University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Department of Public Policy e-News

No. 5 – December 2007

In this issue:


Hot Topic - Department ranked 10th in nation
The UMBC Public Policy program is ranked 10th in faculty scholarly productivity for public policy programs at universities that offer the Ph.D. degree, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education (November 16, 2007). The rankings, prepared by Academic Analytics, look at the number of professors in a given program, and their productivity in writing books, journal articles, citations by other scholars, awards, honors and grant dollars. Harvard, Duke and University of Maryland, College Park are also listed in the top 10 public policy programs.

UMBC is also a top producer of Ph.D. degrees in the nation. In 2006/2007, UMBC awarded more public policy doctoral degrees than all but one university in the U.S.

New Public Policy Web site
The Department of Public Policy Web site has a fresh new look. The site features improved design and navigation, and more information about Public Policy activities and events. Visit the site at www.umbc.edu/pubpol.

Neil Bergsman is new director of tax institute
Public Policy Ph.D. student Neil L. Bergsman has been appointed director of the Maryland Budget & Tax Policy Institute. The Institute, a project of the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations, provides independent, nonpartisan research and analysis of state budget and tax policy priorities. Most recently, Neil was the Chief Financial Officer of the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services and prior to that he was the Executive Director of Budget Analysis for the Maryland Department of Budget and Management.

UMBC well represented at APHA meeting
Ph.D. student Elyse Grossman and Public Policy Associate Professor Nancy Miller presented a paper, “Independence and alcohol consumption in college men and women,” at the American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting in Washington, DC in November. Four alumni also made research presentations at the conference: Robert Alexander (Ph.D. 2005), Keith Elder (Ph.D. 2002), Sunny Kang (M.P.P. 2006), and Annette Snyder (Ph.D. 2006).

New book examines East Coast megalopolis
Public Policy Professor John Rennie Short calls the region between Boston and Washington, DC a “giant urban region larger than our capacity to humanize it” in his new book, Liquid City: Megalopolis Revisited (Resources for the Future Press/Johns Hopkins University Press). Liquid City is the first book to examine the social, economic and demographic changes that have taken place in this densely populated region in the last 50 years.

Faculty Notes

Scott Bass was elected Chair of the Minority Graduate Education Committee for the Educational Testing Service, Graduate Record Examinations Board Executive Committee.

Tim Brennan presented papers on electricity policy and anti-trust enforcement at the Paris School of Economics and in Stockholm, Sweden last month.

Marv Mandell was elected to serve as Vice President and President-Elect of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) for 2007-08. NASPAA is an institutional membership organization which exists to promote excellence in public service education. The membership includes U.S. university programs in public affairs, public policy, public administration and nonprofit management.

Nancy Miller has been elected chair of the American Public Health Association Gerontological Health Section for a 2-year term.

John Rennie Short visited Shanghai in December. He was invited by the mayor to give a keynote address at an international symposium on the regional development of the Yangtze River Delta.

Recent publications

Galster, G., D. Marcotte, M. Mandell, H. Wolman, and N. Augustine (September 2007). “The Influence of Neighborhood Poverty During Childhood on Fertility, Education and Earnings Outcomes.” Housing Studies. 22(5), 723-51.

LaNoue, George (October 2007). "Can the federal transportation disadvantaged business enterprise program be narrowly tailored to remedy discrimination?" Engage. 8, 18-24.

Marcotte, Dave (December 2007). “Golden years?: The economic consequences of caring for grandchildren,” with Ying Wang. Journal of Marriage and Family. 69(5), 1283-97.

Marcotte, Dave. (November 2007). “Schooling and test scores: A mother-natural experiment.” Economics of Education Review. 26(3), 629-40.

Misra, Arpit. (June 2007). "Impact of the HealthChoice Program on Cesarean Section and Vaginal Birth after C-Section Deliveries: A Retrospective Analysis." Maternal and Child Health Journal.

Norris, Donald F. (Ed.). (2007). E-government research: Policy and management. Hershey, PA: Idea Group, Inc.

Norris, Donald F., and Benjamin A. Lloyd. (2007). "The scholarly literature on e-government: Characterizing a nascent field." In Norris, Donald F. (Ed.). E-government research: Policy and management. Hershey, PA: Idea Group, Inc.

Norris, Donald F., Don Phares, and Tonya Zimmerman. (2007). "Why metropolitan government has not been adopted in the United States and why it will not be any time soon."  In Jan Erling Klausen and Pawel Swianiewicz (Eds.), Cities in city regions: Governing the diversity. Warsaw, Poland: Warsaw University Press.

Dissertations Defended - Fall 2007
The following UMBC Public Policy students completed a doctoral dissertation or master's thesis during fall 2007:

Bernadette Hanlon. "The decline of older inner suburbs: A new reality in the U.S."

James K. Kimani. "Knowledge of HIV/AIDS and the HIV voluntary counseling and testing: What's their influence in risky sexual behavior in Kenya."

Bakeyah Nelson. "Innovation diffusion: An event history analysis of states' adoption of Medicaid 1915(c) waivers for people living with HIV/AIDS."

Master's Thesis
Daniel J. Smyth. "Freedom of the press and national security in four wars: World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, and the War on Terrorism."

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