On June 23-24, the College of Public Affairs and Administration is hosting the 2022 Midwest Public Affairs Conference (MPAC). MPAC is affiliated with the American Society for Public Administration and is an organization promoting research, collaboration, and socialization across numerous groups, especially academics, practitioners, policymakers, and students.
The conference theme is “Designing and Running the Innovative Public Service Agency.” We have exciting things planned! Over 75 people will be attending and presenting. Presenters will examine critical public administration and public policy topics, including motivation; budgeting, finance, and taxation; ethics; policing; representativeness; public and nonprofit leadership and management; COVID-19; data and problem solving; bringing practitioner-academic divides; and more! Panels will feature time for audience Q&A and engagement.
If you are not already registered (and you do not have to be a presenter in order to attend!), please do so here:
ACADEMIC/PROFESSIONAL REGISTRATION ($185)
Be sure to check out the schedule here as well as these highlights:
Wednesday June 22:
- 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM: Academic Women in Public Administration (AWPA) Social at Blue Margaritas Mexican Bar & Grill, 3151 Horizon Dr, Springfield, IL 62703
Thursday June 23:
- Opening Ceremony
- Panels
- Lunch and Keynote Address from Dr. Deborah Carroll, University of Illinois at Chicago. Lunch Sponsored by the Whitburn Center for Governance Policy Research at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.
- 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM: UIS Sponsored Reception at The Lincoln Museum. You must be registered for the conference to attend this event.
Friday June 24:
- Panels
- 12:00 PM to 1:20 PM: Lunch, Awards Presentation, and President’s Address. Lunch Sponsored by University of Nebraska at Omaha School of Public Administration.
We hope to see you there! For any questions, please contact Dr. Sean McCandless at smcca8@uis.edu.
Dr. Sean McCandless is an Associate Professor of Public Administration in the UIS School of Public Management and Policy. He received his Ph.D. in Public Affairs from the School of Public Affairs of the University of Colorado Denver. In addition to working as an assistant professor at UIS, Dr. M serves as associate director of the Doctorate in Public Administration (DPA) program. His research concerns accountability for social equity, or how public service institutions become fairer in access, processes, quality, and outcomes of public services. With Dr. Mary E. Guy, he is co-editor of the book Achieving Social Equity: From Problems to Solutions. He is currently editing other scholarly book volumes, and journal symposia focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion in public administration. With Dr. Staci Zavattaro, Dr. Brandi Blessett, and Dr. Esteban Santis, Dr. M is co-editor of Routledge Publishing’s social equity in public administration book series. His research is published in Public Administration Review, Administrative Theory & Praxis, Public Integrity, the Journal of Public Affairs Education, and several edited volumes. Dr. M was named the University Scholar (the university’s highest research award) for 2021-2022.