You can be forgiven if it’s difficult to imagine a School of Government without Mike Smith at the helm. Smith has been a member of the School’s faculty since 1978 and has led the unit for 30 years.
![Dean Mike Smith stands in the Knapp Library, flanked on either side by bookshelves.](https://www.sog.unc.edu/sites/default/files/cover_images/220128_as_or_175%20cmyk.jpg)
Operating as a part of the School of Government, the Development Finance Initiative (DFI) approaches its work with the same core values as the School. This includes responsiveness, which involves listening to and actively meeting the needs of North Carolina local officials and communities. For the DFI team, that has also meant cultivating expertise in new areas of real estate development in order to meet the needs of local governments.
![Two women walk while talking on a sidewalk next to the Durham County Social Services building.](https://www.sog.unc.edu/sites/default/files/cover_images/Girls%20outside%20of%20DCSS.jpg)
Serving North Carolina’s state and local government officials, the UNC School of Government’s Law and Finance Division provides research, advising, and training for audiences including elected officials, government attorneys, local government managers and department heads, and state agency officials.
After serving five years as a research attorney and legal educator with the UNC School of Government, Rebecca Badgett has joined the School’s faculty as a teaching assistant professor.
![](https://www.sog.unc.edu/sites/default/files/profiles/Badgett_Rebecca_2021_web.jpg)
The UNC School of Government is excited to welcome the newest addition to its faculty ranks. Crista M. Cuccaro joined the School’s Law and Finance division in June 2022 as teaching assistant professor of public law and government. In this role, she will focus her expertise on legal and ethical issues related to local government procurement and contracting, and property disposal.
![](https://www.sog.unc.edu/sites/default/files/Cuccaro_Crista_2022_web_0.jpeg)
While summer is a quiet time on most university campuses, work and training for public officials doesn’t cease during the warmer months at the UNC School of Government. Many School faculty are using summer vacations and staycations to read new books, delve into recent publications, and plug into podcasts.
We recently caught up with six School faculty members to find out what they’re reading, listening to, and learning about this summer.
![A decorative colleage of book covers and podcast logos mentioned in the story](https://www.sog.unc.edu/sites/default/files/cover_images/graphic.png)
Shortly after its founding in 2011, the Development Finance Initiative at the UNC School of Government began creating opportunities for graduate students to apply key community revitalization methods in real-world settings.
![Two DFI staff members in masks talk to each other while standing in front of a map.](https://www.sog.unc.edu/sites/default/files/cover_images/Talking%20at%20map.jpg)
The UNC School of Government congratulates North Carolina Judicial College faculty member Cheryl D. Howell on her recent receipt of the 2022 Liberty Bell Award.
![](https://www.sog.unc.edu/sites/default/files/howell.jpeg)
The UNC School of Government is pleased to announce a generous gift from the North Carolina Association of Municipal Attorneys in honor of faculty member Frayda Bluestein. The gift of $15,000 will support the Frayda S. Bluestein Scholarship Fund for Municipal and County Administration.
![Frayda Bluestein stands in front of a bookcase filled with books. She holds a framed map of North Carolina.](https://www.sog.unc.edu/sites/default/files/cover_images/frayda.jpg)
Faculty, staff, family, and friends gathered on May 7, 2022, to celebrate the graduation of the UNC School of Government’s Master of Public Administration students. The event, held in person at the William and Ida Friday Center for the first time since 2019, celebrated the accomplishments of Summer 2021, Fall 2021, and Spring 2022 MPA graduates.
![UNC MPA Graduates celebrate during Commencement ceremony in their regalia](https://www.sog.unc.edu/sites/default/files/cover_images/Graduates2_SpringCommencement22.jpeg)
While riding in a sanitation truck along its route in McDowell County, Maëva Hassani realized that county government touches everyone. During her year as a Lead for North Carolina (LFNC) Fellow, she has helped with a project that hooks more McDowell County residents up to water service; ridden along with paramedics; and visited the Emergency Operations Center, public library, and more.
![A group of 43 LFNC Fellows from cohorts one, two, and three on the front steps of the Knapp-Sanders Building on the UNC campus.](https://www.sog.unc.edu/sites/default/files/cover_images/lfnc%20fellows_all.jpg)
UNC-Chapel Hill’s Master of Public Administration program at the School of Government has once again been named one of “America’s Best Graduate Schools” by U.S. News & World Report in its 2023 rankings.
![](https://www.sog.unc.edu/sites/default/files/cover_images/rankings_graphic-01.png)