NASPAA's Alumni Spotlight Award will highlight two alumni of NASPAA Schools who have made significant impacts in their communities and devised innovative solutions to public problems. For the first time, NASPAA will honor an alumnus of BOTH a large university and small university!!

We need your nominations to demonstrate how our schools make a difference in very concrete ways. Please nominate alumni who have solved a public problem through innovation, impact and inspiration.

Nominees from all levels of government as well as the nonprofit and consulting sectors are welcome. A committee comprised of members of NASPAA's Marketing Committee will be featured in a print and digital publicity campaign. Additionally the honorees will receive a trip to the NASPAA Annual Conference in Washington, DC where they will be publicly recognized.

Please see the contest webpage at naspaa.org/spotlight for more information that you can share with your faculty, staff and alumni to encourage nominations. 

Questions? Contact Meagan Van Gelder at the University of Nebraska Omaha.

by David Marshall, NASPAA

Recently, the tragic events in Manchester, England have

 reminded us yet again of how truly heartbreaking it is when acts of violence take the innocent lives of youth and young adults who are full of promise.  However, when such events happen close to home - indeed to your neighbors and/or family members - it feels even more horrific.  That is how NASPAA feels about the events that transpired early Saturday morning, May 20, 2017 .  That morning in what investigators have called an unprovoked attack, Richard Collins III, a graduating Senior at Bowie State University was fatally stabbed on the University of Maryland College Park campus by a University of Maryland student.  Collins, who was African American, was set to graduate on Tuesday, May 23 and was recently commission as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army.  The FBI has joined the investigation to determine if Collin's alleged attacker - who is white - belongs to a white supremacist group, and if the murder should be considered a hate crime.

 

We are truly saddened by this tragic event and our thoughts and deepest condolences go out to the communities at Bowie State University and the University of Maryland College Park.  With both Bowie State University and the University of Maryland, College Park being in the Washington, DC area, we at NASPAA consider them our neighbors.  Furthermore, since both schools are loyal NASPAA members they are part of the NASPAA family.  Finally, Lt. Collins answered the call to public service, and unfortunately our nation and indeed the world will never experience what he could have offered society.  For all of us who recognize and cultivate public spiritedness in the next generation, Lt. Collins' death is a setback to progress toward a diverse and inclusive society.

 

David Abrahams, Chair of Bowie State's Department of Management, Marketing, Public Administration and Entrepreneurship was Lt. Collin's academic advisor.  Abrahams said "Unlike most of his peers Richard had a keen sense of duty and purpose for the next chapter in life, having committed the next four years to military service.  My conversations with Richard over the span of one year gave me a chance to hear about his supportive parents and his admiration for his older brother who also is a military service member.  Richard was a person filled with potential and desire to 

 

University of Maryland President, Wallace D. Loh issued a statement saying, "The horrific assault that took the life of a young man on our campus on [the morning of Saturday, May 20] has shocked, saddened, and angered our community and beyond."  President Loh has since tasked the University's Office of Diversity & Inclusion (ODI) to create a trained, rapid-response team for any hate-bias incident.  This action team - comprised of faculty, staff, and students - would provide support and services to any member of our community who is the subject of a hate incident.  The President has allocated $100,000 to this effort.  The entire press release and action plan can see here:  https://president.umd.edu/reflection-and-action .   Robert Orr, Dean of University of Maryland's School of Public Policy said, "This has to be a wake-up call for us all.  Identity politics are seething through our society and through are campuses.  Schools of public policy must lead the charge on seeking solutions not only in the policy realm, but also at the campus level."

 

Dr. Erroll Southers is the Director of The University of Southern California's Safe Communities Institute (SCI) at the Sol Price School of Public Policy which engages research, interdisciplinary education and collaboration to advance sustainable public safety strategies, policies and programs.  The SCI's Homegrown Violent Extremism (HVE) Studies Program focuses on a diverse collection of homegrown extremist activities, including domestic terrorism and hate crimes.  In an effort to understand the extremist radicalization pathway, the HVE program is engaged in groundbreaking domestic and international research efforts to develop community-driven risk-reduction solutions that resonate with policymakers, community leaders and the general public.  Dr. Southers says "the truth of it is that our nation has been conditioned to view terrorism as the exclusive province of extremist Muslims.  While we wring our hands over the threat from terrorism, this evident violent extremist attack is instead branded as a hate crime.  It's well-past time to expand our collective definition of terrorism, recognize that attacks by non-Muslims are occurring in far greater number and develop strategies that allow us to counter adherents to all violent ideologies."

 

NASPAA joins other academic organizations and universities in reaffirming our commitment to rejecting hate and divisiveness on every campus and work, through public affairs education, to foster a civil society.  Therefore, we applaud the University of Maryland's Action Plan and the work at the Price School's Southern California's Safe Communities Institute and Homegrown Violent Extremism Studies Program.

 

#NASPAA2017 Annual Conference Updates

In response to the 2017 NASPAA Annual Conference Theme - " Confidence in Public and Nonprofit Sectors: How is it Built, How is it Lost, and How is it Regained?" - this year NASPAA NEXT will focus on Track 3 of the conference:  Building Public Trust Through Responsible Policy Communications and Advocacy. Participants will learn strategies for communicating groundbreaking research to public policy leaders, nonprofit practitioners, and the public at large. Additionally, emerging faculty will discuss the importance of advocating for the use and implementation of public policy analysis from NASPAA schools, faculty, and students. Also important is the ability to communicate and advocate for ideas that are generated in other countries and being able to identify what programs can be implemented domestically and vice versa. Through these actions our public and nonprofit institutions can inspire public confidence by implementing policies based solid empirical analysis that deliver results. Moreover, participants will learn how to become more fully engaged with NASPAA by ensuring their talents and knowledge base are strategically aligned with leadership opportunities for the association. Finally, participants will engage in a group project after the Annual Conference designed to make public policy analysis visible to policy makers and the general public. We are in discussions with several faculty members to lead this dynamic workshop.

• Striving For the Peak of Public Service in the Mile High City University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs - Denver, Colorado
  July 28 - 30, 2017

• Global Leaders Forum: World Affairs and the Changing Landscape Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign Service - Washington DC
  Georgetown University, McCourt School of Public Policy - Washington DC
  
  August 4 - 6, 2017

We recently interviewed Sierra before he embarks on his journey Rome, Italy to serve as an intern at the World Food Programme's (WFP) Climate and Disaster Risk Reduction Program Unit (OSZIR) on June 3, 2017.

1. What are the most exciting things about interning at the World Food Program?

"WFO is the largest organization in the fight against hunger in the world. It is an honor to be part of a work with such a strong impact on people's lives. Moreover, knowing their practices as implementers of food policies and strategies will be a tremendous learning opportunity."

2. What are you most excited about to work on based on what you have been told about the internship?

The information I have is that I will work on the Climate and Disaster Risk Reduction Program Unit (OSZIR). This is a unit within the WFP that recognizes the strong link between climate change and vulnerability in terms of poverty, food, and malnutrition among those most affected. OSZIR has a strong technical team that provides studies and guides on how to mitigate the effects of climate change on the goal of eliminating hunger. It seems to me that this is a key axis for WFP to achieve its goals, and I am very happy to be part of this unit."

3. What do you hope to take away from the internship?

"Learning! I will pursue this internship with an open mind to extract information from the best in the field. I hope to gain leadership skills and broaden my knowledge about WFP by working with the WFP team. I'm also excited to be exposed to a new culture, language and work setting."

4. Is this your first time in Rome? What are you looking forward to most about the city?

"Yes, this will be the first time I visit Rome. Rome is a city with a rich history that spans around three millennia of civilization. I am excited to learn about the city's history, experience the culture, food and people."