UNC recently announced the creation of a new certificate program, The Carolina Graduate Certificate in Innovation for the Public Good (CIPG). Students may join this certificate program by application, and two MPA students have already found a home in the new program. Online format student Thomas Persico and on-campus format student Sally Moore applied to join the inaugural class.

The CIPG gives masters and doctoral students an educational pathway to explore modern changemaking and practice the skills they need to help create meaningful change in the world. The certificate is sponsored by three academic units: the College of Arts and Sciences, Gillings School of Global Public Health, and the School of Education.

Sally stated, "“I enjoy brainstorming creative solutions to complex problems, one of the reasons I applied to the MPA program! This certificate caught my eye because of its focus on bringing ideas to life and collaborating across disciplines. I hope this certificate will enable me to bring more people to the table when exploring and solving community development challenges in the future. So far, I’ve enjoyed meeting peers across disciplines and learning the basics of design thinking.”

As all classes for the certificate are online, it is possible for any student in the MPA program to join. Get in touch with Elizabeth Langefeld to learn more about the requirements, application process, and how they will fit into your overall plan of study. The certificate requires 9 hours of course credit, and the total number of academic credits transferred into the MPA Program not exceed 40 percent of the total required for a certificate (for example, students would need an additional 6 hours beyond the 45 required for the MPA Program in order to qualify for the certificate). The next application cycle opens on January 1, 2021.

Congratulations to Dr. Anita Brown-Graham, who was recently named to the Gladys Hall Coates Permanent Professorship in the UNC School of Government. She co-taught the Social Capital class in the MPA Program this fall, and is the Director of the ncImpact Initiative. You can catch her on UNC-TV with ncImpact. Thursdays at 8 or streaming online.

It has been a big week in the world of Carolina MPA Alumni! Michael Halford was named was named Guilford County (NC) Manager. Two alumni were named to top posts at East Carolina University - Philip Rogers as Chancellor and Sharon Paynter as Assistant Vice Chancellor for Economic and Community Engagement. So great to see our alumni reaching their career goals!

In 2002, the MPA Alumni Association honored Professor Deil Wright for his 34 years of teaching MPA students by creating the Deil S. Wright Lecture in Public Administration. Each year, a distinguished professional from the field of public administration enriches the educational experience of students, alumni, faculty, and interested members of the community.

The 2021 Deil S. Wright Lecturer is Norma M. Riccucci, Board of Governors Distinguished Professor at Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration. She will deliver a lecture entitled, “Preparing People of Color for 21st Century Jobs: Unfulfilled Promises and Lost Opportunities.”

Riccucci’s talk will examine the predictions demographers and economists made in the 1980s about how the social makeup of the American workforce will change by the 21st century. It was predicted that by the year 2000 greater job opportunities for Blacks and Latinx would be created, particularly in the tech industry. Riccucci examines whether these forecasts have been realized and achieved. She asks, for example, “have investments been made in the human capital of Blacks and Latinx?"

Dr. Riccucci is the author of numerous publications and books including most recently, Policy Drift: Shared Powers and the Making of U.S. Law and Policy (New York University Press, 2018). Riccucci’s research interests lie in the broad area of public management, with specific interests in social equity policies and representative bureaucracy.

UNC's food pantry, Carolina Cupboard, will continue to be available to the community over Winter Break. Carolina Cupboard provides food at no cost to any student facing food insecurity. They are currently open by appointment due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Please contact Tarah Burnette to set up a confidential time to meet.

COVID-19 has created enormous challenges for communities, households, workers and businesses in North Carolina. On December 7, 2020, a team of researchers from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill launched a website called Carolina Tracker: A Resource for Recovery, which includes a dashboard to track indicators across different domains such as employment and the economy, travel patterns, real estate and society. In addition, interpretations of these trends can be read in analytical stories such as "Layoffs Return To Pre-Pandemic Levels " and "Home Sale Indicators Show Strongest Growth In A Decade, But Lagging Supply Is Cause For Concern."

The North Carolina Political Science Association (NCPSA) and the North Carolina Public Administration Alliance (NCPAA) invite you to submit a paper or panel for our 2021 joint conference. Due to the developing health impacts of COVID-19 we will be holding a virtual conference this year. The conference will be held on February 26, 2021.

We are excited to offer this conference in a virtual format. We hope it provides a venue for greater participation from institutions throughout the state, with a low-cost option for faculty, students and practitioners across North Carolina. We hope that you encourage your undergraduate and graduate students to submit proposals as well. This conference provides a welcoming and intimate format for feedback and collaboration. Conference panelists will present research papers and posters from political science, public administration, public policy, and other related fields.

We encourage submission of papers, panels, or posters that consider the results of the 2020 elections. These may include turnout, the gender gap, the racial/ethnic gaps, protests, court rulings, state laws, mail-in ballots, COVID-19, and battleground states.

This year we are also excited to offer project workshops as a place for you to develop research project ideas with advice and ideas from conference attendees. These workshops will provide a space for a rich exchange of ideas to strengthen research.

To submit a proposal for the conference, please go to: https://forms.gle/1KxBYfPcAhrfd8RL8. All proposals must be submitted no later than January 8, 2021. Registration includes a one year membership to NCPSA, admission to the 2021 conference, and consideration for the conference annual paper awards. The registration deadline for the conference is January 29, 2021. If you have any questions, please email the conference chair, Dr. Elizabeth Wemlinger at elizabeth.wemlinger@salem.edu.