Are you planning to be in D.C. for the 2025 Annual Conference (we hope so!)? Make sure you register before December 21 to receive the early-bird discounted rate. Current registration rates* are as follows:

• Members: $449
• Students/New Professional Members: $279
• Two-Day Member Admittance: $329
• Nonmembers: $559
• Two-Day Nonmember Admittance: $439

• More than 150 concurrent sessions
• Fourteen presidential panels and plenary addresses
• Nine symposia
• Three workshops
• Department chairs roundtable networking event
• Student and New Professionals Summit
• Opening Reception
• Career Fair
• International Assembly
• Gloria Hobson Nordin Social Equity Luncheon
• SWPA National Awards Breakfast

E-Learning at Your Fingertips

ASPA staff work tirelessly to keep your skills up to date and the information flowing all year long through our e-learning program. Visit our website to see more details about upcoming KeepingCurrent, BookTalk and Student and New Professional series programming.



BookTalk: Handbook on Subnational Governments and Governance
December 12 | 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. EST

Speaker:
Claudia N. Avellaneda, Professor, Indiana University—Bloomington
Ricardo A. Bello-Gomez, Assistant Professor, Texas Tech University

Join us for an engaging presentation with authors Claudia N. Avellaneda and Ricardo A. Bello-Gomez, who will be discussing their book, Handbook on Subnational Governments and Governance. This comprehensive handbook analyses the political, financial, administrative and managerial dimensions of subnational governments. It examines the profound differences between forms of subnational governance across the world, as well as the common challenges faced by governments below the national level.



More webinars are on their way in January 2025! Keep your eyes on ASPA newsletters and other publications, or check www.aspanet.org/webinars for updated information.

From the Archives
BookTalk: The Curious Public Administrator
The Curious Public Administrator incorporates the concept of curiosity into the field of public administration. Scholarship in philosophy, business administration, social science and other fields address curiosity, but public administration has yet to examine this concept in detail until now. We talked with author Will Hatcher about his research and how this provides a guide for teaching, as well. (Members only; you must be logged in to access this resource.)



Students and New Professionals: Resumes, Resumes, Resumes
A well-developed resume makes the critical first impression when trying to land a job. It introduces you to a potential employer, highlights your qualifications and, hopefully, gets you to the next step of the hiring process. The challenge? You are competing against a pool of candidates with background and experiences exactly like yours... and resumes that look, and read, the same. This workshop outlined the rights and wrongs of resumes, both in terms of their format and substance. (Members only; you must be logged in to access this resource.)

Charles True Goodsell, age 92, of Blacksburg, Virginia, died November 24, 2024.

Goodsell was a long-time ASPA member, first joining in 1956 as a graduate student at Harvard. He was a member of the Central Virginia Chapter, the Section on Historical, Artistic and Reflective Expression and the Section on Public Administration Research, and founded a Chapter in Southwest Virginia. He last attended an Annual Conference in 2017 when he served as honorary co-chair for then-president Susan Gooden.

During a very special event at the state capitol as part of the 2017 conference, Goodsell joined Gooden and other ASPA leaders to present a proclamation to the public servants in Georgia honoring their work, and gave some remarks about the current state of public service. He encouraged public servants in Georgia, and everywhere, to actively counter the negativity in public service with their own positive influence, proposing 10 "actions" they could take including promoting calm, relying on facts and evidence in their work, admitting to mistakes, planning for new projects appropriately—including financial repercussions, seeking consensus and guarding personal credibility "with your life" (among others). (You can find the full remarks online here via PATimes.org.)

In addition to the 2017 conference, he had been a dedicated presenter and attendee throughout his career and into the early years of his retirement. He also served on the National Council and numerous national committees, including conference task forces, editorial boards and award selection committees. He received ASPA's Dwight Waldo Award in 2003 for his outstanding contributions to public administration's professional literature and the combined ASPA/NASPAA Distinguished Research Award in 1995.

Goodsell was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 1932. He graduated from Kalamazoo College and served in the U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps in Berlin, after which he became an intern at the Bureau of the Budget in Washington, D.C. He went on to receive an MPA, MA and Ph.D. in political science from Harvard University in 1961, beginning his long and distinguished academic career. Early roles included assistant professor at the University of Puerto Rico; research assistant at Princeton; and professor at Southern Illinois University. A resident of Blacksburg beginning in 1978, he was professor at Virginia Tech for the Center of Public Administration and Policy for 24 years and served as director of the center from 1986-1991. He retired from teaching in 2002, becoming professor emeritus. His lifelong love of learning, teaching, writing and inspiring others led him to publish prolifically: 12 books, 90 scholarly articles, 24 book chapters and speeches at more than 50 public engagements. He may be best known for The Case for Bureaucracy. He was credited for being one of the nation's best known advocates for American public service.

In 2019, Goodsell received the Marquis Who's Who Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award as a leader in the education industry. He became a NAPA fellow in 1994. He also received the Marshall E. Dimock Award for best commissioned article to appear in Public Administration Review.

Goodsell's wife, Mary, died in 2019. He is survived by his two daughters, son-in-law and grandchildren. Memorial services will be conducted at Blacksburg Presbyterian Church on January 7, 2025 at 10 a.m., with the Rev. Dr. Sarah Wiles officiating. In lieu of flowers, please consider honoring Charles’ memory with a donation to Blacksburg Presbyterian Church, 701 Church St SE, Blacksburg VA 24060 or Sojourn Center for Hospice Care (a future inpatient hospice house for the New River Valley), PO Box 295, Blacksburg, VA 24063 or online SojournCenter.org.

An obituary is online here. Just as fitting, find a 2023 tribute essay by Tom Barth after he interviewed Goodsell for PAR online here.

Gary Lee Wamsley, age 89, of Blacksburg, Virginia, passed away peacefully at home in October 2024, surrounded by his family.

Wamsley was a long-time ASPA member, joining the society in 1972. He was a member of the Central Virginia Chapter, the Southwest Virginia Chapter, the Section on Emergency and Crisis Management, the Section on Public Administration Research and the Section on Historic, Artistic and Reflective Expression, among others. He served on several national committees including editor search committees for Public Administration Review and other publications. He was a presenter and attendee at numerous annual conferences, during and after his career.

He was born in 1935 in Falls City, Nebraska, to William and Jacqueline Wamsley. He spent his early years living on the family farm in Falls City and in Los Angeles, California, where his father found work during World War II. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, after which he served for four years in the U.S. Air Force and achieved the rank of Captain. He subsequently received his Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh.

After holding positions at San Diego State University, Vanderbilt University and the University of Kansas, Wamsley joined Virginia Tech (VT) where he founded the Center for Public Administration and Policy in 1977. In addition to his work at VT, where he taught and mentored countless graduate students, he served as the editor of Administration and Society for 40 years and worked as a consultant to the Carter and Clinton administrations. He published extensively, authoring nearly 100 publications during his career and directing many research and development projects. He was given emeritus status at Virginia Tech in 2005. He was an elected fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.

Wamsley never forgot his farm roots and his students often joked that he was happiest on his John Deere tractor, mowing his five acres. He was an avid gardener, loved traveling and all flavors of ice cream. He was naturally curious about everything and imparted this sense of curiosity to his children and grandchildren.

Wamsley is survived by his wife of 53 years, Susan, his six children, his 10 grandchildren and his two siblings. A celebration of his life was held earlier this month. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in his name to Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville or to the Alzheimer's Association.

Institutional Members: Thank You!

While more than 5,000 people join ASPA individually every year, another 4,000 have joined us in the past year as part of an institutional partnership between ASPA and their city, county, center or school department. We are grateful for these partnerships and value these opportunities to not only provide students, faculty, alumni and others with ASPA's services, but also help each of these organizations grow their brand within public administration.

Thank you to the following organizations for partnering with us in 2024; we look forward to more in 2025!

• City of Miramar, Florida
• College of Charleston
• Excelsior University
• LA City Management Council
• Merrimack College
• Miami Dade County, Florida
• National Louis University
• Old Dominion University
• Ruckelshaus Center, Washington State University
• Rutgers University—Camden
• Rutgers University—Newark
• Strayer University
• Suffolk University
• Tarlac State University
• Texas State CPM Program
• Thomas Edison State University
• University of Baltimore
• University of Massachusetts—Boston
• University of Nebraska at Omaha
• University of New Mexico
• University of Texas—Arlington
• West Chester University

Advertise with ASPA!

Did you know you can advertise your organization's services, university's schools, nonprofit's resources or professional services in ASPA publications? Did you also know the end of the year is a great time to line up commitments for the new one? ASPA's space for 2025 is already being booked and we'd love to book your listing too!

ASPA hosts advertising opportunities all year long, providing those looking to expand their brand with a variety of ways to do so, targeting all corners of ASPA's audiences. From a single website placement to a long-term ad in this newsletter and more, there are so many opportunities to use ASPA's media to promote your brand. Exposure is broad: Each placement will reach more than 3,000 people (30,000 for web placements) with a viewership that updates weekly. Your brand placement will never get stale in ASPA media! Options include:

• PA Times Online Email and Website
  Distributed via email to 12,000 people per edition with a 37 percent open rate
  85 percent of website viewers are new
  Email and web placement: $2,150 per month
  Purchase this pair for six months: $10,000
  
  
• ASPA's Website
  Accessed by 30,000 unique viewers per month
  82 percent of viewers are new
  Side navigation placement: $2,290 per month
  Purchase this for six months: $12,000
  
  
• This Newsletter, Bridge!
  Distributed via email to 15,000 people per edition with a 45 percent open rate
  Ad will be included in the archived version of the edition for long-term exposure
  Top placement: $780 per edition
  Purchase this for six months: $7,500

No-Blame Problem-Solving Materials Available for Access

If you missed our webinar earlier this fall providing hands-on civics training ("No-Blame Problem Solving"), now may the perfect time to take advantage of the special materials The Citizens Campaign designed for us, available online here for use any time. Complete the brief course and you'll receive a certificate from The Citizens Campaign showcasing your newfound knowledge.

As citizens, you know you have the right to vote and the right to protest—but you probably don’t know that you have new 21st century rights and powers that let you get in the game of government problem solving. This leadership training program teaches you how to solve problems in your community and across the country, empowering you and your fellow citizens to get results on the issues you care about. You don’t have to sit on the sidelines waiting to react. You can become a “citizen leader” on the frontlines of government decisionmaking.

This isn’t the civics your parents and grandparents studied. It’s active, practitioner-informed leadership training, employing a powerful no-blame approach. Attendees will finish this program and receive a certificate demonstrating knowledge and skills gained during this hands-on workshop.

Find the materials online here. The Citizens Campaign will send you your certificate once you have completed the course.

Interested in participating in this program in person? We will host it again in March at the 2025 Annual Conference. Add it to your conference registration (it's free!) and join fellow conference attendees to complete the training together on Monday, March 31!

Celebrate ASPA's 85th Anniversary with an End of Year Donation!

ASPA's 85th anniversary continues through the holidays—through the conference, in fact! No small feat for any nonprofit association, this anniversary is a real cause for celebration for ASPA and we hope you'll join us.

Our field has faced enormous change and challenge since our founding in 1939. Yet we have remained steadfast in our mission of advancing excellence in public service. Indeed, we have an important story to tell. We are an association on strong financial footing, conducting a robust program of in-person and virtual events that matter. We are home to the top-rated journal in our field. We are redefining membership in a way that attracts a growing number of practitioners. And, we make tangible investments in the development of our student and new professional members.

We do all of this with a small but dedicated staff committed to excellence. As you interact with our staff and volunteer leaders throughout this year, we ask you to think about the resources it takes to provide those connections and invite you to participate in our 85-for-85 campaign.

Please consider making a special donation in some denomination of $85 to honor our history and accomplishments... and position ASPA well for the next 85 years.

Make your donation on our website any time (log in information is required; contact us for your details) and know that not only are you supporting ASPA now, but also that you will be on the front lines ensuring that ASPA will be sending messages like this one to future generations of professionals dedicated to the public good.

Use our website now or contact us for help setting up your donation. Monthly payment plans are available!

Thank you for celebrating our 85th anniversary and supporting the future of public service.

National Civic League Accepting Applications for the All-America City Award

The National Civic League is thrilled to announce that applications are open now for the 2025 All-America City Award! Since 1949, this prestigious award has celebrated communities that harness civic engagement, collaboration, inclusivity and innovation to address local challenges.

This year’s theme, "Strengthening Environmental Sustainability through Inclusive Community Engagement," highlights communities committed to environmental sustainability. The League is looking for communities that actively involve residents, businesses and government stakeholders in efforts to combat climate change and enhance community well-being.

Important dates to remember: Optional letters of intent are due by December 30, 2024, with final applications due by February 27, 2025. In March 2025, 20 finalists will be announced and invited to participate in the second stage of the competition in Denver, Colorado, from June 27-29, 2025. There, communities will present their efforts to a jury of experts for a chance to earn the title of All-America City! Don’t miss this opportunity to showcase your community on a national stage!

For more details, download the 2025 application.

Public Integrity: Article Collection Available

Remember: Public Integrity and publisher Taylor & Francis have made available a special issue, "Qualitative Methods as Liberatory Tools" in front of the paywall to read and download for a limited time. This offer will expire at the end of the year, so if you haven't reviewed the articles of interest yet, make sure you do so this month!

Guest editors Staci M. Zavattaro and Ashley E. Nickels bring together papers designed to expand knowledge in public administration and policy and break out of potentially hegemonic strongholds. The authors in the collection explore topics such as power dynamics, social equity, advocacy and activism, and narrative dominance. The articles also can introduce readers to potentially new-to-them methods such as diary design, Afrofuturism and critical discourse analysis.

Asia Pacific Journal of Public Administration Special Issues

Asia Pacific Journal of Public Administration has published a special issue on "Administrative Burdens as a Global Public Management Phenomenon." The special issue's objective was to advance knowledge of administrative burden scholarship, focusing on the Asia Pacific region, while providing insights relevant to challenges around the world. All the articles published in this special issue are available at Asia Pacific Journal of Public Administration: Vol 45, No 4. Login details are required to access this link.

The journal also has published a special issue on "Digital Transformation of Government in the Asia Pacific Region." The special issue's objective is to advance knowledge of digital transformation of government, focusing on the Asia Pacific region, while providing insights relevant to challenges around the world. To access this special issue, please visit Asia Pacific Journal of Public Administration: Vol 46, No 4. Login details are required to access this link.

Public Administration Today Highlight

Public Administration Today features white papers, research and blogs from across the profession. If you're interested in more—especially your own curated news feed in your inbox every week—visit the website, create an account and check off your interest areas so you can stay up to date about the latest research being released!

Securing AI: Advancing the National Security Mission
Artificial intelligence is not just a technological advancement; it's a national security priority. In this new era, AI is both a powerful technology that can bolster any organization’s cybersecurity capabilities and also a critical part of the technology infrastructure that we need to defend and protect. Google recently commissioned IDC to conduct a study that surveyed 161 federal CAIOs, government AI leaders and other decision makers to understand how agency leaders are leading in this new AI era.

Tips, Resources and the Fun Stuff

Narcissistic Leaders Often Fall, In Time
How to spot narcissistic leadership in your workplace.

32 Rules for Flying Now
The essential handbook for surviving air travel, through the holidays and beyond.

Practicing Gratitude to Navigate Uncertain Times: Five Tips for Federal Employees
There is perhaps no greater change career civil servants experience than a presidential transition to a new administration, a period that often triggers leadership turnover, vacancies in key positions and shifting policy priorities. Change can feel overwhelming. To productively move forward, it is important to incorporate self-awareness and engage others...

Ten Steps Toward a Better Democracy
No matter who they voted for on Election Day, it has become clear that most Americans agree on at least one thing: Our current form of democracy no longer works. Almost three-quarters of us agree that “the U.S. used to be a good example of democracy, but isn’t anymore.” The question before us now is whether we can build a better one.

In the News

Today's headlines contain plenty of news coverage of some of our nation's most pressing public administration challenges. ASPA has curated some of the most important stories from recent weeks. If you have not seen these yet, make sure you read them now!

Infrastructure

• Satisfaction with Government Hits Record High Just Before a New Trump Admin
• Here’s What Trump’s Win Means for NASA
• Major Federal IT Contracts to Remove "Unnecessary" Degree Requirements
• How the Federal CIO Is Prepping for the Presidential Transition
• Are Sea Level Rise Maps Sinking People's Belief in Climate Change?
• Education Launches 2025-26 FAFSA Following Weeks of Testing
• Trump Teams to Deploy Throughout Government after Reaching Agreement with the Biden Administration
• USDA Launches National Testing of Milk from Dairy Farms to Track Bird Flu Outbreak
• GSA Starts Process to Dispose of Eight Federal Buildings
• The Future of Extraction, Energy Dominance and Federal Lands under Trump
• GSA Plans New Federal Employee Travel System with $930 Million IBM Contract

• GAO Saved the Federal Government $67.5 Billion in Fiscal 2024
• Trump's Win Brings Uncertainty to Borrowers Hoping for Student Loan Forgiveness
• Will Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy's New "Department" Actually Be Able to Do Anything?
• Cut the Government with a Scalpel, Not an Axe
• IRS Hiring Freeze Looms, If Congress Doesn’t Address Duplicate $20 Billion Budget Cut
• Agencies See Record Reduction in Improper Payments in Fiscal 2024
• Musk's Budget Crusade Could Cause a Constitutional Clash in Trump's Second Term
• White House, Agencies Warn of Hiring Freezes Without "Anomalies" to Upcoming Spending Bill
• New IRS Funding Boosted Tax Enforcement and Improved Taxpayer Services During the Biden Administration
• Bureau of Prisons to Close Seven Facilities, Threatening About 400 Federal Jobs

• CISA Director Jen Easterly to Depart on Inauguration Day
• Trump Plans to Fire Thousands of Government Workers—but It Won’t Be Easy
• "Extraordinarily Dangerous": Intelligence Community Insiders Warn against Trump’s DNI Pick
• Intelligence IGs Head for the Exit Before Trump’s Return
• Trump Signals New Direction for IRS as He Announces Atypical Plan to Replace Its Leadership
• O'Malley to Step Down as SSA Chief This Month, Seeks Political Role
• Agencies Credit Telework with Recruiting, Retention Gains, GAO Finds
• Trump’s Education Nominee Would Bring Past Government Experience to the Role
• President-Elect Trump Selects Jared Isaacman to Lead NASA
• Trump Picks Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a Pro-Union Republican, to Lead the Labor Department
• Trump Nominates Russ Vought for White House Budget Director Once Again
• Senate Republican’s DOGE Acts Would Codify Schedule F, Freeze Federal Hiring and Salaries
• SSA, AFGE Reach Deal to Lock in Current Telework Levels until 2029

• What Trump's Pick for Secretary of Defense Could Mean for Inclusivity in the Military

Members in the News

Atlanta Suburbs Defy a National Trend, Shifting Left
Including interview quotes from Will Hatcher

"Problematic...": Federal Workers in America Fear Mass Sackings as Schedule F Looms under Donald Trump's Return
Schedule F 2.0...Can It Be That Bad?
Politics vs. Policy: Building Partnerships with New Appointees
By or with ASPA National Council member Ron Sanders

"Apprehensive and Fearful": Federal Workers Await a Dismantling under Trump
How Quickly Could the Trump Administration Shrink the Federal Workforce?
Both with Don Kettl

FEMA Awards $1.9 Million to Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to Develop Code Training and Outreach Programs
Quotes ASPA National Council member Marlon Brown

New Center at KU to Catalyze Research on Democratic Governance
About ASPA member Christopher Koliba

Martin-Howard to Lead Student Research for U.S. State Department [Program]
Long-time ASPA member Simone Martin-Howard will lead a research team as part of a State Department initiative.

Tell Me Something Good...

A 12-Year-Old Honors the Cafeteria Worker Who Came to Her Rescue in First Grade
When Clara Temple was in first grade, about six years ago, she always brought lunch to school. But one day, there was a mix-up. She had to get a hot lunch from the cafeteria. When Temple got in line, she noticed that the other kids were entering their student ID numbers on a keypad before getting their food. But because it was her first time ordering the school lunch, she didn't know her student ID.

Around Public Administration

Here are the most recent updates from across the profession. Did we miss you? Send us your news and we'll include it in the next round!

Upcoming Events:

• 2025 COMPA Conference
  Baton Rouge, LA | March 9-12
  Theme: Elevating Public Service through Public Servants
  Call for proposals; register here
  
  
• 2025 ASPA Annual Conference
  Washington, DC | March 28-April 1
  Theme: Not Robots Yet: Keeping Public Servants in Public Service
  Registration is open
  
  
• 2025 NFBPA FORUM
  San Francisco | April 9-13
  Registration is open
  
  
• 33rd NISPAcee Annual Conference
  Bratislava, Slovakia | May 22-24
  Theme: Polycrisis and Multilevel Governance: Impacts, Lessons Learned, Challenges and Opportunities
  Registration is open

• SENRA Call for Nominations: Davis Student Paper Award
  Students in graduate programs are invited to submit their papers on any environmental topic for consideration in the student paper competition. Faculty members also can nominate student paper(s) for submission. Conference papers, term papers, journal manuscripts are eligible for submission while literature reviews and review essays are ineligible for entry. The paper should be entirely written by the student(s) and not coauthored with any faculty. The best paper will be awarded a prize of $200 and the author will receive a certificate of recognition from SENRA at ASPA's 2025 Annual Conference. Contact Jonathan Fisk with any questions. All papers must be submitted by December 31, 2024.
  
  
• SECM Call for Nominations: Louise Comfort Dissertation Award
  The Section on Emergency and Crisis Management announces its 11th annual dissertation award program, newly renamed the Dr. Louise Comfort Dissertation Award, supporting dissertation research in progress. The award supports research being performed by doctoral candidates who have successfully defended their proposal but have not completed their dissertation, working in the emergency and crisis management area. The winner will be recognized at ASPA's 2025 Annual Conference. Membership in the Section is not required to apply but will be required for award acceptance. All applications are due January 15, 2025. Contact Kaila Witkowski for more information.
  
  
• Public Budgeting & Finance Call for Papers
  Public Budgeting & Finance (PB&F) invites scholars and practitioners to contribute to a special issue focused on comparative evidence and approaches to public budgeting. They are especially interested in original research manuscripts that explore and provide an analytical treatment of comparative budgeting: theories and practice; budgeting contexts and environments (political, cultural, economic); budgeting for inclusion, accountability and democracy; budgeting for climate risks, adaptability, resilience and community agility; priority-based budgeting; and budgeting for social impact, networked governance and participation. They invite scholars and practitioners to submit abstracts (up to 1,000 words) outlining their research projects to [email protected] no later than January 31, 2025. Completed manuscripts are due no later than October 3, 2025. Manuscripts will be reviewed on an expedited basis and may be in-print or published online as early as December 2025. For questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to the editorial team which includes special issue editors Temirlan T. Moldogaziev, Cheol Liu and Ringa Raudla; and PB&F co-editors Craig Johnson and Justin Ross.
  
  
• SECM Best Paper Award Call for Nominations
  ASPA's Section on Emergency and Crisis Management (SECM) is proud to announce its call for papers for the William Petak Best Paper Award. The prestigious award is presented annually to the best paper on an emergency management topic delivered at the ASPA Annual Conference, in honor of William Petak, a founder of SECM and a seminal scholar in emergency management. You do not need to be a Section member to submit your work for consideration. The winner will receive a certificate and $200 cash prize. Submissions should be sent via email to Qian Hu no later than February 15, 2025, by 11:59 p.m. (ET). Please include a PDF of your email from ASPA confirming your paper’s acceptance to the conference. Ensure that all required documents are submitted in one email. Documents must be received by the deadline for consideration.
  
  
• SNP Best Paper Award Call for Nominations
  ASPA's Section on Nonprofits (SNP) is pleased to seek nominations for its Best Paper Award. This award is granted annually to scholarly work that contributes to our understanding of nonprofit and philanthropic research and practice recognizing the interdisciplinarity of the field and its relationship to public administration, policy or other relevant literature. Author(s) of the selected award will be honored during SNP's business meeting at the 2025 Annual Conference. The award comes with one $500 stipend. Nominations should be submitted to Seongho An by February 15, 2025.
  
  2025 Travel Scholarship
  The Section also will award two travel scholarships for expenses for ASPA's 2025 Annual Conference. Award selection will be made based on a committee review of the timeliness and impact of the proposed nonprofit research. You must be a student presenting research at the conference and have a paper or poster approved for presentation to be considered for this scholarship. Interested parties must apply by February 15, 2025. Submit your completed application to Alisa Moldavanova.
  
  
• NFBPA Forum 2025 Scholarship Program Open
  The National Forum of Black Public Administrators (NFBPA) has announced it has opened its Forum 2025 Scholarship Program. Those interested in attending this spring's Forum and applying for a scholarship may do so now. This initiative seeks to honor exceptional scholarship and leadership among African American and minority students currently pursuing full-time education at accredited, traditional four-year colleges or universities, with a preference for those attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), particularly those engaged in public service. NFBPA provides several scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students through its partnerships with corporate supporters, public sector organizations and individual contributors. Apply online now. All applications are due by February 10, 2025. Contact NFBPA via [email protected] with any questions.
  
  
• Special Issue: Public Budgeting and Finance—Adversarial Collaborations in Public Budgeting and Finance
  Adversarial collaboration, an approach proposed by Nobel Prize Laureate Daniel Kahneman, is a method for resolving scientific disputes that arise from conflicting theoretical or ideological views. Authors or teams with opposing views work together on a research project to enhance or clarify understanding of a disputed knowledge area in a mutually satisfying manner. The project is designed to eliminate clear biases or weaknesses that could skew the conclusions. The participation of adversaries throughout the study ensures shared accountability and careful communication of the research. Furthermore, there's typically a pre-commitment to publish the results, irrespective of the findings. Despite their potential, adversarial collaborations aren't as prevalent as other open science innovations aimed at enhancing credibility through transparency, like data sharing, open materials and study preregistration. Public Budgeting & Finance intends to address this shortfall with a special issue (set for late 2026 or early 2027) focused on publishing and recognizing adversarial collaborations. This initiative is open to all topics relevant to public finances. Proposed projects will be evaluated and accepted on a rolling basis through May 2025. Accepted proposals are expected to complete manuscripts by April 1, 2026. Selected teams will be invited to present results at a special conference or dedicated session on the theme of Adversarial Collaborations in Public Finance, and travel funding will be extended to invitees. For more information, contact co-editors-in-Chief Craig Johnson and Justin Ross. Click here for more information.
  
  
• PMM Special Issue Call for Papers
  Public Money and Management announces a special issue: The Politics and Management of Policing. The policing of society is a core feature of the modern state, lying at the heart of relationships between citizens and the state, with questions of legitimacy, equity, power, authority, governance as well as the effectiveness and efficiency of organizational performance as central matters of interest. Policing has some distinctive features, yet also offers insights to other public services. While police organizations are of particular scholarly and professional interest, the analysis of policing may include other groups, organizations and institutions concerned with order and safety in society, hence the focus is on policing not only police. With many countries contemplating or implementing reforms to police organizations, this topic is of wide interest to both academics and practitioners. The audience for readers of this themed issue is an interdisciplinary and broadly defined community of academics and professionals who share an interest in the research of policing, law enforcement and the provision of public safety from an organizational, managerial, governance and/or public policy analysis perspective. Editors invite articles exploring questions of policing and public management, for example concerning the legitimacy, equity, power, authority, governance and organizational performance in policing; the analysis of organizational functions such as strategic planning, human resource management, budgeting and evaluation, coordination of operations, control of accountability of policing, cooperation with public and private partners; whether and how policing is value-creating or value-destroying in different settings and social environments; changing roles and expectations of police at points of political and societal change and/or stress and austerity; comparative analysis of policing values, operations, consequences in or across different locales; political governance systems and their implications for the provision of an effective, fair and accountable police service—in both its ideal forms and its practical manifestations—for policing. All submissions are due June 16, 2025. Click here for more information.
  
  

PA TIMES Online

Here's a selection of current pieces on PA TIMES Online, covering a range of issues within the profession. We accept individual articles on a rolling basis; if you have a piece you think would fit our publication, submit it to [email protected] for consideration. (Please review our submission guidelines in advance!)

• The Hidden Balance Sheet: How Infrastructure Deficits Are Imperiling City Budgets, and What Can Be Done About It
  By Andrew Kleine
  
  
• Navigating the Digital Frontier: Public Sector Finance in the Remote Work Era
  By Benjamin Effinger
  
  
• From Fear to Focus: Building an AI-Ready Workforce
  By Thuong “Annie” Bui