions include:
 
  • What is the nature and role of politics and administration in local government? How does this speak to the politics-administration dichotomy?
  • How might we measure and compare accountability across various forms of government? Which forms of government provide the greatest level of accountability?
  • Does form of government contribute to the success of government in developing and achieving long term goals/outcomes?
  • Do demographics, geographic location, population, political party affiliation, or other factors correlate to an affinity for one form of government over another?
  • How might form of government shape responsiveness of the local government to the needs of the public?
Proposals are due by July 30, 2021 and should be no more than 250 words in length (excluding bibliography) to rdesantis@icma.org.
  • Address how the paper/presentation hopes to extend our understanding form of government.
  • Clearly articulate the methodology and any hypotheses/findings to be addressed in the paper/presentation.
  • Provide a 60-word abstract that engages attendees and demonstrates how the work will address the current condition of local government.
This is a great opportunity for graduate students to engage with practitioners, academics, and other graduate students as we collaborate to find ways to improve the quality of life of communities through effective government administration.
Selected proposals will be notified by September 1, 2021.
  • Accepted papers and presentations will be published online at icma.org
  • Authors/presenters will have the opportunity to present their research to ICMA members during the ICMA Annual Conference in October 2021 (ICMA will provide travel and lodging scholarships to accepted authors/presenters)
  • Papers will be considered for publication in ICMA’s PM print magazine.
Learn more about this competition and form of government in this recording of our Student Leadership Network Series.
Question can be sent to rdesantis@icma.org. 
The Schwarzman Scholars Application Is Open

I’m thrilled to announce that the application for the seventh cohort of Schwarzman Scholars is officially open. As the world’s focus on China continues to grow, our Scholars have a front-row seat to the importance that collaboration and mutual understanding play in tackling global challenges. The complex geopolitical developments of the last year serve as further proof that the world needs Schwarzman Scholars – and more quickly than we could have predicted.
I would like to ask for your help in sharing the news of our application launch with compelling candidates for our program: exceptional leaders with integrity, creativity and a drive to succeed. With your support, we can continue to fulfill our mission of bringing together the best young minds to better understand the economic, political and cultural factors that contribute to China’s growing importance as a global power.
As you know, we are currently hosting our fifth cohort, who have demonstrated enormous resilience, flexibility and willingness to learn in the face of the global pandemic. Though they have not yet been able to come together in Beijing, I have watched them engage in classes virtually, get to know one another and participate in many collaborative activities.
Our incoming sixth cohort, announced this past December, features 154 remarkable Scholars chosen from more than 3,600 applicants and includes students from 39 countries and 99 universities. We have quickly become one of the most prestigious graduate fellowships globally, with admission rates consistently below 5%.
We were also thrilled to announce a new addition to our team this year, Executive Director Lara Tiedens. Lara will join us in May from Scripps College, where she currently serves as President. Amy Stursberg will become the new CEO of Schwarzman Scholars and deserves our greatest thanks and recognition. Amy has been with us since the very beginning, and Schwarzman Scholars would not exist without her tireless efforts.
To access the application and learn more about requirements, candidates can visit our website at The Schwarzman Scholars. The deadline for U.S. and other non-China candidates is September 21, 2021. Interviews will be held virtually in late October and early November, and candidates selected for admission will be notified in mid-November 2021.
Thank you for your continued support of the program. I look forward to keeping you updated.
Stephen A. Schwarzman
Founding Trustee, Schwarzman Scholars
We continue to live through unprecedented times: the crisis of COVID-19, economic uncertainty, social and racial unrest, and weather catastrophes.  How do we lead during these turbulent times? How do we lead beyond them? Join GFOA for our 2021 Virtual Conference, July 12‒23, to hear from leading practitioners, recognized industry experts, researchers, and your peers how to effectively prioritize the current needs of your community and prepare for any future challenges.
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