On April 26, the School of Criminal Justice and Maryland Public Television hosted a special screening of Rikers: An American Jail, a compelling new documentary film from Bill Moyers that brings you face to face with what it’s like to be incarcerated in the United States. The screening was followed by a panel discussion moderated by MPT anchor and news correspondent, Karen Gibbs. College of Public Affairs Dean Roger Hartley and School of Criminal Justice Executive Director Debra Stanley both served as panelists, along with Johnny Perez, Safe Re-entry Advocate at New York City’s Urban Justice Center, and Tarolyn Thrasher, Re-entry Program Case Manager for the Druid Heights Community Development Corporation in Baltimore. Check out this recap and commentary from the screening event…

The film aired on MPT’s second channel, MPT2, on May 30 at 10 p.m.

Learn more about the film: http://rikersfilm.org/

Congratulations to M.S. in Nonprofit Management and Social Entrepreneurship student Brittany DeNovellis (second from right), who was part of the team that won “Best Aspiring Business Idea” and “Crowd Favorite” at UB’s recent RISE to the Challenge Pitch Competition. RISE is an annual competition that gives students and alumni an opportunity to show off new ideas and concepts for businesses before an audience of consumers and entrepreneurial experts.

Brittany DeNovellis (second from right)

Brittany and her team members won $1,000 for their business idea, Project Kitchen X. The company would be Baltimore’s first and only community-driven, worker-owned kitchen cooperative focused on empowering refugee and immigrant women by tapping into their passion for cooking, self-expression, and creating community. Project Kitchen X also won the Crowd Favorite Award of $500. This award goes to any of the businesses pitching ideas that the audience believes in most.

“Since the competition, we’ve decided on a more permanent name than Project Kitchen X,” Brittany said. “We’re now working as the Mera Kitchen Collective.”

Learn more about the 2017 RISE to the Challenge competition winners: http://www.ubalt.edu/news/news-releases.cfm?id=2790

Learn more about Mera Kitchen Collective: www.mera.kitchen

Associate Professor Ivan Sascha Sheehan

On May 16, School of Public and International Affairs Associate Professor Ivan Sascha Sheehan offered remarks to Congress as part of a panel on the 2017 Iranian presidential election, which is happening today. And in a new op-ed piece for the Independent Journal Review, Prof. Sheehan explores the impact of Iran’s national election on its people, especially from a human rights perspective. “As along as dissent is not tolerated and the regime is left without credible opposition, so-called elections give up any pretense of legitimacy,” writes Prof. Sheehan.

Read the op-ed in IJR: http://ijr.com/opinion/2017/05/265756-iran-votes-president-friday-referendum-future/

Learn more about Prof. Sheehan.

Congratulations to UB at The Universities at Shady Grove graduates Lisette Engel, M.P.A. ’17 (center) and Carlie Ortiz, M.S. ’17 (second from right), who received academic and community excellence awards during USG’s inaugural graduation gala for graduate students held on May 12. Both Lisette and Carlie had the highest GPA’s in their respective graduate programs at USG.

On May 10, Government and Public Policy program alum Jaime Sigarán, B.A. ’14, led the Maryland delegation on Capitol Hill during Healthy Ocean Hill Day. Jaime, representing The Ocean Foundation where he works as Sponsorship Program Associate, and five other citizen activists representing a wide range of organizations from across the state, addressed the issues of offshore drilling, plastics, coastal resilience and appropriations. “We made steady progress in ensuring members of Congress do not drill in the Atlantic and strongly oppose cutting vital EPA and NOAA programs like the National Estuary Program and Marine Debris,” Jaime said.

Jaime Sigarán, B.A. ’14 (third from right) and his fellow Healthy Ocean Hill Day teammates

Jaime Sigarán, B.A. ’14 (second from right) and his Health Ocean Hill Day teammates with U.S. Senator for Maryland Chris Van Hollen (third from left)

On May 17, Alan Lyles, who is a professor in both the School of Health and Human Services and the School of Public and International Affairs, as well as the Henry A. Rosenberg Professor of Government, Business and Nonprofit Partnerships, participated in a panel discussion on access to medicines held at Università degli Studi di Palermo in Palermo, Italy. Prof. Lyles’ professional interests focus on pharmaceutical economics and health policy—particularly on policies and practices to improve access to high cost, innovative medicines such as those for hepatitis C (HCV).

Learn more about Prof. Lyles.

Professor Alan Lyles

To share your CPA news, email mqueen@ubalt.edu.

Check out the latest accomplishments from our fantastic College of Public Affairs students and alumni…

Shilesha Bamberg, soon-to-be graduate of the M.S. in Negotiations and Conflict Management program, has been selected as the student speaker at the spring 2017 commencement ceremony, to be held on Wednesday, May 24 at the Modell Performing Arts Center at the Lyric. For more information on spring graduation, visit www.ubalt.edu/commencement.

Brandee Izquierdo, B.A. ’16, recently accepted a position with Behavioral Health System Baltimore as Associate Director for Special Populations. “I’m excited to face new challenges and change, utilize my skills that I have been acquiring through my education, and hope to make a positive impact on the City of Baltimore,” Brandee said. Brandee is currently a student in the M.P.A. program, which she started as an undergraduate Government and Public Policy major through UB’s accelerated bachelor’s to master’s learning option.

Carlie Ortiz, a UB at the Universities at Shady Grove graduate student studying Health Systems Management, was selected as one of the recipients of the Academic and Community Excellence Award for graduate and professional students at USG. Carlie was recommended for the award by her program director, Tina DiFranco, who submitted a glowing letter of recommendation detailing Carlie’s many commitments to the program and to her community. Carlie and her fellow award recipients will be recognized at USG’s Graduation Gala on Friday, May 12.

William Resh, M.P.A. ’07, was named co-winner of the 2015 Book of the Year award by the American Society of Public Administration (ASPA) Section of Public Administration Research for his publication, Rethinking the Administrative Presidency: Trust, Intellectual Capital, and Appointee-Careerist Relations in the George W. Bush Administration. After graduating from UB, William went on to earn his Ph.D. at American University in Washington, D.C. He is now an assistant professor in the University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy.

Erika Rodriguez, a student in the Global Affairs and Human Security graduate program, was recently awarded a $500 stipend through the CPA Dean’s Student Professional Development Fund to participate in a Human Rights Delegation traveling to Bogotá and Medellin, Colombia this summer. Participating in the delegation will be an opportunity for Erika to learn firsthand about the decades-long conflict through meetings with government officials, community experts, and human rights officials.

Erika’s interest in the conflict in Colombia started when she taught English there in 2014, prior to beginning her master’s program at UB. Since then, she has tailored her studies toward peacebuilding and post-conflict Colombia in the hopes of using her knowledge to one day work for an organization that has that same mission.

Lauren Samuelsen, M.A. ’15, a graduate of the Global Affairs and Human Security program, recently landed a position as a Research Assistant at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) Center at the University of Maryland. The START Center maintains a prominent terrorism database that is widely regarded as the gold standard in terrorism incident collection. Lauren is currently working on a project involving the threat of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials falling into the wrong hands.

Sezgin Ayabakan, assistant professor in the School of Public and International Affairs, had his manuscript titled “The Impact of Health Information Sharing on Duplicate Testing” accepted for publication in the MIS Quarterly. MISQ is a peer-reviewed journal that covers issues affecting the information systems field. This will be Asst. Prof. Ayabakan’s second paper to be published in MISQ.

Alan Lyles, professor in the School of Health and Human Services and the School of Public and International Affairs, had his article titled “Pharmacy Benefit Management Companies: Do They Create Value in the US Healthcare System?” published in PharmacoEconomics, a peer-reviewed journal focused on the application of pharmacoeconomics and quality-of-life assessment to optimum drug therapy and health outcomes.

Tara Richards, assistant professor in the School of Criminal Justice, and her colleagues published an article in the January 31, 2017 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The article is titled, “The Relationships Among Exposure to Violence, Psychological Distress, and Gun Carrying Among Male Adolescents Found Guilty of Serious Legal Offenses: A Longitudinal Cohort Study.” Annals is an academic medical journal published by the American College of Physicians.

In 2015, UB’s Schaefer Center for Public Policy partnered with the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Control to evaluate the Maryland Million Hearts program and the successes and barriers of its key partners. The following CPA faculty members—who are also Schaefer Center Faculty Fellows—played a key role in the collection and analysis of the data included in the final report:

• Sezgin Ayabakan, assistant professor, School of Public and International Affairs
• John Callahan, emeritus executive in residence, School of Health and Human Services
• Tina DiFranco, executive director, School of Health and Human Services
• Carol Molinari, professor, School of Health and Human Services
• Ryan Fredriksson, M.P.A. ’16, who works as a research analyst at the Schaefer Center, was also part of the research team.

Learn more about the Schaefer Center’s projects and publications.

Debra Stanley, executive director of the School of Criminal Justice, was invited to write the manuscript for a new book about the Maryland criminal justice system, and she, in turn, invited the following SCJ faculty members to help her co-author the book:

• Andrea Cantora, assistant professor
• Patricia Hall, adjunct faculty
• Heather Pfeifer, associate professor
• Jeffrey Ian Ross, professor
• Renita Seabrook, associate professor
• Charles Tumosa, professor of the practice
• Gabriela Wasileski, assistant professor
• Benjamin Wright, associate professor

Maryland’s Criminal Justice System is now available for purchase through Carolina Academic Press.

To learn more about our faculty’s latest scholarship, join us for the Dean’s Speaker Series where CPA faculty members share their current research with the UB community. The next event is scheduled for Thursday, March 2. Details below.

Congrats to these CPA students on their recent accomplishments!

Negotiations and Conflict Management graduate student Shilesha Bamberg has been named a 2017 Congressional Fellow on Women and Public Policy by Women’s Policy, Inc., a D.C.-based nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to issues of importance to women and their families. For her fellowship, Shilesha was offered a placement in the office of Senator Sherrod Brown (OH) and her work will focus on human trafficking and gender-based violence. Shilesha’s fellowship is already underway and will continue through August 2017.

Learn more about the Congressional Fellowships on Women and Public Policy.

Wes Cooper, a student in the Global Affairs and Human Security graduate program, recently had his paper titled, “The Dark Side of the Economy: A Comparative Analysis of the Islamic State’s Revenue Streams” published in Journal of Terrorism Research, a highly regarded peer-reviewed journal focused on the study of terrorism.

Read the article.

Kolu Ziama, a senior in the Government and Public Policy program, is the recipient of a newly created assistantship offered by the Governor’s Office on Service and Volunteerism (GOSV) in partnership with the College of Public Affairs. The assistantship is a 20-hour per week position that includes a monthly stipend, a tuition scholarship, and a one-time $200 contribution to Kolu’s transportation expenses. As a graduate assistant with GOSV, Kolu’s responsibilities will include providing support for the planning of events for AmeriCorps Week and National Volunteer Month, collaborating with the Special Initiatives Coordinator on outreach efforts, and conducting online and telephone-based research.

Learn more about the Governor’s Office on Service and Volunteerism.

Got good news to share? Don’t be shy! Send your accomplishments to mqueen@ubalt.edu.

In late January, UB at the Universities at Shady Grove health systems management students Gloria Adu, Anmer Ayala and Rebecca Yobouet, participated in a Leadership Simulation at USG. The event, hosted by USG’s Committee for Interprofessional and Interdisciplinary Education Strategies (CIPES), brought together students from the USM partner institutions to learn to lead through practice, identify core values and write their own leadership philosophy. The students were selected to participate based on their academic achievement and leadership experience. Anmer and Gloria are both Kendall Scholars at USG, while Rebecca serves as a USG student ambassador.

Gloria Adu (center)

Rebecca Yobouet (second from right)

Anmer Ayala (center)

group shot of all of the CIPES Leadership Simulation participants

Learn more about UB at the Universities at Shady Grove.

Welcome back CPA students and faculty! We hope you enjoyed your winter break and are rested and ready for another great semester. 2017 is already off to a great start for the College of Public Affairs. Check out what’s happened so far and what’s coming up!

1) The College of Public Affairs Dean’s Speaker Series gets underway for the spring semester.

On Wednesday, Feb. 1, Dean Hartley kicked off this semester’s Dean’s Speaker Series with talks from CPA faculty members Andrea Cantora (right), Ed Gibson (not pictured) and Kelechi Uzochukwu (left). The series gives our faculty members an opportunity to share their current research with the UB community, and will continue throughout the semester, alternating between the first Wednesday and the first Thursday of the month. Stay tuned for details about the next set of talks scheduled for Thursday, March 2.

2) Honoring the legacy of Johannes (Jannie) Botes.

As the UB community mourns the loss of beloved and respected colleague, retired professor Johannes (Jannie) Botes, who lost his two-year battle with ALS on Jan. 22, the College of Public Affairs is honored to memorialize Jannie—at the request of his wife Susan and their two children—through the establishment of The Johannes Botes Capstone Achievement Award in Negotiations and Conflict Management. Learn more about Jannie and the award honoring his legacy.

3) Health Systems Management grad student wins UB’s Laurence Short Academic Award for International Students. 

Ayesha Safdar, a Health Systems Management graduate student from Pakistan, was awarded the University’s Laurence Short Academic Award for 2016-17. The award recognizes academic excellence among international students at the graduate and undergraduate levels.

4) Human Services Graduate featured on NBC series, NBCBLK28.

Verlando Brown, M.S. ’15, a graduate of CPA’s Human Services Administration master’s program, is featured on the NBC series, NBCBLK28, which celebrates black innovators and pioneers under the age of 28. Learn more about the NBCBLK28 series.

5) Summer 2017 study abroad opportunity: Barcelona, Spain.

The School of Criminal Justice will be offering another 3-credit global education course this summer. The course will focus on gender-based violence and will culminate in a ten-day trip to Barcelona, Spain. To learn more about the course and how to enroll, visit the Global Experiences in Criminal Justice website or email Asst. Prof. Tara Richards at trichards@ubalt.edu. NOTE: The deposit deadline is Feb. 15.

from the 2016 CJ Global Experiences trip to Czech Republic, Germany and the Netherlands

Stay tuned for more exciting CPA news and events throughout the semester!

Check out the latest articles published by Kelechi Uzochukwu, assistant professor in the School of Public and International Affairs.

Read “The associations between neighborhood constructs, physical activity, and childhood obesity: Understanding race and income disparities.”

Read “Governing Civil Society in Nigeria and Zimbabwe: A Question of Policy Process and Non-State Actors’ Involvement.”

Learn more about Asst. Prof. Uzochukwu.

Catherine Stapleton, M.S. ’14 and her colleague, Casey Fenton, have co-authored a new book titled The Hospice Guide to Billing and Reimbursement: Durable Guidance and Strategy for a Shifting Payment Landscape . Stapleton is a graduate of the Health Systems Management graduate program and now works as a director at Precipio Health Strategies, a Washington, D.C.-based health-care advisory and consulting firm.

Catherine Stapleton, M.S. ’14

As Assistant Professor Kelechi Uzochukwu’s Urban Policy and Politics class (GVPP 326) neared the end of the semester, she sought an opportunity for her students to get out of the classroom to see how one policy initiative was implemented in Baltimore. Pictured below is Uzochukwu’s class during their tour of several of Baltimore’s Green Network Plan (GNP) project sites in East and Northeast Baltimore. The GNP projects are funded by the city of Baltimore, and they bring together city agencies, residents, neighborhood partners and Baltimore businesses to transform vacant properties into community assets like recreation areas and urban gardens. Jenny Katz of Civic Works, Inc., one of the GNP grantees, very graciously facilitated the tour.

Learn more about Asst. Prof. Uzochukwu.