About Us: Research & Initiatives

Appointees Project

A project headed jointly by CPAP faculty members Matt Dull and Patrick Roberts, the goal of the Appointees Project is to inform public deliberation about the role of presidential appointees in the American political system and contribute to debate about proposed reforms to the appointments process in federal government agencies. Claims that political appointees negatively impact the performance of public sector organizations are a time-worn tradition in the American system. Recent controversies involving agency appointees draw new attention and salience to these concerns. There are many ideas to “fix” the appointments process, this research project aims simply to add a measure of transparency and understanding in a policy domain about which public knowledge is critically lacking. Check out the project blog Policy & Administration or contact Matt Dull (mdull@vt.edu) to learn more about our research.

Certificate in Local Government

The Commonwealth of Virginia long has benefited from the service of highly qualified local public managers. However, many from this cadre of professional public managers are approaching the end of their careers, and there is currently a serious need to develop the next generation of competent public managers who will provide leadership for local governments and local government agencies in the coming decades. The International City Management Association has identified this as one of the most important issues that local governments will face in the coming decade. The certificate program presented below responds to these impending demographic changes among local government managers in the Commonwealth as well as throughout the other forty-nine states.

The Center for Public Administration and Policy (CPAP), in partnership with the Virginia Local Government Management Association (VLGMA), has worked to develop a graduate certificate program in local government management in order to meet this pressing workforce development need in the Commonwealth. The major goal is to create a local government management graduate certificate program that prepares students for careers in local government as well as targets current local government employees who aspire to be a Town, City, or County Manager or Assistant/Deputy Manager.

More specifically, the objectives for this program are:

• To provide qualified local government professionals currently in service, and early-career students who intend to become local government managers, with challenging applied and theoretical professional development opportunities in local government management and public policy.
• To engage faculty, practitioners, and graduate students in systematic research and study designed to improve the quality of local government management, policy making, and public service.

Local government certificate program: http://www.cpe.vt.edu/localgov/program_faculty.html
Click here to download The Graduate Certificate in Local Government Management

Roundtable on Leadership and Administration

The CPAP Roundtable Series brings leading scholars and practitioners to the table for insightful and thoughtful conversation with students, members of academia, public managers, and participants from the nonprofit and private sector to exchange ideas, share research and experience, and advance our knowledge and understanding of leadership in public administration. Participants have the opportunity to explore the links between theory and practice in an intimate setting of conversation. View a fact sheet about the Roundtable. Or visit our blog.

The co-convenors for the Roundtable are Dr. Anne Khademian, Associate Program Director, CPAP (akhademi@vt.edu) and Dr. Colleen Woodard, Visiting Assistant Professor, CPAP (cwoodard@fed-tech.com).

Lunchtime Workshop on Public Affairs

The Center for Public Administration and Policy hosts a bi-annual Lunchtime Workshop on Public Affairs aimed at facilitating a robust dialogue around important administrative and policy topics of the day. 

Certificate in Homeland Security

CPAP is partnering with Virginia Tech's Center for Technology, Security, and Policy (CTSP) (www.ctsp.vt.edu) to create a graduate certificate program in homeland security policy that may serve either as a stand-alone credential of advanced educational achievement for non-degree students or as a supplement to a masters or doctoral degree. The program will require the completion of four homeland security related courses with a major paper option that will introduce students to the complexity of the homeland security environment and expose them to a broad array of issues relating to homeland security strategy, policy formulation, organizational challenges, planning and operations. The certificate will recognize concentrated work in the field of homeland security policy.

The goals of this certificate include:

• To address the spectrum of homeland security policy to include the threat, prevention, and response and recovery.
• To provide qualified homeland security professionals in the public and private sectors and graduate students who seek to build academic careers in the field of homeland security policy with the opportunity to study and enhance their knowledge and skill sets.
• To engage faculty, graduate students, and other scholars in systemic research and study designed to expand the body of homeland security knowledge, develop it as an academic discipline, and improve the quality of homeland security policy making, and public service.
• To leverage the unique knowledge, experience and education of scholars and practitioners in the National Capital Region to combine theory and practice to produce exceptional educational opportunities for a broad spectrum of students who seek careers in academia, business, or public service. 
• To serve as a magnet within the National Capital Region for highly qualified faculty with relevant research interests and/or experience relating to national security and homeland security.

Inclusive Management Fellows Program

The Coast-to-Coast Inclusive Management Initiative represents the ongoing research conducted by Professor Martha Feldman of the University of California, Irvine, and Dr. Anne Khademian of Virginia Tech.

The IM Initiative examines the practices of inclusive management, building a theoretical understanding of the practices, and communicating our work through publications, discussion and public speaking. The initiative is also dedicated to expanding and growing the application of the core principals of inclusive management among present and future managers.

Launched in Fall 2007, the Inclusive Management Fellows program is intended to build a community of practitioners and scholars engaged in continuous learning about inclusion that fosters democratic practices.

The Coast-to-Coast Inclusive Management Initiative represents a CPAP commitment to examining the challenges of leadership in administrative settings, and to spearheading the scholarly, pedagogical and practitioner efforts to develop a model of leadership that is distinctive in its administrative context.

CPAP Alexandria hosts the biannual CPAP Round Table on Leadership and Administration, the Lunch with Leaders program, and seeks opportunities to host conferences and workshops on the topic. Fellows in the Inclusive Management program are a valuable resource for these ongoing initiatives.

Inclusive Management Fellows appointed to the Initiative will represent practicing managers from a range of agencies and organizations, levels of government, and countries, all practicing inclusive management, and distinguished by their records of accomplishment.

IM Fellows also bring practicing managers into the fold of CPAP as a resource for ongoing and new research on inclusive practices. Under the new program, IM Fellows will speak to classes and students, participate in roundtables and conferences, and provide a point of contact in a range of agencies and organizations.

These interactions will provide IM Fellows with the opportunity to engage other managers and scholars on the challenges of inclusive management. Individual events will be held to formally introduce new Fellows to students, faculty and alumni of CPAP, and to practicing managers in the Washington, DC area.

For more information about the Inclusive Management Fellows program, contact Dr. Anne Khademian at akhademi@vt.edu.