blog posts

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  Fed Up with the Status Quo: Read This

  Sep 17, 2020 9:45 am229 views

  Look around your organization. Are you amazed at just how resigned everyone is to the status quo? Does the seeming acceptance of mediocrity bother you?  Despite severe environmental pressures, are the people around you behaving in obviously ineffective ways that could be threatening the very survival of the organization?  The problem is that most organizations are incapable of learning or changing themselves in response to experience (i.e., the discrepancy between expectations and results).  So what is the solution?

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  Earth Day: Celebrating 50 Years of Environmental Awareness & Action

  Apr 22, 2020 7:00 am228 views

  Today, Earth Day remains an important day to reflect on how far we have come, identify the problems that we must still solve, and decide what actions to take to protect and restore the ecosystems that sustain all of us.

  Although COVID-19 may keep us from gathering together at large public rallies this year, here are three things you can do to celebrate Earth Day today and every day.

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  2022 U.S. Senate Elections

  Nov 4, 2022 9:00 am227 views

  This semester in PSC 407: Campaigns and Elections, political science students at UIS have been researching some of the most competitive and high-profile congressional elections taking place in 2022. Here is some of their analysis.  

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  LGBTQ Elected Officials & Candidates – Is Representation Fair and Equal?

  May 21, 2020 9:00 am224 views

  Political scientists have established that identity can influence representation by bringing issues to the policy process that were not previously addressed. Unfortunately, LGBTQ policy suffers from significant underrepresentation.

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  My UIS Experience

  Mar 30, 2021 9:00 am221 views

  UIS has been an incredible steppingstone in building my future. UIS encouraged me to be open minded, adventurous, independent, and confident. These qualities led me to become the successful Attorney I am now.

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  The Great Dissenters: “Writing not for today but for tomorrow”

  Oct 7, 2020 2:00 pm220 views

  In the last decade of her life, Justice Ginsburg was revered as a genuine American cultural icon.  Her life serves as a testimony of the importance to fight for the equal citizenship stature of men and women in the U.S.

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  Legislative Internships and What’s Next

  Aug 19, 2021 11:00 am218 views

  Change is in the air. It’s that time of year and the UIS Campus is beginning to look like a college campus again with students coming and going in larger numbers than in over a year. Throughout this time, the Illinois Legislative Staff Intern Program has continued placing students with the Illinois General Assembly.

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  Why Should You Consider A Political Science Bachelor’s Degree at UIS?

  Jul 29, 2021 10:00 am217 views

  I learned about politics when I asked for a new bike at age seven.  First my mom, and then my dad, asked me if the other parent had agreed to this life-changing purchase.  I was running interference between my parents. I could tell that my mom was supportive of my quest for a bike, so I teamed up with her to convince my dad. A few days later, I was a happy little girl with a shiny new bike.  Come study politics with us at UIS to learn how individuals, societies, and states cooperate and compete with each other to get what they want.

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  We Know This Much is True

  Jan 25, 2022 9:00 am211 views

  Deidre Graham Silas was laid to rest this past weekend, in a beautiful service that intentionally celebrated the life she lived, rather than the circumstances that tragically ended her life on January 5th.  But to fully understand this reflective piece it is sadly necessary to point out how Deidre’s life was ended....

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  Commencement and Graduation and Pomp and Circumstance: What does it Really Mean?

  May 18, 2022 9:00 am211 views

  Just what is graduation, what is commencement, why are they important life milestones? Let’s take a brief look.

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  COVID and its Impact on Higher Education

  Jul 23, 2020 9:00 am211 views

  In our article recent article for Administrative Theory & Praxis “COVID and the Impact on Higher Education: The Essential Role of Integrity and Accountability”, we discuss challenges facing postsecondary institutions due to the COVID crisis and the critical roles that institutional integrity and accountability will play for postsecondary institutions in the COVID era, as well as the importance of embracing the role higher education plays in advancing social equity.

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  Elevated Gun Violence in U.S. Cities of All Sizes

  May 1, 2023 10:00 am203 views

  Observes political science professor, Magic M. Wade, “Gun violence is not merely a red state or blue city problem, it is a worsening, widespread phenomenon affecting American communities everywhere.”

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  Reform: Restoration, Revitalization, and Representation

  Jun 11, 2021 11:15 am202 views

  You are invited to Reform: Restoration, Revitalization, and Representation, the first in a series of webinars on critical societal issues resulting from social determinant factors directly impacting historically marginalized populations.  The series is sponsored by The Illinois Legislative Black Caucus Foundation, the UIS College of Public Affairs and Administration, and the UIS Center for State Policy and Leadership.

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  Researching the Relationship Between Military Service And Public Service Motivation

  Jun 24, 2021 9:00 am201 views

  As I was preparing to retire from my military career, and focus on my civilian career in Human Resources, I started the Doctorate of Public Administration program at University of Illinois Springfield.  As I began the program and considered potential research topics, I began to focus on a way to leverage my military experience with a relevant human resource-related concept. 

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  The Economy at the Start of 2022

  Mar 30, 2022 9:00 am200 views

  The economy at the start of 2022 can be summarized by the proverbial glass-half-full or glass-half-empty scenario. In this blog post, I will attempt to summarize the current data on the national, state, and regional economy, address concerns that continue to plague the economy, and summarize forecaster’s best guesses about what the economy will do for the rest of this year and into 2023.

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  GPSI: Onward and Upward!

  Jun 23, 2022 9:00 am200 views

  We’re thrilled to announce a record-breaking interview round for GPSI this May, not only did we place the highest number of interns, but we also had the most intern positions and intern applicants.

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  PAR Alumni Spotlight: Andrea Zelinski hikes 2,193-mile Appalachian Trail

  Feb 16, 2021 12:15 pm197 views

  In the years since completing the Public Affairs Reporting program in 2008, Andrea Zelinski has been covering politics and government for news organizations in Illinois, Tennessee and Texas. But in 2020, she pause her journalism career for a seven-month journey on the Appalachian Trail, the 2,193-mile hiking trail that covers 14 states.

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  Separate and Unequal: PR in the USA Map Amid Covid-19

  May 5, 2020 7:00 am187 views

  Is a USA map complete in 2020 leaving out America’s populated unincorporated territories - Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, United States Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and American Samoa?

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  Illinois Bill Explores How to Save Local Journalism

  Jun 22, 2021 10:00 am186 views

  In the blur of legislative activity that closed out the spring 2021 session of the Illinois General Assembly, state lawmakers passed a bill that would help figure out how to save local journalism. If signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the law would create a group of 15 people to study communities underserved by local journalism and recommend ways to preserve and/or restore coverage in those area.

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  CPAE Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Brooke Depenbusch, Legal Studies

  Dec 1, 2022 9:00 am186 views

  CPAE Faculty Spotlight on Dr. Brooke Depenbusch, Assistant Professor in the Department of Legal Studies, whose teaching and research center on the intersection between economic inequality, state structure & social policy, and social movements in the modern United States.

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  To China and Back: A Student’s Air Pollution Study Leads to Adventures beyond the Academic

  Jun 2, 2020 9:00 am180 views

  Before I began my research project “Investigation of Indoor and Outdoor Air Quality in China and United States: Volatile Organic Compounds”, I had never experienced the feeling of holding a project so near and dear to my heart that I would fall asleep thinking about it and wake up in the morning having the project on my mind.

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  Purposefully Connecting and Collaborating Online

  Jun 3, 2021 9:15 am179 views

  Like many people over the past year, I found myself at the kitchen counter with my kindergartener as we peered into his computer screen and listened to his teacher.  Eyes glued to the screen, we watched his teacher move two red cubes and then four yellow, explaining the day’s math lesson.  This was a big change for both of us.  His experience being online was limited to a treasured hour on the iPad each weekend, while my work for the last decade revolved around online degree programs.

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  Taking Stock of Bostock

  Jul 2, 2020 9:00 am179 views

  Last month, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) handed down a 6-3 ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County. The central finding from SCOTUS was that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects employees based on their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Put more simply, an employer cannot fire an employee simply for identifying as a LGBTQ+.

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  New executive orders target climate change, job creation, and environmental justice

  Mar 31, 2021 8:30 am178 views

  A new Presidential Administration brings with it new people, priorities, actions, and policies. Presidents’ approaches to environmental policy, in particular, have oscillated drastically during the last several administrations depending on which party the then-President identified with. This oscillation is so familiar to us it may feel like a given - but it wasn’t always this way.

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  CPAE Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Meghan Kessler, School of Education

  Dec 8, 2022 9:00 am178 views

  CPAE Faculty Spotlight on Dr. Meghan Kessler, Assistant Professor of Teacher Education in the UIS School of Education, whose recent research focuses on the implementation of new state standards for educator preparation.

• GPSI Springing Forward

  Apr 15, 2021 9:00 am175 views

  As each academic semester comes to a close, students, faculty, and staff take time to reflect on the accomplishments of the previous year and look forward to the coming year. In GPSI, the month of April is a time for celebration, recognition, and new beginnings. As we say “See you later” to one group of graduating interns, we are simultaneously interviewing for their successors. For the past many years, GPSI has hosted a Recognition Breakfast that highlights graduating interns, special projects, and shares new updates with our community members. At the breakfast, GPSI awards one outstanding intern the Brian T. Milbrandt Memorial Intern Award for Academic and Professional Excellence and one exceptional supervisor the Sagarika Madala Memorial Award for Exemplary Leadership. Both awards are named in memory of two former GPSIs.

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  CPAA Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Bob Blankenberger, SPMP

  Feb 10, 2022 9:15 am172 views

  CPAA Faculty Spotlight on Dr. Bob Blankenberger, Associate Professor of Public Administration in the UIS School of Public Management and Policy, whose research interests are focused on educational policy, program evaluation, and how to improve educational attainment.

• 2020 Reset: Do not give up on the year just yet …

  Jul 10, 2020 3:15 pm170 views

  We recently past the 2020 half-way point. Have you given up on your hopes and dreams for the year? Do you feel like the goals that you set for this year are no longer possible? Have you settled into a wait-and-see pattern, and now just trying to tread water? It’s understandable. After all, we all tend to move toward urgency, and we are still dealing with a global pandemic.

  For many of you, it is time for a reset. Many of you need to pick a direction and start swimming so that your long-term goals do not drown (i.e., die) along with your yearly goals. 

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  The Law of Motherhood in the Gender-Dependent Application of Criminal Responsibility for Failing to Protect Children

  Apr 17, 2023 10:00 am169 views

  When a child is injured or killed by an adult in the home, a marked gender division appears in the application of criminal responsibility against the non-abusing parent. When children are harmed by a man in the home, mothers are regularly prosecuted under statutes criminalizing the failure to protect one’s children, yet men virtually never face charges when the roles are reversed and the mother has harmed the children while the father has failed to protect them.

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  Alternative Approaches to State Budget Cuts: What does Budget Theory Suggest?

  Dec 17, 2020 9:00 am168 views

  Now that Illinois voters rejected the Graduated Income Tax Amendment, the next logical question is how the state will balance its budget for fiscal year 2021 and beyond. While there is room in the state’s borrowing authority with the Federal Reserve under the Municipal Liquidity Facility (MLF), a larger concern is that much of this deficit is not due to COVID-19 related revenues and expenditures, but due to a long standing mismatch between state revenues and expenditures, a problem that the graduated income tax proposal was supposed to address. Borrowing this way would get the state through the immediate budgetary challenge, but what happens in FY22 and beyond?

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  Centering the Ocean in an Uncertain World: A Post for Inland Communities on World Oceans Day

  Jun 8, 2020 4:30 pm167 views

  June 8 is World Oceans Day. And on every June 8 since 1992, this day has marked an opportunity to raise awareness about the benefits humans derive from the ocean, as well as humans’ reciprocal duty to protect the ocean and use its resource responsibly and sustainably.

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  COVID-19: Present and Future Challenges for Education Leaders

  Jun 4, 2020 9:15 am162 views

  When Governor JB Pritzker issued a Gubernatorial Disaster Proclamation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 12, 2020, the effects on the P-20 education spectrum were complex and far reaching.

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  Mission Control: Misinformation

  Nov 4, 2021 9:30 am160 views

  Misinformation has cost us all a lot of time and is increasingly costing us more.  How do you make sure you have credible information? 

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  UIS to host Midwest Public Affairs Conference

  Jun 1, 2022 9:00 am158 views

  On June 23-24, the UIS College of Public Affairs and Administration is hosting the 2022 Midwest Public Affairs Conference (MPAC) and this year the theme is “Designing and Running the Innovative Public Service Agency.” 

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  Trump Controversies Raise Journalism Ethics Questions

  Sep 15, 2020 9:15 am157 views

  An analysis:  two recent news stories that make President Trump look bad have launched important discussions about journalism ethics. 

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  A Place to Call Home – But Not For Everyone

  Jun 23, 2020 9:45 am151 views

  Dismantling systemic racism must include addressing the denial of rentals to voucher holders. The seemingly neutral policy of refusing to accept Housing Choice Vouchers (commonly known as Section 8), often disproportionately affects minorities.

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  PAR grad Ray Long talks about Michael Madigan with us on March 17

  Feb 16, 2022 9:00 am149 views

  Ray Long, PAR '81, chronicles Speaker Madigan’s storied legislative career in a new book – “The House That Madigan Built: The Record Run of Illinois' Velvet Hammer”, which comes out March 22.  We’d like to invite you to join us on Zoom at noon March 17 to hear from Long about his book and his career covering Madigan.

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  November Public Affairs Minute - Civility

  Nov 9, 2021 11:15 am147 views

  There is one concept that emerges above all in trying to seek a solution or a way forward in our current divisive political environment and social discord. That missing ingredient is civility.

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  Announcing the 2023 Railsplitter's Banquet on March 31st

  Feb 9, 2023 3:30 pm146 views

  You are invited to the 2023 Railsplitter's Banquet on March 31st, 2023 at 6:30pm featuring guest speaker Federal District Court Judge, The Honorable Brian S. Miller.  Sponsored by the UIS School of Public Management and Policy.

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  Time for a social media break?

  Sep 27, 2022 9:00 am146 views

  Many of today’s college juniors and seniors report opening their first social media account (usually on Facebook, with a parent’s help) when they were around 10 years old. That means they’ve spent half of their lifetimes on the app!

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  Continuing America’s Laboratory of Democracy Through State and Local Electoral Innovations

  May 24, 2022 9:00 am144 views

  A recurring finding among researchers is that American voters have grown dissatisfied with the electoral system in America.  This post discusses alternative voting systems and related research conducted by the staff and faculty of the Center for State Policy and Leadership which was recently published in American Politics Research, a peer-reviewed academic journal.

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  Connor Krater: My Experience at UIS

  Jun 15, 2021 10:00 am144 views

  The reasons I chose the University of Illinois at Springfield (UIS) are simple. Coming out of high school, I wanted to become involved in Illinois state politics, as Illinois had been my home for my entire life. UIS offered me ample opportunity to get involved in the Illinois state capital and its associated internships while studying its politics.

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  Budget & Finance Expertise: UIS Public Administration Professors Participate in ABFM Conference in Washington DC

  Oct 19, 2021 9:30 am144 views

  Six Public Administration faculty members presented at the the Association for Budgeting and Financial Management (ABFM) conference in Washington, DC, from September 30 to October 2, 2021. 

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  International Students Make Our Education System Richer, Better, and Stronger

  Jul 16, 2020 9:00 am143 views

  On July 6th, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a guidance that announced: “The U.S. Department of State will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall semester nor will U.S. Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States.” As institutions continue to grapple with COVID-19 and how to reopen campuses safely for the fall semester (which is just a few weeks away), the administration’s decision to potentially penalize universities for going fully online in the fall sent shockwaves to all constituents of the U.S. higher education system.

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  Human Services Program - the End of an Era

  Apr 6, 2022 9:00 am141 views

  Saying farewell to Dr. Denise Bockmier-Sommers, Associate Professor & Human Services Program Lead, as she retires at the end of this academic year.

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  Protests on the Streets: Seeing From the Lens of Goodness

  Nov 3, 2020 9:00 am141 views

  A beautiful Arabic proverb teaches us that a vessel only spills that which it contains. If a cup of water falls, it will spill merely that which it holds. Our heart is also a vessel of sorts. If it harbors prejudice and hate, what it divulges is simply a manifestation of what was in it. But if it houses compassion and love, then it will accordingly release what it bears.

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  Helping Preserve and Enhance our Urban Trees

  Mar 29, 2021 10:30 am139 views

   Urban trees are the pillars of our community. They help decrease air pollution, reduce flooding, produce valuable resources, provide a habitat for wildlife, promote physical and mental health, and encourage a sense of community (Turner-Skoff & Cavender, 2019). We marvel at these benefits, but we also have a responsibility to take care of these trees. 

  You are invited to join us on Wednesday, March 31 from 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. for a virtual program on Urban Trees: Planning, Policy, and Planting. This program, which is sponsored by the Citizens Club of Springfield in partnership with the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) Center for State Policy and Leadership, is part of the National Endowment of the Arts Big Read: Sangamon County. Programs and activities are taking place throughout our community in March and April based on the featured book Lab Girl by Hope Jahren.

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  Saving Local News

  May 26, 2020 8:45 am138 views

  Local journalism was in serious trouble before anyone heard of COVID-19, but amid a worldwide shutdown intended to stem the spread of the dangerous virus, the financial struggles of your local media outlet are even more serious now. So how can we fix this?

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  Politics Suck: Can I get an amen?

  Oct 1, 2020 9:00 am138 views

  Now, do I have your attention? Good, but this article is not about Donald Trump or Joe Biden.

  It’s about you. It’s about me. It’s about us.

  It’s about the type of office politics that we all engage in that undermine the health of our workplaces and our own futures.

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  April Public Affairs Minute: Mental Health Days for Students, Professors and Staff and You!

  Apr 13, 2022 9:00 am137 views

  A new law went into effect on Jan. 1, 2022, that gives Illinois students five mental health days to use throughout the year without a doctor's note.  This brief message is another plea to step back and take a break.