Public
ASU SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS 2021
Affairs
ASU-UA to host 2022 Public Management Research Conference Immersive programs are ‘golden ticket’ for students seeking local government careers Flight nurse saw value of learning emergency preparedness Melissa Abramowicz, ’21 emergency management and homeland security alumna, during a shift as an emergency/ trauma flight nurse for NDMS (National Disaster Medical System) DMAT-Hawaii
An academic unit of the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions
Director’s welcome
In recent years, the School of Public Affairs (SPA) at ASU has continued its meteoric rise in the rankings and firmly established itself as one of the leading schools in the nation, distinguished by its impressive breadth in quality. According to U.S. News & World Report, SPA is ranked in the top 10 in the U.S. in seven specializations: No. 3 in information technology management, local government management, and emergency management and homeland security; and No. 5 in environmental policy and management, urban policy, nonprofit management, and public management and leadership. After reading this magazine, you will understand why. Our reputation for excellence emanates from the quality of our research. SPA was recently ranked No. 5 in the nation and No. 10 in the world for research, according to Shanghai Ranking's Academic Ranking of World Universities. SPA faculty serve as editors of leading journals (e.g., JPART and JPAM) and have been awarded prestigious fellowships and major federal grants. Six SPA faculty members are NAPA fellows and another is a fellow of the Academy of Management. This issue highlights our world-class faculty, innovative academic programs, community engagement and cutting-edge research centers, which have helped us develop unique strengths in many fields. Our excellence in teaching, research and academic programs allows us to accomplish our core mission: to train the next generation of leaders in the public and nonprofit sectors. Donald Siegel Director, School of Public Affairs
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Brock Schroeder, an MPA student and Marvin Andrews Fellow, shares a conversation with School of Public Affairs Director Donald Siegel.
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Inside this issue
Center updates
Our nine centers produce some of the top scholarship on public policy administration and public policy, featuring leading research in organizational design, emergency management and homeland security, science, technology and environmental policy, urban innovation, participatory governance and more. Page 5
Outstanding students: Outstanding public affairs students have overcome significant challenges, pivoted career goals and are turning their degrees into starting points for tackling injustice and more locally and abroad. Page 7 3
Alumni highlights:
Community engagement:
These School of Public Affairs alumni are already converting their academic achievements into real world impact. Page 9
Student ambassadors helping their peers register to vote prior to the 2020 election were part of a “Vote Everywhere” push to educate, register and encourage students to vote. Page 10
Featured stories: Story highlights include unique partnerships, national conferences, immersive student programs and insights from an emergency preparedness alumna. Page 11
Global engagement Lots of firsts this year, with programs leading the pack in nonprofit leadership accreditation, international partnerships and research on contemporary world politics. Page 17
Faculty spotlight Distinguished honors, prestigious leadership roles and innovative solutions to social challenges put these faculty into the spotlight. Page 19
Research briefs Researchers contributed scholarship to a wide variety of topics dealing with some of society’s most pressing issues, including racial profiling, sustainable public procurement and the cost of housing people with chronic mental illness versus allowing them to become homeless. Page 23
Faculty in the news From child care policy to the U.S. economy and differences between eastern and western urban municipalities, faculty researchers shared insights with national media. Page 24
SPA by the numbers Page 25
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Center updates Our nine centers produce some of the top scholarship on public administration and public policy, featuring leading research in organizational design, emergency management and homeland security, science, technology and environmental policy, urban innovation, participatory governance and more. 5
AIPI expands tribal broadband resources While broadband internet access continues to be a challenge for the majority of Tribal communities, a new tool from ASU’s American Indian Policy Institute (AIPI) aims to ease the struggle with increased resources and information. The Tribal Broadband Resources page (aipi.asu.edu/tribal-broadband) on AIPI’s website consolidates information for individual Tribal members, nations, providers, organizations, researchers and others wanting to learn more about Tribal broadband. Two key features on the page are the Tribal Funding Dashboard — an interactive flow chart highlighting potential funding opportunities for Tribal nations, the Hawaiian homelands and Tribal internet service providers — and information on the FCC’s Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, which provides internet subsidies for qualifying households. The page also includes links to AIPI and federal broadband research, as well as funding applications. AIPI is a thinktank specializing in public policy analysis and research related to telecommunications, communications, broadband, digital inclusion and technology for language retention, community advancement and economic development.
Pandemic fuels center’s research The COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be fertile ground for researchers like Eric Welch. Welch, a School of Public Affairs professor and director of the school’s Center for Science, Technology and Environmental Policy Studies (CSTEPS), is heading a National Science Foundation RAPID-funded project examining datasharing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The two-year study, conducted with colleagues at the University of Illinois Chicago, seeks to reveal how researchers and data repositories respond to the need for worldwide rapid research and shared data to confront the COVID-19 pandemic. “The study’s goal is to provide useful information to funding agencies, data repository teams, universities and research communities on facilitators and barriers to rapid research response for societal challenges,” Welch said. CSTEPS also is researching a series of case studies around collaborative teams from Austria, Latvia, Spain and the United States in a second, two-year NSFfunded study. “The study will endeavor to learn how international teams change in ways that adapt to barriers and constraints that came into being during the pandemic,” Welch said. The CSTEPS-run science communication platform, SciOPS, also recently completed a second-round survey of scientists on COVID-19’s impacts on research.
New research director for Kyl Center focuses on equity in water access Kathryn Sorenson has joined the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University as director of research. The former director of water services for the city of Phoenix was in charge of a massive infrastructure that included 7,000 miles of pipeline. When she needed information, she often used the resources of the Kyl Center, which provides research and support for decision-makers as part of ASU's Morrison Institute for Public Policy. Sorenson served as director of water services for Phoenix for seven years, and before that was director of the Water Resources Department for the city of Mesa, Arizona. In addition to directing research in the Kyl Center for Water Policy, she will be a professor of practice in the School of Public Affairs and will contribute to ASU’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory. “When stakeholders, managers and elected officials understand where water flows, who it goes to and what the societal, economic and ecological costs are, then they have the foundation to make sensible water-management decisions,” Sorenson said in a statement. “I see a lot of our research focusing on that basic premise. Water equity is a big piece of that, making sure there is a level playing field in terms of access to supplies.”
Publications highlight social benefits, inequities of broadband
Fighting natural disasters with data
Karen Mossberger and her Center on Technology, Data and Society (CTDS) colleagues have spent the past year producing 13 peer-reviewed journal articles, two research direction articles (in a Kauffman Foundation brief), four book chapters and two books on topics exploring a more equitable digital future.
We can’t make hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires or heat waves go away, but with the right data, government and business leaders can plan effectively for how to best protect lives and property.
Mossberger, CTDS director and School of Public Affairs professor, is co-author and co-editor, respectively, of the two books, published by Oxford Press, that are relevant for policy decisions at several levels of government. "Choosing the Future: Technology and Opportunity in Communities," by Mossberger, Caroline J. Tolbert of the University of Iowa and Scott LaCombe of Smith College, shows the relationship between community prosperity and equitable online participation, Mossberger said. Based on a National Science Foundation project, the book presents nearly two decades of data illustrating how growth in broadband subscriptions benefits local economies — and how some urban and rural communities are missing out. “Transforming Everything? Broadband Impact Across Policy Areas,” supported by a grant from the MacArthur Foundation, is co-edited by Mossberger, her ASU SPA colleague Eric Welch and Yonghong Wu of the University of Illinois Chicago.
That's where SHELDUS comes in. Pronounced "shield us," the Spatial Hazards Events and Loss Database of the United States is the nation's only publicly available, comprehensive, place-based database covering a variety of natural hazards, according to the directors of the School of Public Affairs' Center for Emergency Management and Homeland Security (CEMHS). The database has been housed at the center since 2017, where it provides information as a community service to users — from government officials to university researchers to students — on the history and effects of U.S. natural disasters, said Melanie Gall, a clinical professor and CEMHS co-director. SHELDUS provides data dating back to 1960 that enable government officials, for example, to update their hazard mitigation plans every five years as required by law. A third to one half of U.S. counties and states use SHELDUS in formulating plans to best deal with natural calamities, estimates Gall, who said the database also has a number of international users. Gall said SHELDUS data show that since 1960, natural disasters account for more than $1.1 trillion worth of damage in the United States, with nearly 35,000 deaths and more than 252,000 injuries.
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Outstanding students
Cyrus Commissariat Cyrus Commissariat grew up in Los Angeles but moved to Arizona when he was in middle school. He is the grandchild and child of immigrants and his family taught him that the value of a good education was critical for succeeding.
Tiffany Thornhill Tiffany Thornhill recalls two key moments in her life that guided her career path. “I was working as an administrative assistant and realized that there was no room for myself to grow or evolve within the company, as I only had a GED. So I decided to go back to school,” said Thornhill, the spring 2021 Outstanding Graduate in the School of Public Affairs. “When I entered higher education, I remembered a promise I made to myself when I was going through a rough patch in my life,” she said. “While going through all those challenges I was also searching for and praying for someone to see me underneath my struggles and lend a helping hand. No one ever did. It was then that I realized I needed to become the person I needed but never had. That is why I ultimately pursued social work and became a helping professional.” The Portland, Oregon, native’s second moment led her to focus her attention on addressing social and racial injustice while pursuing the degree she received this year, a Master of Public Administration. She earned her Master of Social Work (MSW) degree in May 2020. “It was the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Dion Johnson that triggered my ‘aha moment’ and subsequent passion to dig deep into the historical injustices and traumas of the past,” Thornhill said. “Understanding that will inform a framework or theory that can and will address the administrative evils within the American public administration system.” 7
“Education was always pushed in my house as among the most important things one can do in their life,” Commissariat said. He took their words to heart and not only pursued an education, but found that he loved school and learning. After receiving the Achieving a College Education scholarship from Paradise Valley Community College in Phoenix, he was able to transfer to Arizona State University with 30 credits. “With the generous full four-year scholarship that ASU provided for me, I said I would make the most of my undergrad,” said Commissariat. And make the most of it, he did. Commissariat graduated in Spring 2021 with bachelor’s degrees in history from the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies, political science from the School of Politics and Global Studies and French from the School of International Letters and Cultures. In addition to his triple majors, he earned minors in sustainability from the School of Sustainability and public service and public policy from the School of Public Affairs and certificates in cross-sector leadership from the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions and international studies from the School of Politics and Global Studies. “It is all about priorities and time management,” Commissariat said.
Adapted from an article by Rachel Bunning that originally ran in April 2021 in ASU News.
Jacqueline White Menchaca Jacqueline White Menchaca, a 2020 graduate of the School of Public Affairs, has been awarded the prestigious Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Program Fellowship from the U.S. Department of State. Menchaca describes herself as “a proud non-traditional, first-generation transfer student.” She came to ASU from Mesa Community College through the Public Service Academy’s Next Generation Service Corps in 2018 with a full-tuition scholarship. In December 2020, she graduated from ASU with a bachelor’s degree in public service and public policy with an emphasis on homeland security and emergency management. As an undergraduate, Menchaca received a Boren Scholarship to study abroad in Tanzania. She worked as a staff assistant for U.S. Congressman Ruben Gallego, participated in the McCain Institute’s Policy Design Studio and completed internships with the German Marshall Fund and Search for Common Ground-Tanzania. Menchaca has applied to several graduate programs and plans to pursue a master’s degree in public policy and international relations. The Rangel program is administered by Howard University. It provides high-level internships with the Department of State and financial support for graduate study leading to a career in the U.S. Foreign Service.
Excerpted from an article by Nicole Greason that originally ran in January 2021 in ASU News.
"I felt like my voice and my arguments needed to hold weight and power in order to help create any change." - April Karina Guevara Espinoza
April Karina Guevara Espinoza Injustice has always spurred April Karina Guevara Espinoza to defend those who are being inequitably treated. The School of Public Affairs fall 2020 Outstanding Graduate plans to do it someday as a human rights or immigration law attorney. But her efforts to balance the scales began long before that. “I have been fighting on behalf of others since I was a child. If someone got orange juice while the others got apple, I would be the child shouting about how this is an injustice,” she said. Guevara Espinoza, who received a Bachelor of Science degree in public service and public policy in December 2020, grew up in Yuma, Arizona, on the Mexican border, where she said her family experienced many racial injustices. These experiences cemented her desire to become an attorney. “I felt like my voice and my arguments needed to hold weight and power in order to help create any change,” Guevara Espinoza said. “Being an attorney would allow me to not only defend others in court, but help me change legislation that is oppressing my community and other communities of color.” At first, because she planned to go to law school, she thought she needed to major in prelaw-related courses to be the most prepared. She now knows this isn’t true. “After doing my own research in public service and public policy, I realized I could concentrate my major around law and policy, so that is when I decided to choose it,” she said. “I am glad I did.”
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Alumni highlights Kelsey Wilson Kelsey Wilson graduated from ASU in 2018 with two bachelor’s degrees, one in public policy from the Watts College’s School of Public Affairs and one in political science from The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Two years later, she was completing a dual Juris Doctor/ Master of Education Policy degree program at Loyola University (Chicago) School of Law as a Rodin Social Justice Fellow. Her work throughout law school with Loyola’s ChildLaw Center — and a final project in the Legislation and Policy Clinic — led her to draft mock legislation addressing a holistic shift in the way the state of Illinois approaches children and adolescents in crisis.
“I felt an ever-growing expansion in my understanding about the connections between natural resources, the policies and institutions that govern them and larger social forces like power and control.”
Wilson and her partner crafted a resolution that provides a consistent underlying principle across state agencies urging that restraint and seclusion only be administered in the least restrictive manner and never be used for purposes of punishment, discipline or convenience. The mock resolution — which was picked up and sponsored by state Rep. Delia C. Ramirez last legislative session — was written in a way that gives each agency the freedom to implement the shared vision in accordance with the agency’s unique set of circumstances. Wilson describes her time at ASU as rewarding and academically productive. “The highlight of my college experience was serving as vice president of policy for the Tempe campus’ Undergraduate Student Government,” she said. “Student government gave me a practical lesson in how slow policy change often occurs.”
- Erin Rugland
Erin Rugland School of Public Affairs alumna Erin Rugland is one of 18 members of the most recent cohort of Arizona Forward’s 2020-2021 Emerging Sustainability Leaders program. While she was an ASU student, Rugland, who graduated in 2018 with Bachelor of Science degrees in public service and public policy (sustainability) and justice studies, was so concerned about issues involving the environment, policy and justice that she was always finding ways to combine her interests in those areas. “Because of this, I felt an ever-growing expansion in my understanding about the connections between natural resources, the policies and institutions that govern them and larger social forces like power and control,” she said. Rugland presently is a research fellow at the Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy at the Lincoln Institute for Land Policy. As a member of Arizona Forward’s Emerging Sustainability Leaders program, she and her cohort will gain skills to advance sustainability where they work and in the communities they serve.
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Community engagement ASU Lodestar Center transforms volunteer management and nonprofit capacity ASU’s Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation was named the statewide hub for the Service Enterprise Initiative (SEI), expanding the center’s commitment to volunteers — the lifeblood of many nonprofit organizations — and the professionals who manage them. SEI is a national certification program from the Points of Light Foundation that helps nonprofits transform their volunteer management practices to further their missions. More than 30 organizations have now completed the training, and over half have already achieved certification. Additionally, Experience Matters — an organization that connects talented retirees with community nonprofits, tapping into their skills to support meaningful work — will join forces with the ASU Lodestar Center in 2021 in an acquisition that will strengthen both organizations. In coming under the center’s umbrella, Experience Matters gains the backing of ASU to scale its programs and match more volunteers, while the center amplifies its offerings in the capacity-building space.
Innovative civics program honored with ASU President’s Medal
Legacy Corps secures $13.3 million funding extension
A civics education program engaging K-12 students as key decision-makers in Arizona K-12 schools’ budgeting processes has received the Arizona State University President’s Medal for Social Embeddedness.
Families providing round-the-clock care to infirm veterans or military members will have volunteer respite caregivers to help them for another three years, as a federal agency renewed funding for a 20-year-old ASU program that administers the assistance.
ASU President Michael Crow presented the award Oct. 26 to the School of Public Affairs-based Participatory Governance Initiative (PGI) and the Center for the Future of Arizona (CFA) for their work in implementing School Participatory Budgeting (School PB). As School PB engages K-12 students in deliberation and decision-making processes concerning school budgets, the initiative also nurtures collaboration, problem-solving and critical thinking skills. School PB in Arizona empowers historically underrepresented students and communities, with the majority of participating schools receiving federal funding under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The core team includes SPA Professor Daniel Schugurensky, founding director of PGI; Tara Bartlett, PhD student in educational policy and evaluation; Madison Rock, CFA senior program coordinator for civic health initiatives and SPA graduate student; and Kristi Tate, CFA director of civic health initiatives.
AmeriCorps agreed in May to continue funding Legacy Corps for Veteran and Military Families (LCVMF). The renewed financial support from the federal agency and other sub-award organizations, which began Sept. 1, totals approximately $13.3 million and runs through 2024, said LCVMF principal investigator David Swindell, an associate professor in the School of Public Affairs. Legacy Corps is a Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions-based national program that since 2001 has been providing respite caregivers to families of more than 720 veterans and military members who require 24-hour services. Volunteers deliver care in eight states, including Arizona. Many of the Arizona volunteers are ASU students. “It’s different than a home health worker,” said Jack Steele, Legacy Corps’ national program director. “They truly become like family.”
Engaging the next generation of voters A team of Arizona State University students engaged nearly 900 peers in the voting process leading up to the 2020 election, placing ASU in the top 15 among 131 U.S. colleges and universities to do so, according to the nonpartisan organization Democracy Works. Volunteers from the Undergraduate Student Government (USG), Andrew Goodman Foundation “Vote Everywhere” Ambassadors and the Student Civic Coalition worked with ASU’s Congressman Ed Pastor Center for Politics and Public Service using a tool called TurboVote to quickly and easily educate, register and encourage students to vote. “This level of student voter engagement would never be possible without the immense efforts of our student champions, namely our Andrew Goodman Foundation ‘Vote Everywhere’ Ambassadors,” said Alberto Olivas, executive director of the Pastor Center at ASU’s Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions. “I give them all so much credit for making our campus one of the most engaged and active universities in the country.” 10
Features
ASU-UA to host 2022 Public Management Research Conference The ASU School of Public Affairs will also host the annual meeting of National Academy of Public Administration Fellows in fall 2021 The next several months will see the ASU School of Public Affairs (SPA) host two premier events in the public administration and public management communities, beginning with a regional meeting of the National Academy of Public Administration Fellows in November 2021 focused on technology and led by some of its leading tech research centers. Then, in May 2022, the school will co-host the annual Public Management Research Conference (PRMC) with its counterpart in the University of Arizona. Public Management Research Conference SPA is collaborating with the University of Arizona (UArizona) School of Government and Public Policy to co-host the Public Management Research Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, May 25–28, 2022. The hosting partnership will be a first in the 20-year history of the event.
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UArizona previously hosted PMRC in 2007. The 2021 conference, hosted by the University of Hawaii, was held virtually. This is set to be the first in-person conference held since 2019 at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. The PMRC is the foremost gathering of public management experts in the world. The conference is sponsored by the Public Management Research Association (PMRA), which also publishes the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory (JPART) — one of the premier journals in the field — as well as Perspectives on Public Management and Governance (PPMG), which debuted in 2017. The 2022 PMRC will bring members of the PMRA to the vibrant downtown Phoenix university complex — where ASU’s downtown campus meets UArizona’s satellite campus in a growing, urban environment.
Under the leadership of two strong schools that lead PMRA’s two journals, the host institutions will collaborate to show visitors the best of Arizona, Phoenix and the schools’ top-ranked public management programs. The theme of the 2022 conference is “Public management at extremes: Climate, borders and politics.” The Arizona PMRC conference will take full advantage of the resources of SPA at ASU, the School of Government and Public Policy at UArizona and expertise provided by previous PMRC hosts to engage public management researchers through paper presentations, percolators, research collaboratives and relevant discussions in the changing political and physical environment. The conference will draw on the interdisciplinarity of the host institutions to challenge public management scholarship at its borders. Programming will leverage the opportunities and challenges present in the U.S. Southwest, with special focus on climate change and extreme climates (e.g., water, extreme heat), political borders and immigration policy, and inclusive changing communities (e.g., rapid urbanization, Native land issues). The collaboration of ASU and UArizona in hosting PMRC seeks to reinforce and exemplify a commitment to inclusiveness. “We are excited to be working with our colleagues at the University of Arizona School of Government and Public Policy to host the 2022 Public Management Research Conference at the ASU Downtown Phoenix campus. The conference will welcome around 500 public management scholars from around the world. We look forward to showing off what makes the Arizonabased public affairs and policy schools and Phoenix so special,” said Professor Mary Feeney, a Lincoln Professor of Ethics in Public Affairs, who is editor of JPART and is leading ASU’s conference organizing team. In sharing what hosting the PMRC meant to her personally, Feeney added, “I went to my first PMRC in 2005 when I was a PhD student. The conference offered an amazing opportunity to talk with and learn from leading scholars in the field, many of whom have become my collaborators and friends. PMRC 2022 is an exciting opportunity to host a community that has been instrumental in my scholarly training and, in addition to showing off what a great program we have here at ASU, expose SPA PhD students to top-notch public management scholars.” ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus, where SPA is located, opened in 2006. The campus has continued to grow and serve as a centerpiece for the public and private collaboration that has transformed a significant area of downtown Phoenix.
2019. In 2021, U.S. News ranked SPA No. 3 in the nation for its emergency management and homeland security, information and technology management, and local government management programs and No. 5 for urban policy, public management and leadership, environmental policy and management, and nonprofit management. The quality of the school emanates from its faculty research. In 2021, SPA was ranked No. 5 in the nation and No. 10 in the world for public administration research, according to Shanghai University’s Academic Ranking of World Universities. SPA has six current faculty members who are Fellows of the National Academy of Public Administration and its director, Foundation Profesor Don Siegel, is a Fellow of the Academy of Management. Annual meeting of the National Academy of Public Administration Fellows SPA will also be hosting a regional meeting of the elected Fellows of the National Academy of Public Administration in the Southwest and Mountain West. The regional meetings will be in person and will include local officials. They will be livestreamed to the Academy nationally on Nov. 4. ASU is one of four sites, with the other regions being led by the University of San Francisco, University of Nebraska-Omaha, Indiana UniversityBloomington. Each region will have its own day and its own topic. ASU’s focus is technology and innovation in the pandemic recovery. SPA’s Center for Technology, Data and Society will be at the forefront with additional contributions from the Center for Organizational Research and Design, Center for Science, Technology and Environmental Policy Studies, as well as the Morrison Institute for Public Policy. ASU President Michael Crow is an elected Fellow and will be giving the welcome. “We are delighted to host this landmark event, which features the research of our school’s six NAPA Fellows,” said SPA Director and Foundation Professor Donald Siegel. “It has been organized by Professor Karen Mossberger, Frank and June Sackton Chair, NAPA Fellow and director of the Center on Technology, Data and Society. Karen is one of the world’s leading experts on digital governance and digital equity and inclusion.”
Follow PMRCAZ_2022 @pmrcaz on Twitter for current updates related to the conference and attendance requirements influenced by CDC guidelines.
ASU’s model of the New American University emphasizes research excellence, broad access to quality education and meaningful social impact. SPA, which is part of the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions at ASU, has hired over 22 new faculty in the past seven years and has been continually raising its research profile and broadening its community impact in the embodiment of the university’s charter. Over the past decade, SPA has climbed in the U.S. News & World Report rankings, as high as No. 9 in the U.S. in
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Immersive programs are ‘golden ticket’ for students seeking local government careers ASU students working side by side with those running city and county agencies learn exactly what it’s like to be a local government leader through two paid internship programs offered in the School of Public Affairs. ASU and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors created the Maricopa County Leadership and Education Advancing Public Service (MCLEAPS) internship program, providing internships each fall and spring. The university and several Phoenix-area cities and towns also collaborate on the Marvin Andrews Fellowship in Urban Management for those interested in becoming a city manager. The Fellowship is named for respected former Phoenix City Manager Marvin Andrews. MCLEAPS interns work inside several key county agencies Any ASU student, undergraduate or graduate, domestic or international, may apply for MCLEAPS, said program coordinator Maryjo Douglas Zunk. Students assume full-time positions for at least one semester, immersing themselves in one of 12 learning opportunities offered with select Maricopa County departments and agencies. Since its founding, the program’s professional training and development in local government has ranged from adult probation, air quality and animal care and control to procurement services, human services and the school superintendent’s office. All involve experience working on many of the agencies' most important tasks benefiting the community, Zunk said. “Our first and foremost goal is to engage them in an opportunity to take classroom knowledge and skill and apply it to impactful projects within a department or agency,” she said. “We believe that they will be better prepared to make the transition from student to leader.”
While MCLEAPS interns are in county offices, their interactions aren’t confined only to county employees, Zunk said. “They don’t work in isolation,” she said. “They’re working with cities and towns and the state and federal government and with nonprofit and private community partners on projects that have impact on the residents of Maricopa County in a fiscally responsible way.” The university pays full tuition for the selected MCLEAPS interns, while the county picks up the cost of the stipends they receive, Zunk said. “This takes financial barriers away from students in exchange for this award-winning, skill- and experience-building exposure to a very specific department project that has an impact on the community,” Zunk said. Yamile Martinez is a senior expecting to earn a bachelor’s degree in nonprofit leadership and management with a certification as a nonprofit professional in December. She is responsible for the county’s Volunteer 13K program, where she plans different ways to engage county employees with their communities as volunteers in areas that connect to the county’s overall mission. Martinez said she already had an internship lined up, but chose the opportunity with MCLEAPS. “I was in an introductory class for that internship and my teacher announced the MCLEAPS program. I looked into it,” said Martinez, who added she feels blessed to have been selected for the Volunteer 13K assignment. “This is what I love. I love to give back to the community, back to where I was born and raised,” she said. “I was impressed with the mission of the county to be inclusive and connected to the community. That was all me. I have a sense of belonging here. It’s in line with my values.” Elizabeth Watters is studying toward two graduate degrees: a Master of Public Administration with an emphasis on government management from the Watts College, and a Master of Legal Studies at ASU’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. She is working in the county’s Office of Procurement Services, where she also worked last spring. Last semester her big project was a complete overhaul of a slideshow outlining for employees how to become certified for purchase-card administration. “It was extremely fun but a lot of hard work. It was really getting my hands on reviewing and editing, as government contracts is one of my (study) emphases,” Watters said. MCLEAPS has provided “the most fulfilling professional experience, in which she's
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“If you want to be a world-changer, then MCLEAPS is for you.”
- Yamile Martinez
involved with daily team calls and regularly interacts with county officials. “I really am a go to person for not only housekeeping tasks, but bigger tasks that reach the public and put (my skills) to good use,” Watters said. “I’ve never felt like a second-class team member.”
called, a student must undergo an elaborate interview process in the spring, where the program seeks those who are specifically looking into the position, rather than having a desire to enter general public service, Seelhammer said.
Martinez recommended MCLEAPS for any big-thinking student of public service.
“They should have a solid understanding of local government, a desire to provide service to citizens and want to work to improve the quality of life in their communities,” she said.
“If you want to be a world-changer, then MCLEAPS is for you,” she said.
The 2021 Fellows said they appreciate learning what managers do from those who do it.
Watters called MCLEAPS a “golden ticket” that provides a valuable opportunity to any ASU student willing to work hard. “This is your foot in the door to local government.”
Chloe Baldwin said she learned the importance of community service when she worked in nonprofits while studying social work as an undergraduate.
Marvin Andrews Fellows learn what it takes to lead a city
“Local government is where change happens, where you can have the most impact,” she said. “The city manager’s job is to take all the elected officials’ wants into account and lead the town in the right direction, no matter what.”
The Marvin Andrews Fellowship began when several current and former city managers of metro Phoenix communities approached the university with an idea to create a tailored program for School of Public Affairs graduate students who specifically desire to become a city or town manager. Several former managers continue to support the program through financial contributions, said Cynthia Seelhammer, a professor of practice and former town manager in Queen Creek (Ariz.), former deputy city manager in Phoenix and former Coconino County (Ariz.) manager, who is the coordinator of the Marvin Andrews Fellowship. To be a municipality’s top executive is a highly specialized field — running the form of government that is closest to residents — that the fellowship is designed to prepare students to enter. “Being a city or town manager is like being a CEO of a city, reporting to an elected board of directors that is in constant contact with your constituents,” Seelhammer said. “While you are managing everyday services, transportation, water and sewer, and so on, another part of you is focused on current events, trends and reactions.” To be selected to become one of the “Marvins,” as they are
LaTisha Gilmore grew up on the Navajo Nation. “From a young age I was raised to be helping my community. I trained people at a grassroots program. I want to take people’s concerns and serve their needs,” she said. “It’s a mark of success when people feel heard and listened to. Not everyone will agree, but you’re reminded that you are there to serve the people.” Brock Schroeder said he was influenced toward municipal leadership by his mother, who was a high school teacher who sponsored the student council, and his father, who taught him the value of hard work by working many extra hours himself. “A lot of values were placed in me. I was looking for something to embody that kindness in my work,” he said. “Public service is getting in the trenches and, at the end of the day, making sure the ship is still afloat, not hitting any icebergs and without any need to use the lifeboats.” Pictured above are Marvin Andrews Fellows: Chloe Baldwin, Madalaine McConville, LaTisha Gilmore and Brock Schroeder (from left). At left are MCLEAPS interns Elizabeth Watters (left) and Yamile Martinez (right). Images taken prior to ASU mask reccommendations.
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Flight nurse saw value of learning emergency preparedness, today is disaster program manager
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Melissa Abramowicz’s career had literally already taken off by the time she enrolled in the Master of Arts degree program in emergency management and homeland security (EMHS) at ASU. She had been in a successful career as an emergency/trauma and critical care flight registered nurse. The time assisting patients in the skies attracted the Hawaii resident to studying EMHS online at the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions. Within weeks of her May 2021 graduation, the American Red Cross hired her as a disaster program manager. Learn more about Abramowicz’s new job and about the recent natural disaster in Hawaii that led her to pursue the master’s degree that helped her get hired: Question: Tell us a little about yourself today and your early years. Answer: I have lived in many places, but even though I was born in New York City, Hawaii is my home. Living on an island with limited resources makes you appreciate the small things and want to better yourself in order to give back to the community you’re a part of. Hawaii is paradise, but Mother Nature knows no boundaries. I graduated from the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions in May 2021, receiving a Master of Arts degree in emergency management and homeland security with a concentration in biological threat analysis. Before obtaining my master’s, I completed a bachelor’s degree in nursing and practiced as an emergency/trauma and critical care flight registered nurse. I am also a certified forensic nurse (FNE) and legal nurse consultant (LNC). During my time as a nurse, I had the opportunity to join the National Disaster Medical System’s Disaster Medical Assistance Team, which led me on the road of emergency management. I fell in love with the many aspects of disaster medicine, emergency preparedness and response. After graduation, I submitted employment applications for a few different roles for emergency management. I received my first job interview in late May, was offered a position and began working as a disaster program manager for the American Red Cross on June 28. Q. Talk about your responsibilities and what skills you learned in the EMHS program that apply. A. A disaster program manager is responsible for leading and managing a primarily volunteer team to support and provide disaster workforce engagement in an assigned geographic region. This position serves as the lead functional expert for supporting a disaster response and tailoring national program offerings by providing technical expertise, training and leading the disaster workforce. Some specific functions include program implementation, team building, team leadership, supervision, personnel development, workforce training, workforce engagement, deployment, GIS interpretation and representing the entire disaster cycle of preparedness, response and recovery. I learned all these skills and many more through the EMHS program at ASU.
Q. Were there professors you found to be great mentors to you? Tell us about how they were valuable to your academic and professional experience. A. The professors and staff at ASU were fundamental to my success. They are the experts on the field and great mentors. The program is designed for working professionals and the staff is extremely helpful and eager to help. The COVID-19 pandemic provided many challenges throughout the school calendar year and yet, the staff was able to provide flexibility and adjust to the many changes without delaying or altering the timeline. They were very understanding and provided guidance for first responders like myself. Q. What was your “aha” moment, when you realized you wanted to study the field you majored in? A. In 2018 the Mount Kilauea volcano erupted on the Big Island of Hawaii. As a first responder living in Hawaii, I had the opportunity to witness firsthand the many challenges our community encountered during this disaster response. I became obsessed with preparedness and community advocacy. My community responded positively and during the same year I was able to involve them in participating with the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) training. That year we focused on building resilience by having every island participate in a mass casualty exercise involving a military response. That is when I realized I could influence change and help others help themselves during a disaster event. Q. Why did you choose ASU? A. ASU’s EMHS program is interdisciplinary and nationally recognized. With the different available tracks, you can specialize in cybersecurity, biological threats or natural hazards. The program is flexible and tailored for working students. Not to mention, the career opportunities are endless. Q. What’s something you learned while at ASU — in the classroom or otherwise — that surprised you, that changed your perspective? A. I was surprised to learn that many of the professors are actively involved in the emergency management community in one way or another. I even had the opportunity to attend a conference in my community where one of my professors participated as an expert guest speaker. Q. If you had college to experience all over again, what would you do differently? The same? A. If I could do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing. Maybe I would not have waited this long to obtain my degree. Q. In one sentence, what’s your life motto? A. “Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.” – C.S. Lewis
Photo courtesy of Melissa Abramowicz
"That year [of the Mount Kilauea eruption] we focused on building resilience by having every island participate in a mass casualty exercise involving a military response. That is when I realized I could influence change and help others help themselves during a disaster event." — Melissa Abramowicz 16
Global engagement Trailblazing global innovation in nonprofit leadership Arizona State University’s Bachelor of Science degree program in nonprofit leadership and management in fall 2020 became the world’s first undergraduate curriculum to be accredited by the international Nonprofit Academic Centers Council. ASU previously received NACC accreditation in 2019 for its Master of Nonprofit Leadership and Management degree program. At that time, ASU was among the first 10 universities to receive the graduate accreditation. Completing the intensive accreditation process underscores ASU’s commitment to ensuring its nonprofit leadership and management undergraduate program aligns with NACC’s curricular guidelines and principles. “The trailblazing undergraduate accreditation further affirms ASU’s place as an innovative global leader in nonprofit leadership,” said Robert Ashcraft, director of the ASU Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation.
ASU No. 10 in world in Shanghai Ranking's 2021 Global Ranking of Academic Subjects The School of Public Affairs (SPA) at Arizona State University was recently ranked No. 5 in the U.S. and No. 10 in the world for research in public administration, according to Shanghai University’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS), which is part of the Academic Ranking of World Universities. These rankings cover 54 subjects in natural sciences, engineering, life sciences, medical sciences and social sciences, and are based on third-party data analyzing research output, influence and quality, as well as international collaboration and academic awards. This places SPA above such august institutions as Harvard, Oxford, Columbia, UC-Berkeley, the University of Chicago and the London School of Economics and Political Science.
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International partnership graduates first cohort Nearly 240 students received bachelor’s degrees this year from Hainan University-Arizona State University International Tourism College (HAITC) in the southern Chinese city of Haikou. The milestone completes the first cohort of a program that began in 2017 when ASU’s Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions teamed with Hainan University to grow the pipeline of trained professionals in the expanding fields of public service, international tourism, parks and recreation, and urban and rural planning. Members of each year’s cohort are fully admitted as ASU students with access to all ASU services. Students receive bachelor’s degrees in one of three different degree programs — public service and public policy, parks and recreation management, or tourism development and management — which are paired with corresponding Hainan University degrees. Former Watts College Dean Jonathan Koppell said the graduation represents a triumph for ASU, HNU and international collaboration that fulfills the need for qualified graduates in growing fields. “When we talk at the Watts College about our desire to ‘be the solution,’ we know that effort will literally take us around the world,” Koppell said. “This partnership started with a shared desire to train a cohort of leaders who would guide tourism and recreation development with an eye toward community health, cultural sensitivity and long-term prosperity. Seeing this effort bear fruit is enormously gratifying for us and our partners at Hainan University.” He added, “We appreciate the confidence the Chinese Ministry of Education placed in our team and look forward now to the expansion of HAITC to include additional degrees and learning opportunities.”
Advancing policy-relevant research on contemporary world politics New ways to measure how China influences global affairs are being explored by a team of scholars including School of Public Affairs Professor Ethan Kapstein in a three-year research project funded by the U.S. Department of Defense. Kapstein, who holds the Arizona Centennial Chair in International Affairs and is also a professor at ASU’s Thunderbird School of Global Management, serves as a coprincipal investigator for research funded by a $961,000 grant from the Defense Department’s Minerva Research Initiative. The team is measuring China’s influence among countries receiving funding from its “Belt and Road Initiative” as well as how opinion toward China is shifting in the region. “Many scholars and policy-makers speak of China’s increasing ‘influence’ around the world,” Kapstein said. “But measuring that influence remains elusive. The purpose of this project is to provide the concept of influence with some stronger theoretical and empirical foundations, and in so doing advance policy-relevant research on contemporary world politics.” Co-principal investigators with Kapstein are professors Jacob Shapiro of Princeton University and Joseph Felter of Stanford University.
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Faculty spotlight Geoffrey Gonsher Geoffrey Gonsher has no doubt collected his fair share of accolades during a public-sector career that has spanned more than five decades serving four Arizona governors and several Phoenix mayors. But a recent teaching award, granted at the urging of his ASU public policy students, may be among his most treasured. Gonsher is the recipient of a 2021 Centennial Professorship Award from the Associated Students of Arizona State University (ASASU). He said it is a greater honor than most because it comes from “the people whom I serve, my students.”
Students wrote letters in support of his nomination for the award, he said. “I’m a teaching professor,” said Gonsher, who retired from ASU in May 2021 after 10 years as a professor of practice in the School of Public Affairs. “(Receiving the award) means I have successfully achieved my mission in terms of helping our students.” The award includes two grants of $5,000. The first is to go to a project that benefits students and the second is given to the honored professor, personally. Gonsher said he will combine the two amounts to help fund an existing scholarship supported by his family providing student internships in the offices of state and federal elected officials.
Laurie Mook Laurie Mook, an associate professor of nonprofit leadership and management, is the editorin-chief of the open-access academic peer-reviewed Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research. This year, Mook received the Association for Nonprofit and Social Economy Research’s Distinguished Service Award at the 2021 Congress of the Humanities
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and Social Sciences. The Distinguished Service award is given to an individual who has made significant scholarly and/ or practice contributions to research and knowledge advancement in the field of nonprofit and social economy studies, as well as demonstrated significant leadership, commitment and volunteer service within the nonprofit and social economy sector. She is the author of four books on the topics of social accounting for nonprofits and understanding the social economy.
Mary Feeney and Derrick Anderson Two School of Public Affairs professors began work this fall in national leadership positions in prestigious research and education organizations, one at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the other at the American Council on Education (ACE). Mary Feeney, a professor and Lincoln Professor of Ethics in Public Affairs, is the new program director of NSF’s Science of Science: Discovery, Communication and Impact program. Derrick Anderson, an associate professor of science and technology policy, is the new ACE senior vice president for learning and engagement. Feeney said the NSF appointment will offer her an excellent opportunity to explore
new ways to communicate about science and scientific discovery. She said she will work to expand research opportunities for individuals from historically excluded groups including women, people of color, Indigenous researchers and those working in new or underfunded social science disciplines. Anderson said he is hopeful that he can continue advancing work he’s been involved in at ASU on a national level. Anderson has been working with ASU President Michael Crow on university initiatives, creating operational logics and cultures intended to displace existing bureaucratic structures in higher education.
Christopher Hayter Christopher Hayter’s research lies at the crossroads of technology and entrepreneurship. Hayter, an associate professor in the School of Public Affairs, is affiliated with the ASU Center for Organization Research and Design. A recent project includes co-designing and co-teaching a new course funded by the Apple Community Initiative entitled “Coding for a Social Good,” during which students narrowly define a social problem and then develop an early-stage, appbased solution. He is also the evaluation PI for the NSF-funded New England I-Corps Node, which provides student and faculty scientists
with entrepreneurial skills to develop their technologies. Additionally, Hayter is collaborating with former undergraduate students on an NSF-funded project to understand the influence of a series of robotics prize competitions held between 2004-2007 — funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency — on the development of the autonomous vehicle industry. Prior to joining ASU, Hayter spent 15 years managing science and innovation policy projects at multiple organizations.
Angel Luis Molina, Jr. Angel Luis Molina, Jr., an assistant professor in the School of Public Affairs, has long studied the broad relationship between governance and politics. To date, many of his studies focus on the Latino demographic. The increasingly divisive political environment has given him myriad opportunities to delve further into political identity, efficacy and representation. His current research includes an analysis of core values among Latino voters, examining the effect of local policy contexts on expressions of political efficacy, the effect
of panethnic identification on representation within local bureaucracies, and the feedback effects of punitive policies on individuals’ sense of political influence. Molina is an active member of the steering committee for the ASU Center for Latina/os and American Politics Research in the School of Politics and Global Studies. He completed his PhD in political science at Texas A&M University, with an emphasis on public policy and public administration, along with racial and ethnic politics.
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Expanding our expertise Ivan Lee Ivan Lee joined the School of Public Affairs faculty as an instructor ABD for fall 2021 and as an incoming assistant professor starting in spring 2022. He works in the Hainan University-Arizona State University International Tourism College (HAITC) in Haikou, China. Lee, who is from Hong Kong, said he is looking forward to being back in China and is eager to get research underway there. His academic interests include public management, organizational behavior and human resource management; diversity, equity and inclusion; behavioral public administration and policy; quantitative methods; experimental and quasi-experimental designs; survey designs; and longitudinal and panel data analysis. His research interests focus on public employees’ and citizens’ judgment and decision-making processes. Lee’s research is published in the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis, Public Administration Review, Public Management Review and PLOS ONE.
Jacky Alling Jacky Alling, former chief philanthropy officer for the Arizona Community Foundation (ACF), joined the ASU Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation in April 2021 as its first-ever Senior Fellow for Philanthropy. In her new role, Alling, a longtime member of the center’s Leadership Council, will increase Lodestar’s PhilanthropyMatters programming. Alling spent 17 years at ACF, where she collaborated on many of its most innovative programs. She also led the co-founding of the Arizona Endowment Building Institute, which significantly advanced Arizona’s nonprofit sector.
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Christian Osmena The School of Public Affairs welcomes to its faculty an Arizona State University vice president as a new professor of practice with extensive experience in public finance, public management and leadership. Christian Osmena has been ASU’s vice president for enterprise planning since November 2019, where he leads development of long-term, crossfunctional and growth-oriented strategic financial plans in support of the advancement of the ASU Charter. He also collaborates on implementing those plans with ASU operational units. Osmena also assesses the impacts, including needed investments and estimated returns, of significant initiatives, including expansion of existing academic programs, creation of new units and other pilots and deals. Osmena came to ASU after nearly two years as vice chancellor of college finance and facilities planning for the California Community Colleges. From 2014 to 2018, he served as principal program budget analyst for the state of California’s Department of Finance. Osmena earned a Doctor of Education degree from the University of California, Davis. He earned a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Arts in political science (major) and public policy (minor) from the University of California, Berkeley.
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Research briefs Researchers at the School of Public Affairs (SPA) in 2021 contributed scholarship to a wide variety of topics dealing with some of society’s most pressing issues, including racial profiling, sustainable public procurement and the cost of housing people with chronic mental illness versus allowing them to become homeless. Research indicates that the burden of driver’s license suspensions due to nonpayment of fines “are primarily borne by low-income people and people of color,” writes SPA Assistant Professor Siân Mughan in the June 2, 2021, edition of The Conversation. “But it illuminates a previously unknown racial inequality of the policy (to suspend licenses for nonpayment). Our research suggests that, by appearing on the driver’s record, license suspensions increase the probability that Black — but not white — drivers incur more traffic tickets. Even after the debt is paid and the license regained, these suspensions continue to harm drivers, and these harms exclusively affect Black drivers.”
Researchers at the SPA-based Morrison Institute for Public Policy, led by Director Andrea Whitsett, released a report in May 2021, “‘Housing is Health Care’: The Impact of Supportive Housing on the Costs of Chronic Mental Illness,” that concluded it is less expensive to construct long-term places to live for people with chronic mental illnesses than it is to let them become homeless. Their study quantified for the first time “cost savings of about $21,000 per year for each chronically mentally ill person who has stable housing and support services, breaking the expensive cycle of emergency room visits, police interactions and incarceration,” ASU News reported. “The money would be saved in costs for health care, criminal justice and housing services provided to these community members.”
An international team, including members of ASU’s SPA-based Sustainable Purchasing Research Initiative (SPRI) in the Center for Organizational Research and Design (CORD), led by Director and Foundation Professor Stuart Bretschneider, is expected to publish a report this fall containing results of surveys of sustainable public procurement (SPP) leaders from more than 165 countries. The 2021 Global Review of Sustainable Public Procurement, produced in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme and a team of global researchers around the world, will feature best practices, trends and approaches designed to advance SPP efforts of governments worldwide.
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Faculty in the news When compared to U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s child care leave plan, “you may feel a bit let down” by President Joe Biden’s proposal, SPA Associate Professor Chris Herbst told an opinion journalist for the New York Times. In a June 22, 2021, essay, Bryce Covert also quoted Herbst as saying Warren’s plan offers “something akin to ‘Head Start for All,” and that while a plan similar to Biden’s offered by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott is a “major improvement” in child care funding, it still poses major risks.
Phoenix has had a great deal of success with its council-manager municipal government system, which was created in response to the traditional mayorcouncil setup found in many Eastern and Midwestern states, SPA Professor David Swindell, director of the SPA-based Center for Urban Innovation, told Chicago radio station WBEZ-FM’s “Reset.” Still, the two cities are different, with different political cultures, he said. Swindell compared the strengths and weaknesses of Phoenix’s and Chicago’s approaches during the show’s May 5, 2021, broadcast.
Adding jobs to the U.S. economy is “a bad rationale for arms transfers on both economic and policy grounds,” Ethan Kapstein, Arizona Centennial Professor of International Affairs in SPA and senior director for research at the McCain Institute for International Leadership in Washington, D.C., co-wrote in a Feb. 25, 2021, opinion article for Foreign Affairs with Jonathan Caverley, a faculty member of the U.S. Naval War College and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Kapstein and Caverley further wrote, “These weapons sales actually do not create many jobs, and even if they did, that shouldn’t be a consideration when it comes to whether these sales are approved. An extra job doesn’t make a sale more or less strategically or ethically compelling. After all, the bombs in these transfers are the same types causing undue civilian casualties in places like Yemen.”
A survey conducted by SPA Professor Eric Welch, director of the Center for Science, Technology and Environmental Policy Studies (CSTEPS), was highlighted in a May 19, 2021, article in the Chronicle of Higher Education titled, “What PhD’s Can Learn About Talking with Reporters.” The January-February 2021 survey, produced in collaboration with SciLine and located on the SPA-based sci-ops.org website, received replies from 508 academic researchers in biology, civil engineering, geography and public health at 121 research institutions in the United States, according to the Chronicle.
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By the numbers
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#
Public Affairs school in the nation – U.S. News & World Report
$3.9M
research dollars
240 transfer students
4,875
internship hours
7.4 : 1
1,058
students
2021-2022 enrollment
student to faculty ratio MPA Students
2
25
campus locations
23%
1st gen students
39 degrees and
concentrations
50 states from 55 countries
About the School of Public Affairs ASU’s School of Public Affairs (SPA) is a nationally acclaimed training ground for a new generation of leaders. We draw inspiration from the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions, a community of change agents passionate about problem-solving. SPA's commitment to excellence is making a difference. The school's unique strengths in information technology, science and technology policy, environmental policy, urban innovation, civic engagement and new forms of governance have brought it to prominence among the top programs in the U.S. and the world. Our highly qualified, richly diverse faculty includes six fellows of the National Academy of Public Administration and world-class professors who have spent the majority of their careers challenging the most critical issues of public policy and governance. At both the graduate and undergraduate levels, they provide hands-on, problem-solving experience in the classroom, internships and capstones.
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Overview The Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions is Arizona State University’s laboratory for the innovative production of public goods. We are committed to fearlessly taking on the most daunting challenges facing society, with degree programs and research that address challenges affecting communities both locally and globally. Our population represents the highest percentages of minority, transfer and working students and the largest concentration of first-generation college students at ASU. Together, we bring creativity, systems-level thinking and an entrepreneurial spirit to our mission of creating, sustaining and promoting dynamic, prosperous communities.
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SPA Snapshot 750 undergraduate students 308 graduate students 1,000+ field experience agencies 41 full-time faculty members 4,000+ alumni worldwide