ASU School of Public Affairs
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Introductions:

Assistant Professors Erik Johnston (University of Michigan), Yushim Kim (Ohio State University), and Larry Terry (University of Texas at Dallas) joined the faculty for Fall 2007.


Professor Gerald Miller (University of Georgia) will join the faculty in January 2008 from Rutgers University at Newark.


Assistant Professor Chris Herbst (University of Maryland at College Park) will join us in Fall 2008


Professor of Practice Rick Shangraw is the executive director of ASU’s Decision Theater. He previously held a tenure-track appointment at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.


Professor James Svara has been appointed Professor of Public Administration and Director of the Center for Urban Innovation. He was previously chair of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at North Carolina State University.


Professor of Practice Martin Vanacour is the former city manager of Glendale, Arizona, one of the largest cities in the Phoenix metropolitan area.


 

 

 

About the School of Public Affairs

Mission: The School of Public Affairs advances excellence in governance by creating, sharing, and applying knowledge of public administration.

 

In support of this mission, we are committed to enabling students to analyze public problems, communicate, collaborate, make decisions, and manage public institutions effectively, ethically, and democratically; teaching and providing continuing education at times and locations appropriate for working students and practitioners; identifying emerging public issues, applying research to public programs, disseminating information, and proposing solutions to public problems; assisting public, private, and nonprofit organizations; facilitating community discourse on public issues; contributing to public affairs scholarship; and fostering the next generation of public affairs scholars.


 

The new demands on public leadership in the context of global urban governance are unprecedented in complexity and scope. The ASU School of Public Affairs believes that the most influential contributions we can make are the development of multiple, useful, and realistic models of governance with accompanying processes for extended civic engagement and the training of a new generation of urban leaders capable of addressing the questions raised by the rapid growth of urban citistates.  We consistently rank in the top twenty-five public administration schools nationally and offer the only program in the region accredited by the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA), uniquely positioning us to respond to these opportunities.

 

Research Areas

  • Community and Organizational Resilience
  • Comparative Public Management and Comparative Local Government
  • Economic Development
  • Leadership and Creativity
  • Public Administration Theory
  • Public Finance
  • Public Policy/Social Welfare Policy

 

Recent Major Publications

  • The Dance of Leadership” by Robert and Janet Denhardt
  • “Public Personnel Administration” by N. Joseph Cayer
  • “Integral Urbanism” by Nan Ellin

 

Major Grants

  • Assessing the LIFE (Learning in Informal and Formal Environments) Center: A Scientific and Technical Human Capital Evaluation Model, National Science Foundation (Elizabeth Corley, principal investigator): $905,000
  • Central Arizona-Phoenix Long Term Ecological Research: Phase 2, National Science Foundation (Elizabeth Corley, senior personnel): $4.4M
  • Decision Center for a Desert City, National Science Foundation (Elizabeth Corley, Senior Investigator; co-leader of Decision Science Team, participant in Science and Technology Policy Team): $6.9M
  • Resilience and Health in Communities and Individuals (John Hall, co-principal investigator): $2.2M

 

Outreach & Service

  • International programs with Moscow State University (Russia), Santa Catarina University (Brazil), Pristina University (Kosovo), Wuhan University (China), University of Nijmegen (Netherlands), University of Siena (Italy) and Yerevan State University (Armenia)
  • Community resilience workshops (Hall) o Public policy projects through policy analysis class (Peck)
  • Valley Citizens League board of directors (R. Denhardt)

 

Academic Areas Fall 2007

  • B.A./B.S. Urban & Metropolitan Studies
  • BIS or Minor in Urban & Metropolitan Studies
  • BIS or Certificate in Public Management & Administration
  • BIS or Certificate in Leadership & Ethics
  • Master of Public Administration
  • Master of Public Policy
  • Marvin Andrews Program in Urban Management
  • ICMA Scholars Program in Performance Measurement
  • Doctor of Philosophy Public Administration
  • Executive Education and Graduate Certificates

 

SPA Facts

Faculty
24
Undergraduate Students
65
MPA/MPP Students
170
Ph.D. Students
65
Addressable Alumni
1,594
State Expenditures FY07
$2,081,352
Research Expenditures FY07
$899,791