2010 NASPAA Annual Conference
CALL FOR CONFERENCE PANELS 
AND PAPERS
“Transitions in Public Service”

The 2010 National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) annual conference committee invites proposals for panels, research papers, roundtables, and workshops. We’re excited to be meeting this year in Las Vegas, Nevada. We extend our appreciation to the University of Nevada – Las Vegas for hosting the 2010 conference. 


Conference Theme: “Transitions in Public Service”
Our conference theme highlights the many transitions in the public service. We hope to give attention to issues such as the movement of baby boomers toward retirement as well as other transitions that are occurring in the world of public service education. These include: 1) transitions in our universities, including new approaches to university design and management, the restructuring of traditional disciplines, and an effort to serve students well in a time of limited, if not shrinking, resources; 2) agency transitions, including succession to a new generation of public leaders, new policy challenges at all levels, and increased efforts to engage citizens in the governance process; and 3) political transitions, such as a renewed emphasis on public service, major new initiatives in health care, climate change, etc., and, of course, an effort to deal with a struggling economy.

We are inviting proposals that address the conference theme of “transitions” including, but not limited to, the broad array of topics suggested below. Other proposals about topics of interest to the NASPAA membership are also welcome. 

While individual presentations will be considered, full panel proposals have a higher likelihood of being accepted. When submitting panel proposals, please include the panel title, a brief description of the focus of the panel, and the names and affiliation of all participants. We have grouped the theme-based panels across three broad dimensions or tracks: 

1. Transitions in Universities – The present senior managers and professionals in government have or are soon to reach retirement age, and it is not clear that there is the talent available at federal, state, and local levels to assume these critically important roles. The imminent turnover of experienced government leaders begs the question: Who will be administering the increasing federal expenditures and proliferating programs? What are universities and programs doing to recruit and prepare the next generation of public servants and nonprofit leaders? Additionally, we might ask how are we handling program and faculty development with increasingly limited resources? How are we responding to the impact of globalization on the work we do, for example, the creation of large numbers of MPA programs in China? What is the appropriate balance of teaching and research, especially use-inspired research? What is the role of schools of public affairs in areas where we have had a limited presence, areas such as public education? And, most significantly for NASPAA, what will be the impact of the new accreditation standards with their focus on student learning outcomes, the five universal competencies, and non-US program accreditation? 

2. Agency Transitions – The United States is confronting the effects of a prolonged economic recession, weakened credit and financial markets, and intensified global competition. The federal government is expanding into areas once the exclusive domain of private enterprise and with it, increased administrative regulation and oversight. At the same time, public agencies are being forced to develop new approaches to emerging policy areas such as sustainability, water and other scarce resources, and immigration (all areas that are especially important in the southwestern states). What challenges and opportunities will these changes bring to public organizations and in turn our schools? 

3. Political Transitions – The renewed political emphasis on public service and increased funding for major new initiatives in various areas of public policy present unprecedented challenges and opportunities to actively shape and transform our civic institutions. How can our institutions respond to the new call to public service issued by the Obama administration? What will be the impact of the stimulus, healthcare reforms, climate change, and other policy initiatives on the long-term size and shape of government? How will the global economic situation affect the shaping and implementation of public policy, both nationally and internationally? What does the increasing move from “government” to “governance” portend for the public service and public service education? 

“Rule of Two”
The 2010 conference committee will continue the NASPAA practice of following the “rule of two,” which means limiting participation to two sessions during the regular conference (Thursday through Saturday) to give more people the opportunity to be involved. Participation includes roles as presenters, authors, chairs, discussants and/or facilitators. Please note, however, that the following program listings are exempted from the “rule of two”: officer roles; plenary sessions; committee and section meetings; the Accreditation Institute; and workshops. If a person appears twice in a single session (e.g., as moderator and presenter), it counts only as one appearance.


Questions and Information
Contact the conference committee co-chairs if you have questions about the conference format, these submission guidelines, or proposed panels.

2010 NASPAA Annual Conference Committee Chairs: Robert B. Denhardt and Afsaneh Nahavandi School of Public Affairs Arizona State University RBD@asu.edu and anahavandi@asu.edu Phones: 602.496.0444 (RD) and 602.496.0404 (AN)
Maria P. Aristigueta, Director University of Delaware Sch. of Urban Affairs & Public Policy mariaa@udel.edu  Phone: 302.831.4570	Dominic A. Bearfield, Asst. Professor Texas A&M University The Bush School of Government dbearfield@bushschool.tamu.edu  Phone: 979.845.6701
E. Lee Bernick, Dean University of Nevada, Las Vegas Greenspun College of Urban Affairs Lee.Bernick@unlv.edu  Phone: 702.895.1068 or 702.895.3291	JoAnn Ewalt, MPA Program Director Eastern Kentucky University Department of Government JoAnn.Ewalt@eku.edu  Phone: 859.622.4389
Mary E. Guy, Director, MPA Program University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs mary.guy@ucdenver.edu  Phone: 303.315.2007	Wendy Haynes, MPA Coordinator Bridgewater State College Department of Political Science whaynes@bridgew.edu  Phone: 508.531.2017
Carolyn Heinrich, Professor University of Wisconsin, Madison LaFollette School of Public Affairs cheinrich@lafollette.wisc.edu  Phone: 608.262.5443	Christine A. Kelleher Palus Director, MPA Program Villanova University Department of Political Science christine.kelleher@villanova.edu  Phone: 610.519.8901
Kenneth M. Matwiczak, Senior Lecturer The University of Texas at Austin LBJ School of Public Affairs kmat@mail.utexas.edu  Phone: 512.471.7566	Jeffrey A. Raffel, Messick Professor University of Delaware Sch. of Urban Affairs & Public Policy raffel@udel.edu  Phone: 302.831.1685
Jeffrey D. Straussman, Dean University at Albany, SUNY Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy jstraussman@albany.edu Phone: 518.442.5245