Student Paper Award Recipients

In 2014, the Keystone State Chapter initiated a paper award program to recognize outstanding student work at the annual Public Service Recognition Week awards event.  To be eligible, a student author must be enrolled in a graduate program at a participating university.  Papers must be non-partisan and should address a current subject of interest to public administration practitioners or academicians.  Specific topics may include, but are not limited to: policy analysis, organization and management studies, human resources, finance and budgeting, program and performance evaluation, ethics, strategic management, and public sector collaboration.

2024

  • Sophia Bollinger, Kyle Carey, Carla Land, Casey McMillan, Matthew Meagher: Penn State Harrisburg; Establishing Significance between Education, Conditional Release, and Program Attendance for Parolees in Relation to Reoffence Probability and Incarceration

2023

  • Bri Bovbjerg, Zachariah Hoydich, Karly Keppel, Ruichen Ma, Eric Macadangdang, Shannah Mallett, Adam Nie, Danté Watson: University of Pittsburgh; Digital Governance in Municipal Governments: Equity, Access, and the Digital Divide
  • Joyce Acevedo-Cabrera, Samantha Daugherty, Matthew Tenney: Penn State Harrisburg; Highlighting the Determinants of Support for Race-Based Affirmative Action Policies as Potentially Viable Means to Recruit the Next Generation of Public Sector Workers

2022

  • Aysha Muhammad, Therese Pitman, Georgia Verrastro, Aoxiang Wang and Haozhe Zhang: University of Pittsburgh; Digital Governance in Allegheny County
  • Julie Brooks, William Cole, Michelle Curtis, Leah Mothersbaugh and Connor O’Leary: Penn State Harrisburg; Measuring the Effect of Pay Transparency Laws on the Gender Pay Gap
  • Richard Oliver: West Chester University; Diversity and Inclusion in the Workforce
  • Mingean Park: Penn State Harrisburg; Does Public Service Motivation Affect Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment

2021

  • Zoe Burch, Yingzi Liu and Brett Stewart: University of Pittsburgh; Developing Collaborative Capacity to Enhance Municipal-Level Fire Services in Allegheny County
  • Donald Dyer, Christina Emond, Michael Hackenburg and Andrew Zeller: Penn State Harrisburg; Cost-Efficient Mitigation Strategies for Ransomware Attacks on Municipalities

2020

  • Huiting Qi: Penn State Harrisburg; Strengthening the Rule of Law in Collaborative Governance

2019

  • Dylan Lucas Yingling: Penn State Harrisburg; The State of Evidence-Based Policy in the States
  • Saahir Shafi: Penn State Harrisburg; Sources of Bureaucratic Authority

2018

  • Michelle Curtis: Penn State Harrisburg; Constraints on Municipalities General Revenues
  • Catherine Dertouzos, West Chester University; Millennials in the Public Sector
  • Christina Dertouzos, West Chester University; Diversity in the Workplace

2017

  • Juan Bermudez Blanco: Penn State Harrisburg; Size, Strategic Choices and Financial Performance of Nonprofit Organizations
  • Tyler Sova: West Chester University; Mixing Market Practices in Nonprofits and How to Manage the Inherent Tensions

2016

  • Brandin McDonough: Penn State Harrisburg; Evaluating the Tax Revenue and General Fund for the City of Altoona Pennsylvania
  • William Simonson: West Chester University; Democracy for All: Increasing Civic Participation Among Disadvantaged Populations

2015

  • Michael Kirby: Shippensburg University; Two Masters: The Challenge of Dual Obligations in the Public Sector Environment
  • Emily White: Penn State Harrisburg; General Fund Revenues from the State of Wyoming

2014

  • Brandon Danz: Shippensburg University; Government as a Leader in Employment of Individuals with Disabilities
  • Jonathan Hicks: Penn State Harrisburg; Debt Capacity Analysis of Pennsylvania