Richard Funderburg is an associate professor in the School of Public Management and Policy and a collaborating scholar at the Institute of Government and Public Affairs, where he is a member of the Fiscal and Economic Policy working group. He earned his Ph.D.

Travis Bland is the Interim Dean of the College of Health, Science, and Technology. Dr. Bland received his Ph.D. from the Center for Public Administration and Policy at Virginia Tech. Professor Bland specializes in evaluating public programs and is a strategic planning and organizational health and design consultant. His research interests include front-line behavior, social welfare policy, and behavioral science (psychology of human decision-making and employee motivation and performance). Dr.