Deil Wright Public Service Forum & Reception

Friday, October 10

4-5:30 pm (reception to follow 5:30-7:30 pm)

SOG 2603



Not able to take the Immersion class but still interested in Emergency Management? The Deil S. Wright Public Service Forum is for you! Virtual attendance is available.

The Forum will be a panel discussion moderated by Norma Houston that focuses on relationships and coordination between local, state, and federal governments for successful emergency management. Panelists are:

• Christina Farrell, Commissioner, New York City Emergency Management Department
• Will Ray, Director, North Carolina Emergency Management
• Erik Hooks, Former Deputy Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency

SOG Faculty: So You're an Expert in What?

Thursday, October 9, 2:15-3 pm

SOG 2601 and virtually

A new MPA tradition is the "So You're an Expert in What?" event before the MPA Immersion. We ask three School of Government faculty to share their expertise, and they only have seven minutes to do it! 

o  Moderator:

•  Jeff Welty, Professor of Public Law and Government; Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs

o  Speakers:

• Jacqui Greene, Associate Professor of Public Law and Government
• Christopher Mclaughlin, Professor of Public Law and Government
• Kristi Nickodem, Assistant Professor of Public Law and Government

This year's Immersion professor, Kirsten LeLoudis, got students thinking about the Emergency Management topic last year at this event when speaking on Public Health Law. Audio and slides from last year's event are available online.

If you want to know more about what the SOG faculty research, please join us in person or online!

Welcome New Faculty!

The School of Government is pleased to welcome two new faculty members who work in the local government space.

Julie Beasley, assistant professor of public administration and government, uses applied research to focus on human resource management in the public and nonprofit sectors, particularly workplace diversity and performance, organizational leadership, and civic engagement.

Colt Jensen, also an assistant professor of public administration and government, is an expert on local government management, rural governance, trust in government, and public service motivation.

Please join the School in welcoming these two to their faculty posts.

Carolina Grad Student Caregivers Event

October 3

4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Graduate Student Center

Join Grad Student Success for the first Carolina Caregivers event of the semester at the Graduate Student Center where we'll have food and fun before heading over to the Carolina Inn's Fridays On The Front Porch event.

Register here. Friends and families are welcome to join as well!

EmpowerUNC Student Open Call

Empower UNC: Responding to Disclosures is a training collaboration between Violence Prevention and Advocacy Services (VPAS) and the University Compliance Office (UCO).

Empower UNC equips students and employees with information, resources, and strategies to respond to disclosures of harassment, sexual misconduct, interpersonal violence, and stalking in an informed and compassionate way. Learn more about the upcoming trainings and register here.

Student Open Call

October 8

5:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

Employee Open Call

October 16

10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Employee Open Call

November 4

2:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. 

Grad Cafe Upcoming Dates

Grad Café is held three times per semester and is an opportunity for graduate students to connect with one another as well as Graduate School leadership plus campus resources while refueling with free food.

• Grad Café – Thursday, October 9, 9:00-11:00am, Bynum Hall fountain
• Grad Café – Monday, November 10, 11:00am-1:00pm, Bynum Hall fountain

We’ll be at the fountain in front of Bynum Hall with free snacks such as bagels, cookies, coffee or cocoa from places like Insomnia Cookies, Brandwein’s Bagels and Gray Squirrel Coffee Company.

Grad Café is an opportunity for you to connect with other graduate and professional students and staff of The Graduate School. Additionally, representatives from CAPS and the Dean of Students will also be present for anyone in need of support. As always, you are welcome to just stop by and grab a treat to go.

Questions? Contact Laura Thorp at lethorp@unc.edu.

GPSG State & Federal Policy Involvement Opportunities

Hello,

 My name is Hannah Friedman, and I currently serve as GPSG’s interim Director of State & Federal Relations. Could you please help share the message below to the graduate students in your department? Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,

Hannah

As GPSG’s Interim Director of State & Federal Relations, my role is to represent graduate students’ voices to state and federal officials. To better understand the student body's perspectives and priorities, I’m excited to share two opportunities for involvement:

1) Graduate Student Policy Advisory Committee (GS-PAC)

I am forming a new committee where graduate students can engage directly with policy issues and provide input that will be shared with our state & federal representatives. If you’re interested, please apply.

Link to GS-PAC application: https://heellife.unc.edu/submitter/form/start/690723

2) Policy interest form:

Even if you can’t commit to GS-PAC, your input is still valuable! Please take a few minutes to complete our policy interest form to let us know which issues matter most to you.

Link to policy interest form: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=T9WzWMkW00KvCB_KvQlWZmsJhebNlnRBiGNTujZWgdpUQ1hNSDJRMjBDMU1VWUhXRUg2RTlJRVdIOCQlQCN0PWcu

Feel free to email me (hfriedz@unc.edu) or attend my office hours (see information below).

Office hours: 

Monday’s 3:15-4:15pm (or by appointment) on Zoom 

Topic: Director of State & Federal Relations Office Hours

Time: Mondays 3:15-4:15pm

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/97912508102

Call for Applications: Language Access Planning for Emergencies and Disasters

Building Integrated Communities (BIC) invites applications from NC local governments for the six-month program, “Language Access Planning for Emergencies and Disasters.”

The program has no cost to local governments.

Deadline to apply: October 15, 2025



The course is designed to build capacity in NC local governments to communicate with residents in community languages, particularly in preparation and response to local emergencies and disasters. Participating local governments will create a language access plan.

The program will start in January 2026 and consist of a combination of virtual workshop exchanges, two in-person gatherings, and technical assistance. Meetings will take place on Tuesdays and/or Thursdays between 9:30-10:45am. As part of the course, participants will:

· Learn about promising practices from immigrant and language access leaders and practitioners,

· Conduct internal assessments and collect community data with support from bilingual UNC students,

· Design a language access plan for local government, and

· Initiate implementation of recommendations from that plan.

Informational Webinar on Tuesday, September 9^th at 11am. Register for the webinar here.

More information can be found at our website here. 

Building Integrated Communities Team (bic@isa.unc.edu) 

Scholarship Opportunities to attend NCGLBA Winter Conference

The NGLBA Board is pleased to open the application period for the two scholarships, the Judy Ikerd Endowed Scholarship program and the NCLGBA Conference Scholarship.

Judy Ikerd Endowed Scholarship

The Judy Ikerd Endowed Scholarship opportunity is a partnership between the North Carolina Local Government Budget Association and the Civic Federal Credit Union. The Scholarship is available to full-time Master of Public Administration students and provides $1,000 for tuition assistance and covers attendance and lodging at the Winter 2025 NCLGBA Conference in Wrightsville Beach, NC. 

Submission Details

• The Judy Ikerd Endowed Scholarship application can be found here.
• Interested individuals must submit their application via e-mail to ikerdscholar@nclgba.org with the subject line “Ikerd Scholar 2025”. 
• Applications for the Ikerd Scholarship are due no later than Sunday, October 26th, 2025, at 11:59pm EST.

This scholarship is named for Judy Ikerd, (retired) Budget Manager of Catawba County and our third Jack Vogt award winner in 2008. She is one of the first members of the Association, joining in 1989, and has served on the Board of Directors from 1992 through 1997, when she was President. Speaking with those who knew her, Judy was an early adopter of new ideas and was one to innovate. She started the outcome-based budgeting (reinventing government) program in Catawba County which still has some facets in place today. She went on to teach this method to other governments in North Carolina. Ikerd has taught classes at the UNC School of Government, and she has mentored many NC local government professionals. This scholarship reflects her efforts to advance good local government in North Carolina, and we are excited to continue sharing this opportunity with students. 

NLCGBA Conference Scholarship

The Conference Scholarship provides registration and accommodations for the upcoming Winter Conference to be held in Wrightsville Beach, December 10-12, 2025. Eligible applicants include first-time professional attendees or student attendees. Scholarship recipient(s) will receive registration and lodging accommodations for the 2025 Winter Conference.

Submission Details

• The NCLGBA Conference Scholarship application can be found here.
• Interested individuals must submit their application via e-mail to scholarship@nclgba.org with the subject line “NCLGBA Conference Scholarship Winter 2025”. 
• Applications for the Conference Scholarship are due no later than Sunday, October 26th, 2025, at 11:59pm EST.

If you would like to be considered for both scholarships, you must complete both applications.

You will not be considered for both scholarships after completing one application. 

Additional information on the conference can be found here: Winter Conference.

Please direct any questions, comments, or concerns to ikerdscholar@nclgba.org or scholarship@nclgba.org.