Carolina MPA Student Digest 3/18/22:
Carolina MPA Calendar
  • March 21: Deadline to apply for the UNC Hackathon
  • March 21: Registration opens for May term (all classes online in this term)
  • March 25: Registration opens for on-campus fall courses (online September registration will be in July)
  • April 11: Earned Income Tax Credit Research Brown Bag with Dr. Whitney Afonso, 12-1 pm, online (details to follow)
  • May 6-8: Spring Graduation Events
MPA News
NOTE: Short turnaround time for this event... deadline is March 21!
The ICPSR Summer Program offers scholarships to students from many different fields of social science research. These scholarships enable students to take our courses in statistics, data analysis, and quantitative methods.
These scholarships provide fee waivers to attend our four-week sessions. The first session begins June 20 and ends July 15, and the second begins on July 18 and ends August 12. Courses this year are fully hybrid, so participants can join in-person or remotely. Lectures are recorded too; there is no need to stay up until all hours of the night (unless you really want to).
Courses include introductory and advanced regression analysis, time series analysis, Bayesian analysis, machine learning, rational choice theory, SEM, MLE, game theory, longitudinal analysis, multilevel modeling, social choice theory, race/ethnicity and quantitative methodology, data visualization, data science and text analysis, and more.
We also offer scholarships in partnership with various organizations:
  • EITM Certification Scholarships cover the registration fee for one or both four-week sessions of the ICPSR Summer Program. For application information and eligibility criteria, check the EITM website.
  • Janet Box-Steffensmeier and John A. Garcia Scholarships are awarded by the Society for Political Methodology to encourage women and underrepresented graduate students in political science to attend the ICPSR Summer Program. These awards are a waiver of registration fees to attend one or both four-week sessions.
  • ISR-Rackham Summer Training Awards provide funds to support doctoral students from the University of Michigan (across all Rackham Divisions) who would like to take courses with the ICPSR Summer Program or SRC Summer Institute.
  • The Hanes Walton, Jr. Award for Quantitative Methods Training is awarded by the National Conference of Black Political Scientists and provides a waiver of registration fees for one or both of the four-week sessions. The Hanes Walton, Jr. Award is intended to encourage attendance in the ICPSR Summer Program by faculty and graduate students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), as well as women and minority graduate students and faculty at other institutions.
  • The Society for Political Methodology's Expansion Initiative seeks to increase the diversity of the political methodology community and the field of political science. The goal of the initiative is to encourage undergraduate and master's students from underrepresented minority groups to apply to political science PhD Programs that emphasize quantitative methods. 

Scholarship applications are now open! All materials must be submitted by Monday, March 28, 2022. For more information and to apply, visit the ICPSR Summer Program Scholarships page.
 
 
Register today and save! Sign up for one or both four-week sessions before May 1 and save on registration fees. See our breakdown of fees and discounts here.
We will honor the early payment discount for anyone who applies for a scholarship! Just register and choose "offline/other" as your payment option, and we'll apply the discount for anyone who applied for a scholarship but did not receive one.
 

Note: Dr. Teshanee Williams attended this program, and it helped her complete her proposal for her dissertation. She is happy to talk to any students about her experience!
Carolina Engagement Week is coming up, and we want to make you aware of three School of Government-related events that will be a part of this weeklong celebration of community-driven partnerships.
 
March 22 @ 10:00 am - 11:30 am
Featuring the ncIMPACT Initiative team
Carolina made a bold declaration last year. After carefully listening to thousands of voices, we would partner with communities in each of the state’s 100 counties to tackle the most pressing challenges coming out of COVID-19. This Engagement Week session focuses on how statewide and community stakeholders think about the success of community partnerships throughout the Carolina Across 100 initiative, especially the first programmatic effort to prepare and connect young adults currently not connected to employment or education with work opportunities. The session will include an interactive discussion of why defining, capturing and evaluating success is such an important aspect of Carolina Across 100. Hear from internal and external stakeholders about what success means to them. Together, we will determine what matters and what we measure. Expect this session to be highly engaging with lots of opportunities for audience members to share thoughts on success and how to measure it.
 
March 23 @ 9:00 am - 10:00 am
Featuring Lydian Altman and Rick Morse
The Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, through their philanthropic collaborative problem-solving program, has funded a multi-year effort in eastern Carteret County to engage the community to build their own capacity for community resilience. As part of that effort, UNC faculty acted as advisors to help co-create a community leadership program. This session will offer the opportunity to explore community leadership learning objectives and the unique course design that emphasizes the co-creation of knowledge between academics and practitioners. The content and participant learning are embedded in the uniqueness of place and community that characterize the most eastern part of North Carolina. This session will emphasize a community engagement approach of “with and through” rather than the more traditional “to and for” model.
 
March 24 @ 10:00 am - 11:00 am
Featuring the Lead for North Carolina team
Local governments are being asked to address increasingly complex issues with few resources, while struggling to prepare for a large percentage of impending staff retirements. Lead for North Carolina aims to recruit, train and place the state’s most promising young leaders in paid fellowships in local governments to address key community issues. This session will provide a look into the practical scholarship that LFNC brings from UNC to local communities across the state.
MPA Shoutouts
Do you have a shoutout for a member of the MPA Community? Please let us know!
On Campus Town Hall
Thanks to all the on-campus students who participated in the Graduate and Professional Student Government Town Hall recently. The MPA senators, Jamie Andrews and Ben Lasley, led the conversation of updates from GPSG and other groups.
Recent Faculty Publications
University & Beyond Events
  • Applicants Needed for Alliance Health Board of Directors
  • March 29-30: UNC Clean Tech Summit
  • Heels Care Network Hosts Mental Health Seminars
  • March Kindness Drive for Ronald McDonald House of Chapel Hill
  • April 4-8: Imagine Liberation With Pride Week
  • April 21: A Conversation with Former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch
  • 2022 Marc Holzer Public Performance Symposium
Applicants Needed For
Alliance Health Board of Directors

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tara May, Deputy Clerk to the Board (919) 245-2125
ORANGE COUNTY, NC (March 7, 2022) – One way residents can have a positive impact on the future of Orange County is to serve on a volunteer board or commission.
The Alliance Health Board of Directors is currently seeking to fill one (1) vacancy for an Orange County resident.
Now is a critical time to make a difference in public behavioral healthcare as both the federal government and our state legislature consider how to design and fund critically important services for individuals in our communities.
Individuals with technical expertise in the following areas will be sought for vacancies:
  • Physicians with experience in the fields of behavioral health, substance abuse services and/or integrated care.
  • Human Resources/Talent Management
  • Insurance/Managed Care Background
  • Leadership/Management Experience
  • Physical Health Background/Expertise
  • Political/Community Connections
  • Technology/Data Analytics Experience
Please note that employees or family members of employees, volunteers of provider agencies or vendors contracted with Alliance, or persons with a financial interest or ownership in any such agency or vendor, are not eligible to serve.
Any appointment to this vacant position will be approved by the Orange County Board of Commissioners.
The Alliance Board meets on the First Thursday of every month at 4:00 pm. Unless otherwise indicated, meetings occur at the Alliance Home office (5200 Paramount Pkwy Suite 200, Morrisville, NC 27560).
Board members also participate in two to three subcommittees based on their expertise and interests. Most Board members dedicate between 6-10 hours per month to Board activities.
If interested, please download an application at https://www.alliancehealthplan.org/about/governance/board-of-directors/
For additional information contact Tara May at 919-245-2125 or tmay@orangecountync.gov.
Transitioning to a Low Carbon conomy               
March 29, 2022 – March 30, 2022                              
The eighth annual UNC Clean Tech Summit will take place on Tuesday, March 29, 2022 – Wednesday, March 30, 2022 at The Friday Conference Center in Chapel Hill, N.C. All programming will be in-person with the exception of the virtual career fair and kick-off Solar Decathlon workshop.  
The 2022 Summit, “Transitioning to a Low Carbon Economy” will feature in-person keynote and panel speakers, the popular Mentor Match program, 42+ panel and breakout sessions, student workshops, and a virtual career fair (March 31). Both luncheons will feature an all-vegan menu.
View all ticket prices and register for this two-day event. *No refunds after March 1st.
The Heels Care Network at UNC hosted its “Mental Health, Spirituality and Faith: How Do They Connect?” event on Monday — the first in a series of mental health seminars that will be held this semester.
The Heels Care Network is a University platform that seeks to help UNC students find resources including therapists, peer support and free guides about managing mental health in college. The University launched it last month.
Amy Johnson, vice chancellor for student affairs, said that the creation of the network and the ongoing mental health seminar series was inspired by student feedback gathered during the UNC Mental Health Summit on Nov. 15. 

The subject of next month’s seminar has yet to be announced by the Heels Care Network, but it will once again be free for all interested students. Participants can RSVP through the Network's website.
Imagine Liberation with Pride Week
The LGBTQ Center is excited to announce that this year’s Pride Week at Carolina will be held from April 4-8, 2022. The theme, “Imagine Liberation,” is inspired by Afrofuturism. One definition of Afrofuturism, by Ytasha Womack, is “an intersection of imagination, technology, the future, and liberation.” While we have all been impacted by the heaviness of the events of the current moment and the previous year, we want to call forward visions and imaginings of what our collective liberation might look, sound, and be like.
Is your organization or department planning events for Pride?
Submit them here and we'll add them to our Pride Week calendar!
April 21, 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm – in person or via Zoom
FedEx Global Education Center, Nelson Mandela Auditorium
301 Pittsboro St.
Chapel Hill, NC 27516

Mark your calendars for the evening of April 21, 2022! Marie Yovanovitch, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, will speak to the Carolina community as part of Diplomacy Week hosted by the Office of the Vice Provost for Global Affairs.
Yovanovitch has served in multiple senior government positions during her 33-year diplomatic career. She retired from the State Department in 2020 and is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a non-resident fellow at Georgetown University. She has received multiple awards, including the Presidential Distinguished Service Award (twice), the Secretary’s Diplomacy for Freedom Award, the Trainor Award for Excellence in the Conduct of Diplomacy, and the PEN/Benenson Courage Award. She’s also the author of a new memoir, “Lessons From The Edge”
Whether you join us in-person at the Nelson Mandela Auditorium in the FedEx Global Education Center, or virtually via Zoom, please let us know how you plan to attend.
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