March 8, 2016
Evans School, Ruckelshaus Center featured when public policy administrators gather in Seattle March 17-22
The evolving nature of the public sector will be the topic when professionals and scholars from the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Policy & Governance and around the world gather in Seattle March 17-22 for the 77th annual conference of the American Society for Public Administration.
Also participating will be members of the William D. Ruckelshaus Center, a joint venture between the Evans School and Washington State University that acts as a neutral resource for collaborative problem-solving in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest.
The Evans School and Seattle Federal Executive Board will team to hold a public service career fair, 1-4 p.m. Monday, March 21 at the Westin Hotel. Tickets for the general public are $10.
The conference, being held at the Westin Hotel and other area locations, is expected to draw as many as 1,300 participants from 50 nations. The overall theme will be “New Traditions in Public Administration: Reflecting on Challenges, Harnessing Opportunities.”
Its many events will feature scores of presentations and panel discussions, many featuring Evans School faculty and staff.
- Dean Sandra Archibald will lead discussions on the future role of public service in American universities and on the White House’s Smart Cities Initiative.
- Professor Justin Marlowe will lead a talk on public-private partnerships.
- Tamara Schaps, director of career services, will lead a discussion of integrating millennials into the public sector workforce.
- Stephen Page, associate professor, will discuss expectations in collaborative governance, and Craig Thomas, professor, will talk on the choices and trade-offs public managers must make to solve complex political problems.
The Ruckelshaus Center will also be well represented. Michael Kern, center director, will present on fostering collaborative solutions to public policy challenges in the Pacific Northwest, and Darren Nichols, associate director, will present on using collaboration to solve complex political problems.
More than 150 other sessions and workshops, many by visiting scholars, will take up matters as diverse as strategies for reducing unemployment of minority and low-income workers, public policy challenges in disaster management, 21st century infrastructure challenges, and the role of nonprofits in fostering civil society.
Yet more sessions will focus on administrative and management practices, budgeting and accountability, diversity in public service, employment perceptions and practices, public records law, reducing Medicaid costs for states — and, perhaps unsurprisingly, even “emotional labor and burnout for civil servants.”
Formed in 1939, the American Society for Public Administration works to advance the “art, science, teaching and practice of public and nonprofit administration,” its website states, keeping in mind four core values: accountability and performance, professionalism, ethics and social equity.
Visit online for a full schedule of conference events.
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To learn more about Evans School participation in the conference, contact J. Paul Blake, director of media and external relations, at 206-543-3958 or jpblake@uw.edu; for more on Ruckelshaus Center participants, contact Kern at 206-428-3021 or m.kern@wsu.edu.
Tag(s): Craig Thomas • Evans School of Public Policy & Governance • Justin Marlowe • Sandra Archibald • Stephen Page • William R. Ruckelshaus Center
