|
UNC MPA Student Digest | October 4, 2024 |
|
Support and Resources for Hurricane Helene Impact
Dear UNC MPA Students,
We want to start by saying that our thoughts are with all of you who have been affected by Hurricane Helene. This event has had far-reaching impacts, and we are here to support you in any way we can.
While we are awaiting additional guidance and communication from the university regarding resources, services, and support, we didn’t want to delay in sharing what we have put in place thus far. Please see below for what’s currently underway:
- Elizabeth Langefeld, Director of Academic Advising & Student Life, has individually reached out to students we know are in affected areas to offer support. If you or a fellow student you are aware of have been impacted and haven't been contacted, please let us know when you are able.
- Allison Binkley and Shauna Hines-Farmer have sent a communication to those alumni we believe have connections to impacted areas to offer support.
- We have asked faculty to remain flexible and provide assistance to affected students wherever possible.
-
As dedicated individuals committed to public service, many of you have expressed a strong desire to help. Right now, communities are still in response mode, and only specialized groups are permitted in the hardest-hit areas. However, there are critical needs you can assist with remotely and in the short-term. A group of students has already met and, in collaboration with the program, created a Teams group to gather and share information on immediate needs and resources. You can join and contribute to that group here.
- The University and the School of Government will play an active role in the recovery efforts. We will keep you updated with any information they provide as we move forward.
If you have been significantly impacted:
-
We encourage you to reach out to Elizabeth as soon as possible to discuss available support, resources, and your options for the remainder of the semester, including the possibility of a withdrawal if necessary.
- Should you decide to withdraw for the semester, we will make every effort to ease the administrative process and connect you with available financial resources to support you during this time.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need anything.
Take care of yourself and each other,
Heather Duhart
Assistant Dean for Graduate Studies, UNC MPA Program
| |
Thanks to everyone who came out for the MPA Happy Hour Hub at ICMA in Pittsburgh! | |
|
In 2022, Edgecombe County public officials adopted an initiative known as “Getting Off the Lists" (GOTL).
Led by County Manager Eric Evans, the program aims to improve overall community health, combat persistent economic distress, and move the county toward an improved future for its residents.
Read about the progress of the GOTL initiative and how School faculty member Jonathan Morgan's research helped determine root causes of the county's high unemployment rate.
In addition, Dr. Morgan's new edition of the North Carolina Economic Development Handbook is out! Published in partnership with the North Carolina Economic Development Association and co-edited by Crystal Morphis, CEcD, this book is intended to introduce readers to the important topic of economic development. It will serve as an educational resource for public officials, policymakers, practitioners, community leaders, and interested citizens across the state who seek to better understand how the multifaceted process of economic development results in new private investment, job creation, increased wealth, and a higher standard of living for residents. You may download a copy here.
| |
Brianna Beadle (center) participated in many field sites to gather information on composting’s effects across North Carolina. (Submitted photo) | |
|
After a summer state government internship and a waste audit, Brianna Beadle is back to studying public administration. Despite the intense workload a dual master’s degree entails, Beadle was not interested in having a quiet summer. Instead, she spent most of her time interning with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.
“It was my job to research composting across the state and find how recycling can feed into our economy,” Beadle said. “I would talk to individuals at composting recycling facilities and ask how they believed they were affecting their community.” Continue reading here...
| |
|
Christopher Chabrier, new MPA online student, graduated Summa Cum Laude with a major in Political Science and a minor in History from Fayetteville State University. It is also worth mentioning that Christopher is originally from Levittown, Puerto Rico and is currently serving as a Targeting Officer, XVIII Airborne Corps for the U.S. Army. With his dedication to public service leadership background, his well-rounded educational pursuits, and his educational interests focused in Public Leadership, Public Administration, Public Policy, Government, Politics, and Social Progress, we were so happy he chose to attend our program. Read more...
| |
|
Register for the Deil S. Wright Public Service Forum!
The Promises and Perils of Artificial Intelligence for Public Administration and Government
Can't make the entire MPA Immersion this year? You can still come to the Deil S. Wright Public Service Forum to learn more about this topic! Join us in person or online.
Join David Yokum, JD, PhD, North Carolina’s Chief Scientist in the Office of State Budget & Management and Professor of the Practice and Director of The Policy Lab at UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Data Science & Society, who will lead a panel discussion about AI’s current landscape as it relates to the policies and programs in public service and local government.
The Forum will be followed by a reception hosted by the UNC MPA program and School of Government.
Friday, October 25, 2024
Forum 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Reception 5:30 - 7:30 PM
| |
- CAREER DISCOVERY SERIES:
- Local Panel - October 7, 12 pm
- FALL BREAK:
- October 15-16: Online course Wellbeing Days
- October 17-18: On-campus course Fall Break
- October 16: SPRING REGISTRATION OPENS
- IMMERSION WEEKEND: October 24-26
- Opening Remarks: October 24, 5 pm (class runs all day 10/25-26)
- Deil S. Wright Public Service Forum & Reception; October 25, 4 pm
- THANKSGIVING SCHEDULE:
- On-campus Classes Cancelled: November 27-29
- Online Classes Cancelled: November 28-December 1
- University Offices Closed: November 28-29
- END OF TERM SCHEDULE:
- End of Online Classes: December 1 (grades post December 9)
- On-campus last day of class: December 4 (exams run 12/6-12/13)
- FALL GRADUATION SCHEDULE:
- MPA Fall Graduation Brunch: December 14
- University Fall Commencement: December 15
- SPRING 2025 TERM:
- Online Classes: January 6- April 13
- On-campus Classes: January 8- May 9
- SUMMER 2025 TERM:
- Online Classes: April 28- August 3
You may also find all calendar events on the MPA Intranet calendar or by adding "UNC MPA Student Calendar" on Outlook.
| |
|
BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front): Here's what you'll find below:
- Feedback needed on Professional Development Offerings
- University Religious Accommodations Policy and Requests
- UNC Graduate Funding Information Center Consultations
- Graduate Student Transportation Grants
- October 10: Immigrant Communities in the Age of Disinformation
- October 15: 2024 Michael D. Green Lecture in American Indian Studies
- DUE October 18: Apply for NCLGBA Winter Conference Scholarships
- Critical Language Scholarship Applications Open
- A Student's Guide to Sustainability at Carolina
Links to other upcoming Cultural Events:
| |
Feedback Needed On Professional Development Offerings | |
|
Hello! I hope your semester is going well! We are graduate students in a project group for GRAD 727: Team Collaboration at UNC. We are looking for volunteers to interview about current Professional Development offerings and how they could be improved for both the on campus and online communities within the Master of Public Administration curriculum at UNC. We are hoping you are willing to participate in order to improve events hosted by the program and have direct effects on improving event outcomes for you!
What we need from you:
-
Roughly 20 minutes of your time prior to October 7th to discuss positive or negative feedback you can provide about professional development events you’ve attended throughout your time in the curriculum and answer the following questions with as much detail as you can provide:
- Do you feel like the current offerings are preparing you well for careers after graduation?
- How difficult is the work placement requirement to fit into your schedule?
- If you haven’t attended any professional development events that have been offered, could you provide reasoning as to why you could not attend?
- Are there networking events with local alumni that exist outside of the career fair?
- From a student perspective, are there events held either on campus or in a hybrid setting that you feel have not worked so well?
- Are there events provided that you have found to be helpful?
- What is the environment of the events you have attended?
- Do they feel very formal or are you able to network in a casual setting with alumni and employers?
- How useful do you think your alumni network is?
- Are there specific program offerings you would like to see that are not being offered currently?
- Do you feel that when you are an alumni that you will continue to use the career services provided by the program?
We would be happy to meet over Zoom or Microsoft Teams or to take written responses by sending responses to the above questions to Kyla Bosh (kylabb@ad.unc.edu), Grace Jackson (graceaj@unc.edu), Victor Marte (martev@unc.edu), and Lanting Smith (lanting.smith@unc.edu).
Please let us know if there are any questions or issues and we hope to hear from you soon!
Thanks,
Kyla Bosh, Grace Jackson, Victor Marte, and Lanting Smith
| |
|
University Religious Accommodations Policy and Requests
Dear Colleagues,
Many members of our University community balance the demands of our academic calendar with their religious practices and beliefs, which may overlap throughout the year. Recognizing this, we want to encourage you to be mindful of major holy days and religious observances as you structure your courses and assignments to proactively offer flexibility for attendance at lectures and assignment deadlines that coincide with religious observances.
When class-wide or individual flexibility are not feasible, students may request accommodations pursuant to the University’s accommodations policy.
Students who need approved absences due to religious practices and observances can submit their request to the University Approved Absence Office. Requests should be submitted for review before the absence is needed.
Students, staff, and faculty can request religious accommodations through the University’s Equal Opportunity and Compliance Office (EOC). Accommodations may be related to housing, dining, or breaks for prayer.
If you or your students have questions about the policy, please contact the EOC at accomodations@unc.edu.
Sincerely,
J. Christopher Clemens
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost
Jaroslav A. Folda Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy
| |
|
Sign up for a GFIC consultation by making an appointment with our new graduate assistant, Isabella Igbanugo (She/Her). Isabella is a master's student in the School of Social Work here to help you explore funding resources and brainstorm next steps.
Before booking an appointment, please do the following:
-
Check out our YouTube channel, and watch our video on Identifying Funding Sources for Graduate Study and Research!
-
Create an account on InfoEd Global SPIN: a comprehensive subscription database containing over 40,000 funding opportunities from more than 10,000 federal, public, non-profit, and private sponsors.
Still have questions? Sign up for a consultation here. We look forward to hearing from you!
| |
|
UNC Hussman will host alumna Jacqueline Charles for the Benton Lecture next Thursday evening, October 10, at 7 p.m. in the Knight Learning Lab (Carroll 111).
Her topic will be “Immigrant Communities in the Age of Disinformation.” This should be a very interesting and topical talk.
Please join us, and please encourage others in your networks to attend. We just ask that folks register so that we have a sense of crowd size and can make accommodations for overflow if needed.
Please register at go.unc.edu/benton24.
Jacqui is the Caribbean correspondent for the Miami Herald known for her in-depth and critical coverage of Haiti and the English-speaking Caribbean. Former President Bill Clinton called her “Haiti’s ambassador to the world.”
She was a co-founder of our Carolina Association of Black Journalists student chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists. She is the only journalist ever to be twice-named NABJ’s Journalist of the Year. She has won so much more recognition for her work including an Emmy and being a Pulitzer finalist.
| |
|
October 15, 4-5:30 pm
Save the date! Join the American Indian Center in partnership with the American Indian and Indigenous Studies for the annual Michael D. Green lecture featuring Dr. Malinda Maynor Lowery.
Malinda Maynor Lowery is a historian and film producer who is a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. In July 2021 she joined Emory University as the Cahoon Family Professor of American History, after spending 12 years at UNC-Chapel Hill and 4 years at Harvard University. Her second book, The Lumbee Indians: An American Struggle, was published by UNC Press in 2018. The book is a survey of Lumbee history from the eighteenth century to the present, written for a general audience. Her first book, Lumbee Indians in the Jim Crow South: Race, Identity, and the Making of a Nation (UNC Press, 2010) won several awards, including Best First Book from the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association. She has written or co-written almost fifty book chapters or articles, on topics including American Indian migration and identity, school desegregation, federal recognition, religious music, and foodways, and has published essays for popular audiences in places like the Washington Post, Oxford American, and Daily Yonder. She has won fellowships and grants from the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Sundance Institute, the Ford Foundation, and others. Films she has produced include the Peabody Award-winning A Chef’s Life (PBS, 2013-2018), Somewhere South (PBS, 2020), Road to Race Day (Crackle, 2020), the Emmy-nominated Private Violence (HBO, 2014), In the Light of Reverence (PBS, 2001), and two short films, Real Indian (1996), and Sounds of Faith (1997), both of which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. In 2022 she completed “What’s So Funny?”, a media experience for the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. In 2023, she completed “Lumbeeland,” her first narrative short film, which is currently showing in film festivals. She currently serves as President-Elect of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association, and as founding Faculty Director of Emory’s Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies.
| |
Apply for NCLGBA Winter Conference Scholarships by October 18
The North Carolina Local Government Budget Association is happy to announce two different scholarship opportunities:
NCLGBA Conference Scholarship
The Conference Scholarship provides registration and accommodations for the upcoming Winter Conference to be held in Charlotte, December 4-6, 2024. Eligible applicants include first-time professional attendees or student attendees. Interested individuals should submit their application via e-mail to scholarship@nclgba.org with the subject line “#NCLGBA Scholarship Program”. Applications for the conference scholarship are due no later than Friday, October 18, 2024, at 11:59pm EST. Scholarship recipient(s) will receive registration and lodging accommodations for the 2024 Winter Conference. The scholarship application can be found here.
Judy Ikerd Endowed Scholarship
The second opportunity is through the North Carolina Local Government Budget Association, in partnership with Civic Federal Credit Union. This partnership has opened applications for the second annual Ikerd Scholarship. The Scholarship is available to full-time Master of Public Administration students. The scholarship provides $1,000 for tuition assistance and covers attendance and lodging at the Winter 2024 NCLGBA Conference in Charlotte, NC. Interested individuals should submit their application via e-mail to ikerdscholar@nclgba.org with the subject line “Ikerd Scholar 2024”. Applications for the Ikerd Scholarship are due no later than Sunday, October 20, 2023, at 11:59pm EST. The scholarship application can be found here.
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.
| |
|
The CLS Program provides opportunities for American college and university students to study languages and cultures essential to America's engagement with the world.
Each summer, American undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities across the country, spend eight to ten weeks learning one of a dozen languages at an intensive study abroad institute. The CLS Program is designed to promote rapid language gains and essential intercultural fluency in regions that are critical to U.S. national security and economic prosperity.
The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program is a program of the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. Government and supported in its implementation by American Councils for International Education.
| |
A Student's Guide to Sustainability at Carolina
Last spring, Sustainable Carolina’s Cindy Shea served as the client for Lama BouFajreldin’s spring 2024 ENEC 698 Capstone. Aiming to inspire the next generation of Tar Heels, a team of graduating seniors wrote A Student’s Guide to Sustainability at Carolina. Learn more about the project.
Resources include:
- Sustainability course guide (including our own PUBA 787!)
- Sustainability-related student organizations
- research opportunities
- professional development
- study abroad opportunities
- campus programs
| |
| | | |
