News & Events
Event: Reflection on the Inauguration on Thursday, Jan. 21st

Posted 01 20 2021
Ron Koehler, PAR Grad, called from retirement to return as Kent interim superintendent
Posted 01 20 2021
Prof. Gary Reinbold on Safety of In-Person Learning

Posted 01 20 2021
Congratulations to Danielle Stanley, CPAA Alumn, on her new job with Voices for Illinois Children!
Posted 01 19 2021
Dean Smith Welcomes Everyone Back for Spring 2021 Semester!
Posted 01 19 2021
Dean Smith’s Commentary on NPR Illinois
“Well I must say 2021 has not started the way I and many others had hoped! As a dean of a college of public affairs, a former chair of a department of political science and international affairs, a candidate for public office, an aide to a US Senator and a bureaucrat in local and state government, but mostly as a citizen of the United States of America… I am distraught, disgusted and disappointed by the rioting that occurred on Wednesday, January 6 in our Nation’s Capital.”
Click here to read the rest of Dr. Smith’s commentary.
Posted 01 15 2021
MPH Students – MPH 503 Biostatistics available Spring 2021

Register now!
Posted 01 14 2021
Looking for a fun class? Political Science (PSC) 483: Model United Nations

Posted 01 14 2021
Submit articles for the 2021 Illinois Municipal Policy Journal now through February 15, 2021

Posted 01 13 2021
Register now for Spring 2021 – PAD 511: Collective Bargaining

Click here to learn more about the Master’s in Public Administration.
Posted 01 13 2021
New MPH Students – Register now for MPH 501 Introduction to Public Health

Posted 01 12 2021
MPA Students – PAD 582 Public Procurement Process, Ethics and Law Available Spring 2021

Posted 01 11 2021
Congratulations to Prof. Keyria Rodgers, CPAA Alum!
Congratulations to Prof. Keyria Rodgers, who was appointed by Gov. Pritzker to the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission!
Prof. Rodgers earned her Bachelor’s in Criminology and Criminal Justice and her Master’s in Legal Studies from UIS. She is currently working on her Doctorate of Public Administration at UIS.
Watch the news story on WAND-TV.
Posted 01 08 2021
MPH 222 Added to Spring 2021 Course Schedule
Interested in issues facing public health across the globe?
MPH 222- Global Public Health: Poverty, Population and Pollution is now open for Spring 2021 Registration. The course is core for the Public Health minor and will be offered online.
Please contact CPAA Undergraduate Student Advisors Jill Briggs or Andrew Nicol for more information about this exciting minor option.
Posted 01 08 2021
Public Administration Students – Register now for PAD 303: Public Policy for Managers
This course is an introduction to the concepts and skills required for strategic planning, implementation and evaluation of public policy. The course emphasizes the role of public service organizations in public policy processes.
3.0 Credit Hours – Online
Prof. Junfeng Wang
Register at: https://www.uis.edu/registration/onlinereg/
Learn more about the Public Administration degrees and certificates at: www.uis.edu/publicadministration
Posted 01 07 2021
Prof. Tess Dooley Appointed PLC Director

Prof. Dooley returned to UIS in 2020. Prior to joining the Legal Studies department, she practiced law as a Principal Attorney for a boutique employee benefits law firm, as regional Vice President of Compliance for a nationally renowned insurance brokerage firm, and as in-house counsel for a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 corporation, with a primary focus in employee benefits law, during her five-year tenure with the corporation. She has also served as a Visiting Instructor in the Legal Studies department at UIS.
Prof. Dooley is a member of the State Bar of Arkansas and has served in various leadership roles for the Arkansas Bar Association including a seat on the Board of Governors, Young Lawyers Executive Council, co-chair of the Membership Development Committee, and currently serves on the Member Benefits Committee. She is a member of the Association of Corporate Counsel and has previously served on the Employment and Labor Law, Health Law and Compliance and Ethics Committees. She was recognized in 2019 by Lawyers of Distinction for her excellence in Employee Benefits and ERISA. She currently teaches in the areas of constitutional law, legal research and citation, health care law, and business law. Her research interests broadly include U.S. health policy and social justice, ERISA, and the impact of the Affordable Care Act on business. She is currently working on two empirical research projects related to issues impacting health through the lens of social equity and justice.
Posted 01 07 2021
MPH Students – Register Now for MPH 588

Click here for information on our Public Health degrees and certificates.
Posted 01 06 2021
In the News: Erika Procarione, LES Major / CCJ Minor
Read about Erika Procarione, CPAA student majoring in Legal Studies and minoring in Criminology and Criminal Justice in this Journal-Courier article.
“Every day is a new day and your life is what you make it to be.”
Posted 01 06 2021
Dr. McCandless Collaborates on NASPAA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Action Plan
Dr. Sean McCandless, Assistant Professor of Public Administration, has co-authored the NASPAA Task Force on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Toward a Comprehensive Framework and Action Plan.
Dr. McCandless joined the Department in Fall 2018 after having completed a post-doctorate and PhD in Public Affairs from the School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado Denver. He also holds an MA in Political Science and BAs in History, Political Science, and Psychology. He worked for years in the Colorado Community College System helping to design accessible and socially equitable curricula. This experience helped inspire his research focus on how accountability for social equity is achieved in public agencies, or how public services become fairer in terms of access, outcomes, processes, and quality. His research resides at the intersections of law (especially constitutional and state law), public management, and politics. He is presently focusing on LGBTQ issues in public administration and public policy. He is published in Public Administration Review (PAR), Public Integrity (PI), Administrative Theory & Praxis (ATP), and several edited volumes.
Posted 01 05 2020
Quad Cities Quarterly Market Report Published
Dr. Kenneth Kriz, Distinguished Professor of Public Administration and Director of the UIS Institute of Illinois Public Finance, contributed to the recently published Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce Quarterly Market Report.
Posted 01 05 2021
New MPA Students – Register now for PAD 501: Intro to the Profession

Learn more about the Master’s of Public Administration here.
Posted 01 05 2021
Students are invited to participate in the 2021 STARS Symposium!
Click here for more information.
Posted 01 04 2021
Check Out Mary Hansen, PAR Grad, on NPR Illinois – Community Voices
“Mary Hansen is a reporter for NPR Illinois. She is a graduate of the Public Affairs Reporting Program at the University of Illinois Springfield. Mary also has a BA in International Studies from American University. She talks about this and more with Community Voices’ Bea Bonner and Randy Eccles.”
PAR is a one-year, professionally oriented master’s degree program that trains students to become journalists who produce intelligent news coverage that helps audiences understand government, politics and other public affairs. The program’s centerpiece is a six-month paid internship where students work for a professional news organization in the Illinois Statehouse press room to report on the spring session of the Illinois General Assembly.
Posted 12 23 2020
Congratulations Jennifer Davis, Environmental Studies!
She is a College Aggies Online Excellence Award winner this year!
Posted 12 23 2020
Prof. Funderburg on Fox News Discussing Fraudulent IDES Claims
Posted 12 22 2020
Congratulations Brian Burge, Legal Studies Grad!
“Burge completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Illinois-Springfield and his Juris Doctorate Degree in law from Saint Louis University School of Law where he was an Academic Excellence Award recipient. He is licensed to practice in both Illinois and Missouri.”
Posted 12 21 2020
GIS & MPH Team Up for November Workshop
On 11/14/2020, Dr. Yun Zhao and the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Lab, joined by Dr. Junu Shrestha, Assistant Professor of Public Health, offered a virtual GIS workshop titled “Mapping COVID-19 Using GIS”. This image was one of the products of this workshop. This is the first time the GIS Lab offered an online workshop.
Posted 12 21 2020
Legal Studies Alumni News – Congrats Kaitlyn Murphy!
Kaitlyn Murphy, a 2017 UIS graduate and LES major, graduated #1 of her law school class at Valparaiso University School of Law in May 2020 and passed the October 2020 Illinois bar exam. She began a law clerk position in November with the Honorable Michael Fritz, a district court judge in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. Way to go Kaitlyn!!!
Posted 12 18 2020
Online MPH-Environmental Health Program Ranked Top 10 in U.S.
Our Online MPH-EH Program was ranked in the Top 10 MPH Environmental Health Degree Online Programs by MPH Online.
“Ranking the Best Master’s in Environmental Health Online Programs
“To rank the top Master’s in Environmental Health online degree programs, MPH Online editors searched for regionally-accredited, established colleges and universities offering a fully online MPH degree program in environmental health or a related field.
“We then ranked programs according to three main criteria:
- Cost (from current IPEDs data)
- Reputation (from current Niche reviews)
- Return on Investment (from current College Scorecard data)”
For prospective students, please contact:
- Brian Chen at Brian.Chen@uis.edu
- Visit our MPH Program Welcome Page – https://go.uis.edu/Welcome
- Learn more about the MPH Degrees at uis.edu/publichealth/
Posted 12/17/2020
CPAA Newsletters
The Dean’s Quarterly Connection: April 2020 -June 2020
The Dean’s Quarterly Connection: January 2020 – March 2020
The CPAA Journal: Spring-Summer 2019
Meetings
College Executive / Curriculum Committee Meeting
Click here to access The CPAA Executive Committee Meeting Schedule, Agenda, and Minutes