Carolina MPA Student Digest 12/3/21:
Carolina MPA Calendar
  • December 10-12: Fall Graduation Event
  • December 24-31: University Offices Closed
  • January 9, 2022: PUBA 746 Portfolio starts
  • January 10, 2022: First Day of Classes in January/Spring Term
  • January 26, 2022: Advancing Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion in the Workplace Workshop (details below)
  • March 3-5, 2022: MPA Immersion
  • May 6-8, 2022: Spring Graduation Events
MPA News

Best wishes to all of our students as you finish up final papers! Have a restful break!
Spring Class Profile: PUBA 765
MPA Faculty member Kara Millonzi will be teaching PUBA 765: Capital Budgeting and Finance again this spring. A 1.5-hour elective, the course will be offered March 8-May 6, 2022, and is open to all MPA students as well as other graduate students around UNC. As it is fully online, it will be accessible to our online students able to take a morning class (it will be held Tuesdays 9:30 am-12:30 pm for the 7 weeks). A recent syllabus is available here.
Congratulations to Kody Kinsley!
A big congratulations to MPA Faculty Member Kody Kinsley for being appointed the next director of North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services! He currently serves as chief deputy secretary for Health at NCDHHS and will take over for Dr. Mandy Cohen on January 1, 2022. Kinsley has served with NCDHHS for four years while overseeing the opioid epidemic. He is a Wilmington native who previously worked at the U.S. Department of the Treasury under the Obama and Trump administrations. He also teaches PUBA 721 Professional Communication in the MPA Program. Find out more details here.
University & Beyond Events

  • December 9: Race, Racism & Racial Equity Symposium: Transformational Research
  • January 3-7, 2022: Pre-semester ONLINE Writing Workshops for Graduate Students
  • NASPAA Pauses Student Simulation
  • December 8: 23rd Holiday Carolina Blood Drive
  • Odum Institute Transcription Service
The Race, Racism, and Racial Equity (R3) Symposium, hosted by the University Office for Diversity and Inclusion, Jordan Institute for Families, and Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the UNC School of Social Work, is a series of virtual events that bring together scholars and researchers from across campus to share their work with Carolina and the broader community.
The fifth in the R3 series, “Transformational Research: Dismantling Systems of Oppressions in Justice, Education and Health,” will be held on Thursday, Dec. 9, 1–2:30 p.m.
The event will highlight scholarship from UNC graduate students, research scientists, and faculty from the School of Government, the School of Education, and the School of Public Health. Their work examines racial equity interventions used to dismantle systems of oppression and can help us understand what actions can disrupt racism and create more just systems. Equitable practices call us to center the communities most impacted by our research. Two of the UNC scholars will be joined by their community partners to share their experiences with community-university partnerships.
“For this fifth event, I'm excited to be highlighting scholarship that examines interventions to advance equity — working towards concrete actions that can move us forward toward more just systems, “said R3 co-convener Allison De Marco, Equity Lead, Jordan Institute for Families, School of Social Work and Advanced Research Scientist, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute. “When we think about hallmarks of racially equitable research practice, community engagement is key. Members of two of these community-based projects will join us to talk about their partnership.”
Leah Cox, Vice Provost for Equity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer, added, “We are all impacted by the justice, education and health systems in this country. However, the systemic imbalance against people who need them the most leaves them vulnerable to continued poverty, sickness and incarceration. The research being done by our colleagues and students at UNC and in the community provides insightful possibilities for how these systems can be redesigned to benefit all of us in society. We look forward to this opportunity to share important dialogue at this final R3 session of the calendar year.”
Register: go.unc.edu/R3

This message is sponsored by: University Office for Diversity and Inclusion
Writing Center to Host Pre-semester Online Writing Workshops for Graduate Students
Get a great start on the spring semester! These workshops are designed to clarify critical concepts in academic writing and to offer strategies to enhance your success as a grad student at UNC. All workshops will be held over Zoom.
Monday, Jan. 3
  • Principles of citation and avoiding plagiarism. Register. (10-10:50 a.m.) Why is citation so important in US universities? How do you know what you should or shouldn’t cite? How can you work with language to avoid plagiarizing? How can a citation manager help you?
  • Participating in class discussions. Register. (11-11:50 a.m.) How can you prepare for the conversations? How can you understand what’s being said when they’re talking quickly? How can you return to a previous topic? How can you ask for clarification? Learn strategies for engaging more comfortably in fast-paced class discussions.
Tuesday, Jan. 4
  • Research introductions. Register. (10-10:50 a.m.) The typical research article introduction has a very predictable structure and language. Learn the formula for the introduction so you can find information quickly when you read and know where to put critical information when you write.
  • Verb tenses in discourse. Register. (11-11:50 a.m.) English has twelve tenses! Learn which three are the most important and learn to use them correctly in research article introduction and discussion sections.
Wednesday, Jan. 5
  • Writing about gender and sexuality. Register. (10-10:50 a.m.) Should I write woman or female? What’s the difference? What does the acronym LGBTQIA stand for? Explore the answers to these questions and learn suggestions for making your writing about gender and sexuality more accurate and appropriate.
  • Reading efficiency. Register. (11-11:50 a.m.) There’s SO much to read in grad school! With the right mix of strategic reading practices, you can get essential information, build your vocabulary efficiently, and keep track of what you’re learning. Learn how in this workshop.
Thursday, Jan. 6
  • Writing about race. Register. (10-10:50 a.m.) What are the appropriate/preferred terms for referring to people of different races/ethnicities? What does the acronym BIPOC stand for? How can article (a, an, the) use change the way my writing about race may be interpreted? We’ll try to demystify writing about race in the American academy. Come with lots of questions!
  • Aaaargh!! English articles are so hard! Register. (11-11:50 a.m.) It’s one of the most complex systems in English, but we’ve developed a tool that can help you choose the correct article (a, an, the) almost every time. Let us show you how easy it can be.
Friday, Jan. 7
  • Successful funding proposals. Register. (10-10:50 a.m.) No matter which funding agency you’re seeking money from, all successful proposals share six qualities. Join us to learn what they are and to learn how you get there with your own funding proposals.
  • Understanding Southern English. Register. (11-11:50 a.m.) You might understand people on campus, but what about in the community? Can you understand the grocery store clerk? Your restaurant server? The person at the DMV? Let us help you by sharing common features in the regional dialects of this area.
NASPAA Simulation Competition
NASPA Student Simulation Competition Paused One Year
NASPAA's Executive Council at their Fall 2021 meeting approved a one year pause in the NASPAA Simulation Competition. NASPAA’s five-year contract with the University of Virginia’s Batten School for the annual Simulation Competition ended following the 2021 competition. The Council affirmed their commitment to experiential learning and the value of simulations to a students' educational experience. This one year pause will be used to find a new partner to work with in the simulation competition and to make the experience for students even better in its next iteration. If you have any questions please contact drudy@naspaa.org.

Treatments don’t stop over the holidays for patients who rely on transfusions as part of their care. The Red Cross needs to keep a sufficient supply of blood available for hospitals to treat patients. You can help prevent a shortage by bleeding Carolina blue and donating blood at the Holiday Carolina Blood Drive from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 8 at Fetzer Hall.
Free parking is available in Cobb Deck off Country Club Road, and as a special thank you, all presenting donors will receive a long sleeve commemorative T-shirt, while supplies last.
Schedule your appointment today: visit the Red Cross online, call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767), use the Blood Donor App and enter sponsor code UNC, or enable the Blood Donor Skill on any Alexa Echo device.
You can also save up to 15 minutes at your donation with RapidPass®.
Walk-ins will be accepted the day of the drive, but appointments are encouraged.
Volunteers are also needed to make this drive a success. Volunteer opportunities include checking in donors, supporting blood donations and working in the canteen. To volunteer, complete the volunteer form. For UNC employees, time spent donating blood and volunteering is considered work time with your supervisor's approval.
For additional event details, visit carolinablooddrive.unc.edu. 
The Odum Institute for Research in Social Science is proud to offer comprehensive transcription services to UNC students, faculty, and staff! Whether you have audio or video recordings, our experienced transcriptionists are prepared to transcribe your:
  • Dictated notes
  • Lectures
  • Interviews
  • Focus groups
  • Instructional/promotional videos
  • and more!
Why choose us and not crowdsourced companies like Rev or Scribie?
  • We are a local team based at UNC-Chapel Hill and dedicated to serving the Carolina community.
  • Unlike other transcription companies with set templates, our service is completely customizable to fit your needs.
  • Our team provides direct, personalized support throughout your project.
  • Odum transcriptionists are consummate professionals, trained to ensure the safety, confidentiality, and security of your human subjects data up to Security Level II.
  • Our data-sharing practices are well established to facilitate file sharing that is quick, easy, and secure.
  • We carefully research terms and names to guarantee accuracy.
  • We automatically include customizable timestamps and speaker IDs, verbatim transcription, technical content, up to five speakers, secure data-sharing options, and easy access to transcriptionists in our pricing.
  • In addition to offering transcription services in English and Mandarin, we also provide Mandarin-English translation.
Pricing:
  • Transcription:
  • ≤ 5 speakers: $2.08/audio minute, $125/audio hour
  • > 5 speakers: $2.34/audio minute, $140/audio hour
  • Mandarin-English translation:
  • $20/audio minute, $1200/audio hour
Interested? Contact Kasha Ely (ely@unc.edu) for more information or submit your service request form today: https://go.unc.edu/Odum-TRS.
This message is sponsored by: Odum Institute for Research in Social Science
Carolina MPA | UNC School of Government | carolinampa.sog.unc.edu | Website | Intranet