The UNC School of Government, through the Teaching Development Committee, is soliciting nominations for the 2017-2019 Albert and Gladys Coates Term Professorship for Teaching Excellence. This term appointment honors a faculty member of the School of Government for excellence in teaching.
The School invites nominations from individuals or professional associations associated with state and local government who have attended School of Government courses.
Faculty member Jessica Smith wrote an op-ed for the Greensboro News & Record on a proposal before the North Carolina Commission on the Administration of Law and Justice to raise the age of juvenile crimes to 18.
The School of Government has launched “Beyond the Bench,” an interview-based podcast about the North Carolina legal system. Guests on the show include judges, lawyers, professors, and citizens who have participated in court proceedings. Some interviews focus on guests’ personal experiences and opinions while others explore discrete legal issues.
Faculty member Leisha DeHart-Davis has been selected as a Thorp Faculty Engaged Scholar (FES), a distinction that will support her work on the Local Government Workplaces Project.
Faculty member Whitney Afonso has been recognized by Public Budgeting & Finance with its Jesse Burkhead Award. Her article, “Leviathan or Flypaper: Earmarked Local Sales Taxes for Transportation,” was selected as the journal’s top article in 2015.
In May, faculty member Frayda Bluestein received the Grainger Barrett Award for Excellence from the North Carolina Bar Association Government and Public Sector Section. This award honors outstanding North Carolina government or public sector attorneys for their excellence, dedication, and passion for justice.
This article was first published in Public Management (PM) Magazine through the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) in Washington, DC. John B. Stephens. 2016. “Local Government That Clicks: Free Apps + Skilled Civic Tech Volunteers,” Public Management 98:4, 16-19.
Free Apps + Skilled Civic Tech Volunteers
Every September, the UNC School of Government hosts North Carolina’s public officials to help them learn about all of the functions of local government beyond their own specialties.
The School of Government was awarded the Public Service Innovation Award by the Consortium of University Public Service Organizations (CUPSO) for a local government budget simulation, Budgetopolis. CUPSO invited participating university programs to submit a pitch for innovative projects or programs that provide new solutions to existing public service problems or needs not currently being adequately addressed.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has provided $500,000 in funding to The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ‘s Environmental Finance Center (EFC) to assist communities addressing water infrastructure challenges. The funding also goes to partner organization, Southwest Environmental Finance Center at the University of New Mexico.
On February 20, 2016, Maureen Berner addresssed an audience of 2,000 at TEDx WakeForestU. She challenged the audience to think of cihldhood hunger as a local economic development opportunity.
Trustees of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation have awarded a grant to the Environmental Finance Center at the UNC School of Government to work in partnership with the North Carolina On-Bill Working Group to provide education, support, and other resources to rural cooperative utilities to expand energy efficiency opportunities across the state.
