THE GEORGIA PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATOR
Published by the
Georgia Chapter of the
American Society for Public Administration
( http://www.NGCSU.edu/bdf/GaASPA/index.htm
)
Barry D. Friedman, Editor
Vol. 27
December 2006 No. 1
GEORGIA CHAPTER PREPARES FOR NINTH
ANNUAL
GEORGIA PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION ACADEMIC CONFERENCE
Kennesaw State University will be the host for the Georgia Chapter's ninth annual Georgia Public Administration Academic Conference on Friday, March 2, 2007. Dr. Martha A. Griffith, president of the chapter and director of KSU's M.P.A. Program, is coordinating the plans for the conference.
The conference features presentations of research papers by individuals who have conducted interesting research projects. Most of the presenters are M.P.A. students, and their presentations at our conference constitute an excellent supplement to their education and training for careers in public service.
To arrange to make a presentation at the conference, one should send a copy of the research paper or a summary of the paper's content to Martha at this address:
Dr. Martha A. Griffith
Director - M.P.A. Program
Department of Political
Science and International Affairs, Mail Box 2302
Kennesaw State University
1000 Chastain Road
Kennesaw, Georgia
30144
mgriffit@Kennesaw.edu
The deadline for submitting a proposal to Dr. Griffith is Wednesday, February 7, 2007.
To date, there is no record of a student presenting a paper at a Georgia Public Administration Academic Conference and regretting having done so. On the contrary, students have reminisced about their presentations as significant facets of their educational experience which bolstered their confidence for making future presentations at conferences or in the workplace and gave them an enhanced understanding of the field of public administration. We encourage professors to share this announcement with their students and to facilitate the students' submission of proposals to Martha. For more information, contact Martha at mgriffit@Kennesaw.edu , or any of the other officers.
At the end of the conference, Martha will convene our annual meeting, at which officers and council members for 2007-2008 will be elected. The time and specific location in Kennesaw will be announced in early February.
SECoPA 2006 IN ATHENS, GA.: A PLEASANT MEMORY
By Helen R. Buckelew
Immediate Past President - Georgia Chapter
From the time the Georgia Chapter and the Carl Vinson Institute of Government pitched our proposal to the SECoPA Board of Directors to hold the 2006 conference in Athens, I was confident that our conference would be successful. That confidence came from the clear message from Steven Condrey and Karen Baynes, conference co-chairs, when they tapped Ilka Decker, Jason Fleury, Carl McCoy, Linda Seagraves, Paula Yeary, and Judy Wilson to develop the plan for SECoPA 2006. Steve and Karen selected a team that would work as hard on the conference as they do everyday at the Vinson Institute.
They and the Georgia Chapter shared the vision that the conference uphold the highest standards of public administration and encourage critical dialogue on governance and policy issues. The chapter brought eight years of experience sponsoring academic conferences across Georgia. Chapter members proposed panels, presented papers, and served as chairs and discussants. A professional-development track, public managers’ roundtable discussion, and symposium on disaster management completed the program.
Guest speakers included Harvey White, president-elect of ASPA; Don Kettle, director of the Fels Institute of Government at Pennsylvania State University; Robert Golembiewski, UGA distinguished research professor; Mary Ellen Guy, eminent scholar in the Askew School of Public Administration & Policy at Florida State University; and Michael Thurmond, Georgia commissioner of labor.
Howard Frank, director of the Florida Institute of Government at Florida International University and treasurer of SECoPA, received the Donald J. Pugliese Award for many years of selfless service to the SECoPA community.
The coveted Distinguished Public Service Practitioner Award was presented to Arthur F. Beeler Jr., warden of the Federal Medical Center in Butner, N. C., for sustained outstanding achievement in public administration and public service through applied practice in the field.
The Senator Peter B. Boorsma Award was presented to H. Ian MacDonald, professor emeritus of policy and president emeritus at York University in Toronto, for his efforts to transfer best-practices theory from one country to another, facilitating the international exchange of knowledge and practices that foster better performance in the public sector.
Lydia Marsh received the Robert L. Kline Student Paper Award for the most outstanding paper submitted by M.P.A. students in the SECoPA region.
The William H. Collins Student Paper Award was presented to Sung Min Park, a doctoral student in the Department of Public Administration and Policy at the University of Georgia, for the most outstanding paper written by doctoral candidates in the SECoPA region.
We all left the conference invigorated by new ideas and fresh information shared by academics, students, and practitioners dedicated to the achievement of excellence in public administration. We look forward to rekindling old friendships and networking at SECoPA 2007 in Nashville, Tenn., on September 26-29, 2007. Visit the conference Web site at http://www.aspaonline.org/nashville/secopa2007.htm .
EDITOR'S NOTE
The SECoPA conference was an absolutely marvelous event. That the Georgia Chapter co-sponsored and co-hosted such a well-organized and productive conference enhances our reputation as a reliable affiliate of the ASPA organization and a responsible member of the public-administration community. Our immediate past president, Helen Buckelew, joined the SECoPA board a year ago, and swung into action to help make the conference a success. Helen was emphatically recognized and praised at the conference by SECoPA's officers as a dedicated volunteer who was integral to the quality of the conference. Congratulations, Helen! We can take pride in the chapter's record of supporting ASPA events that take place in our service area.
-- BDF
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