Scott Barclay, associate professor of political science, was involved in the co-editing and writing of Queer Mobilizations: LGBT Activists Confront the Law, an edited volume which will be published in August by NYU Press.  Queer Mobilizations is the first comprehensive work to examine the strategic ways in which the LGBT movement engages with the law, and the way those engagements, in turn, shape legal rules, public discourse, and the movement itself. Click here for more information.

Helen Desfosses, associate professor of public administration and policy and a Collins Fellow, traveled to Kyrgzstan in December for a two-week consultancy on local government strengthening.  It was funded by the United States Agency for International Development.

Robert Purtell Presents Paper to the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management

Robert Purtell, assistant professor of public administration and policy, presented a paper to the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management entitled, “Does Stop and Frisk Stop Crime?”  The paper found that stop and frisk activities had a strong impact on robbery, murder, burglary, and auto theft with a more localized effect on grand larceny and assault and no significant impact on rape.

Jose Cruz, associate professor of political science, was awarded a grant for $25,000 from the Office of Diversity and Educational Equity at SUNY-Central.  He also presented in the 38th Annual Black and Puerto Rican Legislators Conference on the role of higher education institutions in workforce development for Latinos in New York State, and published two reports for The New York Latino Research and Resources Network entitled Looking Forward: Puerto Ricans in the Quest for the New York City Mayoralty and Latinos in New York State: Demographic Status and Political Representation.

Julie Novkov, associate professor of political science, guest edited a four article mini-symposium and published an introductory essay in the December 2008 edition of Political Research Quarterly, which focused on race and American political development.  In addition, she published two book reviews in the Law and Politics Book Review and co-edited the volume Security Disarmed for Rutgers University Press.  Novkov also presented a paper entitled, “Sacrifice and Civic Membership: The Case of World War I” at the annual meeting of the Western Political Science Association in March.

Judith Saidel, Director for the Center for Women in Government and Civil Society, and Associate Professor of Publics Administration and Policy will be honored with the 2009 Women’s Business Council, Women of Excellence Distinguished Career Award.
The Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber's "Women of Excellence" Awards honors women who have made significant contributions to business in the region and community. The honorees will be recognized at the Chamber's Women's Business Council's 18th Annual Women of Excellence Awards Luncheon, to be held Wednesday, June 17th at the Holiday Inn Albany on Wolf Road. 
The event is open to the public and a good opportunity to show support for women in business while enjoying the recipients' inspiring stories of success and connecting (and re-connecting) with Chamber members.  To register or for more information.

Alethia Jones, assistant professor for public administration and policy and political science, recently published a chapter in The City in American Political Development. The book includes a collection of articles by established scholars who each makes an argument for rethinking the relationship between cities and the larger project of state-building. Alethia’s article, “Immigration and Institutional Change: The Urban Origins of US Postal Savings Banks,” appeared in the fourth section of the book entitled, “The National Significance of Urban Immigration, Racial, and Ethnic Politics.”

In addition, Alethia recently was honored with the Drescher Award for fall, 2009. This grant will allow her a pre-tenure leave so she may complete a book manuscript, From Liability to Asset: Immigrant Social Networks and the Politics of Community Banking, 1900-2000, which explores the role of public policy in integrating immigrants into US banking institutions. She will also use this time to finish the peer-reviewed article, “Creating Synergy: Top-Down Policymaking and Immigrant Community Banking” about the five political factors that produced pro-immigrant banking policies and demonstrates the argument using the case of Haitian immigrants in Miami.

Rockefeller Continues to Represent Well at Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings

Karl Rethemeyer, assistant professor of public administration and policy, along with Rockefeller graduate students Hyun Hee Park and Deneen Hatmaker, recently had their paper, "The Politics of Connections: Assessing the Determinants of Social Structure in Policy Networks," accepted for inclusion in the Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings (BPP) for the 2009 Annual Meeting.  In addition, it should be noted that this is the second BPP in a row for Hyun Hee Park,  second BPP in a row and third overall for Deneen Hatmaker; and the fourth BPP in five years Karl Rethemeyer.

Mitch Abolafia, associate professor in public administration and policy, was recently honored with the Best Symposium Award from the Academy of Management's Organization and Management Theory Division.  Mitch was honored alongside co-panelists Don Palmer, Jerry Davis, and Paul Hirsch.  The symposium focused on the  Financial Meltdown.

Rockefeller students Dong Chul Shim, Navid Ghaffarzadegan, Hyun Hee Park and Russell Hassan recently had their conference papers accepted for presentation at the national meeting of the Academy of Management upcoming in August.

Navid's paper was entitled, "Modeling the Effects of Conditional Feedback on Learning" and was co-authored with Professor Thomas R. Stewart.

Russell's paper was entitled, “Psychological Climate Perceptions and Affective Commitment: Occupational Group Differences in the Public Sector” and co-authored with Professor John Rohrbaugh. He also recently had another paper with Dr. Rohrbaugh accepted for publication in the International Public Management Journal. This article was entitled, “Incongruity in 360-degree Feedback Ratings and Competing Managerial Values: Evidence from a Public Agency Setting.”

Dong wrote "Government career commitment: Occupational group differences in perceptions of the work environment" with John Rohrbaugh, "Improvisation and learning in an emergency response agency” with Hyunhee Park, and "Korean public employees' agreeableness in the effectiveness of performance management system" with Yong Soo Kwon and Sung Won Hwang.

Hyun Hee wrote "The Politics of Connections: Assessing the Determinants of Social Structure in Policy Networks" with Professor Karl Rethemeyer and Deneen Hatmaker, "Women's Sex Homophily in Social Networks: A Longitudinal Study" with Professor Karl Rethemeyer and "Improvisation and Learning in An Emergency Response Agency" with Dong Chul Shim.

Papers presented at these meetings pass a rigorous peer review process.

Professional Development Program Supports Graduate Interns

The Professional Development Program (PDP) has a long history of supporting Rockefeller College graduate students through employment in its various programs.  In the fall of 2008, Paul Novaro, a student in the Public Security and Public Management track, and Alice McGrath, a student in the Financial Management concentration, were hired by the Public service Workshops Program (PSWP) to assist with the development of non-credit workshops for employees of New York State in Professional, Scientific and Technical Titles.  After Paul graduated in December of 2008, he was hired by PSWP as a full-time Project Staff Assistant.  PDP’s Tobacco Interventions Project also hired Bryan Haynes in the fall of 2008.  Bryan has a dual concentration of Financial Management and Public Security.

“We are pleased to be able to provide these learning opportunities to graduate students of our college,” said Eugene. J. Monaco, PDP Executive Director and Public Service Professor.  “The students bring enthusiasm and positive energy to the job, and in exchange, learn first-hand how government works.  We’ve had students in previous years who were awarded prestigious internships at the Government Accountability Office and the Washington Semester Program.  The work experiences they had at PDP and the support provided by PDP staff helped them to achieve these honors.”

David McCaffrey, distinguished teaching professor of public administration and policy and Collins Fellow, prepared a survey of reports with Christine Sgarlata Chung of Albany Law School.  The survey of reports was on financial institutions and regulatory reform for the Congressional Oversight Panel overseeing the implementation of the Troubled Asset Relief Program. 

Kirk Remekie, a second year MPA student, was recently honored with Self Advocacy Award by the Capital District Center for Independence, Inc.  The Capital District Center is a community organization which advocates for achieving respect, justice and full participation for and with people with disabilities.  Kirk, who is legally blind, won this award based on his outstanding ability, determination, and motivation to advocate on his own behalf to affect change in the community. 

Katie Neer

Katherine Neer, a senior political science major in the department of political science honor's program, has been named a winner of the Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence. Katie is a student-athlete, a member of the SUNYA Lacrosse Team, and will receive her BA degree in May of this year. Her award is one of a small number given to a student at the University of Albany. With financial support provided by the department of political science Katie recently attended a conference at the New School in New York City dealing with the topic of her honors thesis, "Post-Secularism: Reevaluating the Religious-Secular Divide in America,” was written under the direction of Morton Schoolman, professor of political science.

Abieyuwa (Abie) Ighodaro, a Masters student in Public Administration, was awarded the Herman Scholarship this year for her exemplary volunteer service.  In addition to campaigning for President Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and for Senator Bruno’s re-election campaign, Abie has contributed through many volunteer services involving community and student organization and leadership. Her most recent volunteer activities included Project Linus, which provided blankets for children in hospitals and shelters; and as a student assistant to a blind class mate here at Rockefeller.

Washington Semester Students Visit LOC, Tour Newseum, Meet Congressman The Washington Semester is in full swing and the students, now settled into their respective internships have been taking full advantage of many opportunities that our nation’s capitol has to offer.  Just after arriving they were given a research orientation to the Library of Congress and received their reader cards to make use of its collections for their end of semester term paper.  They then had the privilege of having a class with Professor Jim Pffifner, author of The Strategic Presidency.   The students had been reading the book as a foundation text for their Washington in Perspective course which is focusing on all aspects presidential transitions. Additionally, just last week the students attended the 2009 National FOI Day Conference, at the Newseum, with keynote speaker Congressman John Conyers Jr., Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.  (at right the students stop for a picture infront of the Minerva Mosaic which overlooks the great hall at the Library of Congress) Professor James Pffifner

Emily Mecurio '09 with Congressmen Conyers, signing a copy of the U.S. Constitution.

Kress Chairs Panel at Cornell Women’s Summit Adam Kress, recently convened the main theme panel on Human Trafficking at the annual Cornell Women’s Summit on Global Health & Development, held in Ithaca NY on March 7, 2009.  In addition to chairing the panel, he brought together a diverse group of scholars and practicioners including Jessica Li, from the International Rescue Committee, Heather Sanford from the William George Agency for Children’s Services, Inc. and Mary Ann Krisa, an international development scholar from Cornell University.  Together, the project team led by Kress produced a report entitled: Trafficking Triage: An assessment of the public health consequences of the burgeoning human trafficking epidemic.  Providing a board based assessment of trafficking writ large, as well as bringing to bear the groups collective expertise in early childhood trauma, sexual victimization, and the specialized dynamics associated with the trafficked refugee population.  Their discussion was rounded out by Ariell Ahern a Graduate Fellow who specializes in social justice at the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs, who provided a case study of MONFEMNET’s efforts to stem violence against women in Mongolia.

Professor Nowell to Participate in Foundation for Defense of Democracies Fellowship

Political Science Professor Gregory P. Nowell has been selected to participate in the academic fellowship program of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD).  The trip includes a ten-day stay in Israel to study terrorism and its impact on democratic societies.  Targeted at eligible Canadian and U.S. college professors, the title of the program is “Defending Democracy, Defeating Terrorism.”   As a professor of international relations and scholar on the international oil industry, Nowell began offering undergraduate Middle East courses several years ago.  His trip to Israel will help enlarge the perspectives on security policy as well as social and political conflict that he brings to the classroom.   

Professor Udi Sommer’s Paper Published

Political Science Professor Udi Sommer will have his paper, "Crusades Against Corruption: Institutionally Induced Strategies on the Israeli Supreme Court" published in the July issue of Israel Affairs.  It focuses on formalizing strategic decision making on the Israeli High Court of Justice.

Rey Koslowsi to Participate in Brussels Forum

Rey Koslowski, Associate Professor of Political Science Public Policy and Informatics, will participate in the Brussels Forum, an annual high-level meeting of influential American and European political, corporate, and intellectual leaders who address pressing challenges currently facing both sides of the Atlantic. Participants include heads of state, senior officials from the European Union institutions and the member states, U.S. Cabinet officials, Congressional representatives, Parliamentarians, academics, and media. Professor Koslowsk is co-author of one of the forum’s six briefing papers. His paper, "The Battle for the Brains: Why Immigration Policy is not Enough to Attract the Highly Skilled," will provide a basis for a discussion on the trends and prospects of immigration reform with Mel Martinez, US Senator and Cem Ozdemir, Co-Chair of the German political party, Alliance 90/The Greens and a Member of the European Parliament.

Rockefeller Students Honored with President’s Awards for Leadership

The President’s Award for Leadership recognizes and rewards students who have made significant contributions to enhance the quality of life at the University at Albany. These students have demonstrated extraordinary leadership, dedication to service, academic achievement, and beneficial involvement on behalf of the University community.

Congratulations to the following Rockefeller students on being recipients for 2009:

Selena Bennett, Public Policy: Great Dane Award

Jacob Crawford, Political Science: Outstanding Senior Award

Bryant Gaspard, Political Science: The Justice Award

Tamara Gonzalez, Public Administration and Policy: Residential Life Outstanding Achievement Award

Nicole Lopez, Political Science: Chapel House Award

Katie Reed, Public Policy: Outstanding Senior Award & The Ada Craig Walker Award

Article by Dr. Judith Saidel Featured in February Issue of Visions

The article, “Nonprofit sector contributes significantly to quality of life in Tech Valley,” written by Dr. Judith Saidel, Executive Director, Center for Women in Government & Civil Society, was recently featured in the February issue of Visions.  To read more…

January 2009

Grant Awarded to the Center for Women in Government
The Center for Women in Government & Civil Society was awarded a grant from the UAlbany Commission on Diversity & Affirmative Action. The grant will be used to hold a lecture series that spotlights the underrepresentation of women in leadership across a spectrum of disciplines. For more information, visit www.cwig.albany.edu

2003 CWIG Fellows Attend Presidential Inauguration
Four Fellows from the Class of 2003 braved the bitter cold temperatures in Washington, DC on January 20th, to witness President Barack Obama become the 44th President of the United States of America. To learn more, visit: www.cwig.albany.edu

Rockefeller Students Honored at the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences Rockefeller studentLei Zheng and Theresa Pardo won this year’s Best Paper Award at the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS).  The paper, entitled “Understanding the ‘Boundary’ in Information Sharing and Integration,” is co-authored by Tung-mou Yang from UAlbany’s Department of Information Science and Yuangfu Jiang, who is a professor at China National School of Administration.

Spring Tuesday Policy Lunch Series Announced

Dean Jeffrey D. Straussman announces the tuesday policy lunch series for Spring 2009, click here for the full list of speakers.

Kress & Lindberg Publish in Cornell Policy Journal Adam Kress and Timothy Lindberg recenly had their article entitled "Gauging Accessibility in the Digital Age An analysis of online services provided by local municipalities," published in The Current, Cornell's Journal of Public Affairs and Policy. Click here to read the full text.

Director of the Intergovernmental Studies Program at Rockefeller College Mentioned in Press Release about Attorney General Cuomo's Legal Proposal
Sydney Cresswell, the Director of the Intergovernmental Studies Program at Rockefeller College, was quoted in a press release about Attorney General Andrew Cuomo legal proposal outlined to give communities across the state the power to reform local governments. Cresswell commented that, “Streamlined government that meets the demands and realities of the 21st Century is long overdue. Attorney General Cuomo has brought forth a plan that cuts out the red tape and standardizes the often complex and varying procedures it takes to actually remove a layer of government. And the best part is this plan leaves the decision to consolidate up to the communities themselves. I applaud the Attorney General for his innovation and leadership on the issue of government consolidation.”
Read the entire article.

Associate Professor Rey Koslowski Quoted in Federal Computer Week
Rey Koslowski, Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at Rockefeller College and Associate Professor of Informatics at the College of Computing and Information, was quoted by Alice Lipowicz in the article "Presidential transition leaves SBInet in question," which appeared in the December 5th issue of Federal Computer Week.

Photos from Rockefeller's 2008 Alumni Awards ceremony are now available

If you see any photos you would like sent to you electronically, feel free to email Frances Holzhauer with your request. Click here to go to the 2008 Alumni Awards Photo Album.

Dean Straussman Inaugurated into the National Academy for Public Administration
Jeffrey Straussman, Dean of Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, has been elected a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) for his sustained and outstanding contribution to the field of public administration through public service and scholarship.
New Fellows will be introduced to the Academy November 19-21, during the 2008 Fall Meeting at the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington, DC.
Read full press release.

Helen Desfosses Honored as Academic Laureate
Associate Professor of Public Administration and Policy Helen Desfosses was honored with the Academic Laureate Award at the 2008 University at Albany Foundation Citizen Laureate awards.
The Foundation’s Citizen Laureate Awards honor outstanding leaders in business and industry, government and academia, and are the highest honors bestowed by The University at Albany Foundation.

Professors Asal and Rethmeyer Receive $141,000 Award

Dr. Victor Asal, assistant professor of political science, and Dr. R. Karl Rethemeyer, assistant professor of public administration and policy, recently received a $141,000 award from the National Science Foundation at of the University of Maryland for their work on the ecology of terrorist organizations.  This grant will allow Dr. Asal and Dr. Rethemeyer to collect and analyze the organizational factors and relations and how they relate to terrorist behavior within the larger ecological system terrorist organizations find themselves in.

October 2008

Rockefeller Student Paper Selected for Publication at Minnowbrook III Conference
Thersa Pardo, a Ph.D student at Rockefeller College, wrote one of the twelve papers selected for publication at of the Minnowbrook III conference held in Lake Placid.
The paper, entitled “Collaborative Governance and Cross-Boundary Information Sharing: Envisioning a Networked and IT-Enabled Public Administration,” was co-authored by J. Ramon Gil-Garcia, from the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas, and Luis F. Luna-Reyes, a student at the Universidad de las Américas at Puebla.

Novkov, Sutton and Morgan publish Gender, Race & Militarization volume   Julie Novkov, together with her colleagues Barbara Sutton and Sandra Morgan recently published a volume entitled: Security Disarmed: Critical Prespectives on Gender, Race and Militarization. The book which brings together a diverse group of scholars and practicioners seeks to critically evaluate the true costs of global violence providing new paradigms, assessments, and alternatives to armed conflict.

Political Science Professor Rey Koslowski Quoted on Federal Computer Week's FCW.COM

Rey Koslowski, a professor for the Political Science Department, was quoted by Alice Lipowicz in the article, "GAO: SBInet technology management falls short" printed in Federal Computer Week's FCW.COM

Political Science Assistant Professor Stephen Weinberg Publishes Article

Stephen Weinberg, a newly appointed assistant professor for the Political Science Department, will have his article “The Hyperbolic Consumption Model: Calibration, Simulation, and Empirical Evaluation” reprinted as part of an edited volume in Khalil, Elias, ed, The New Behavioral Economics, The International Library of Critical Writing in Economics, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd.

Rockefeller College is honored to announce 2008’s esteemed alumni honored at the annual Alumni Reception and Awards Ceremony. Recipients include Nancy Gleason Groenwegen for the Distinguished Alumna Award in Political Science, Thomas G. Clingan for the Distinguished Alumnus Award in Public Administration and Policy, James J. Malatras for the Rockefeller College Young Alumni Award, Joseph B. Sano for the Distinguished Extended Learning Leadership Award of Excellence, Thomas W. Church for the Rockefeller College Distinguished Service Award, and Richard L. Dunham for the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Alumni Reception and Awards Ceremony will be held at Rockefeller Institute of Government on Thursday, November 13th. All faculty and students are welcome free of charge and encouraged to attend. For further details, view invitation.

Alex Rias interns at United University Professions

Alex Rias, MPA 2009 recently joined United University Professions Union (UUP)as a legislative intern for the academic year. UUP is the nation's largest higher education union. Alex was featured recently in UUP's newletter The Voice, click here to read the full article.

UAlbany students Hyunjung Kim and Navid Ghaffarzadegan received a total of two honorable mentions and two awards in this year's System Dynamics Conference. Hyunjung Kim received an Honorable Mention in the Dana Meadows Award and won the Lupina Young Researchers Award for her paper, Broadening boundary perception in a multi-organizational context: Study of a community mental health program in New York State.

Hyunjung's research was applied work that she has completed with New York State Office of Mental Health, working with Steve Huz, with Performance and Outcomes Management of the New York State Office of Mental Health, and Rod MacDonald, Director of Initiative for System Dynamics in the Public Sector.

Navid Ghaffarzadegan also received an Honorable Mention in the Dana Meadows Award and won the Barry Richmond Award Award for the paper, Effect of Conditional Feedback on Learning, which was based on a study of the effects of conditional feedback on learning, and building on professor Tom Stewart's recent work in that area.

The Dana Meadows Award of the System Dynamics Society is given annually for the best paper by a student presented at the annual System Dynamics Conference. Besides the best paper, usually there
are also two honorable mentions. The award was given to Antuela A. Tako from England.

The Lupina Young Researchers Award is awarded to outstanding papers dealing with health-related topics, authored by students or recent (past 5 years) graduates and presented at the conference. The
winners receive $5000 (Canadian). This year, there were two winners, so the award was split between Hyunjung's paper and another paper.

The Barry Richmond Scholarship Award is presented annually to a deserving systems thinking or system dynamics practitioner whose work demonstrates a desire to expand the field or to apply it to current social issues. The winner receives $1000 (US).