This event was held on Thursday, November 18, 2021 from Noon-1 pm.

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented public administrators with unprecedented stress and disruption in service provision and foundational human resource management practices such as staffing and job design. Concurrently the challenges gave impetus to an accelerated utilization of the virtual workplace with overall positive results from both an efficiency and effectiveness standpoint and more favorable employee attitudes and behaviors. This webinar featured four experienced local government administrators and academics reflecting on the effectiveness of the virtual workplace in addressing the key service delivery and the associated HR management challenges.

Recording (video) of the webinar.

Panelists:

• Ms. Marva Smith, Human Resource Director, City of Norfolk

• Ms. Kim Harrison, Senior Human Resource Generalist, City of Chesapeake

• Julianne Mahler, Professor Emerita of Government and Politics, Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University
   
• Myungjung “MJ” Kwon, Professor and Public Administration Program Coordinator, California State University Fullerton

Thursday, October 21, 2021. Noon to 1:00 PM.

Recording of session (YouTube).

Ms. Karen Firehock (Green Infrastructure Center and the University of Virginia) spoke on green infrastructure planning and offered examples from Hampton Roads and other localities on how green infrastructure supports resilience of coastal communities.

Ms. Firehock is an environmental planner with more than 26 years of experience in natural resources management. She is the director and co-founder of the Green Infrastructure Center (GIC) and oversees green infrastructure planning and research projects. Since 1999, she has served on the adjunct faculty at the University of Virginia and teaches graduate courses in green infrastructure planning, watershed planning and stormwater management and global health and environmental ordinances and fundraising. Ms. Firehock has authored numerous publications, including Green Infrastructure: Map and Plan the Natural World With GIS, Strategic Green Infrastructure Planning: A Multi-scale Approach, A Handbook for Wetlands Conservation and Sustainability, and A Citizen’s Streambank Restoration Handbook.

September 16, 2021 (12 – 1 pm) – Welcome back & organizational meeting!

Meet the HR ASPA Executive Council. Learn about upcoming events and plans for 2021-22. Join in celebrating and congratulating chapter award winners.

Questions? E-mail Wie Yusuf, HR ASPA President, jyusuf@odu.edu

“Moving Towards Environmental & Energy Justice”

May 20, 2021 – Noon to 1:00pm EST

Panelists

Janet Phoenix, MD, MPH Assistant Research Professor, The George Washington Milken Institute School of Public Health

Seth Mullendore, MS Vice President & Project Director, Clean Energy Group

Celeste Murphy Greene, Ph.D., MPA Associate Professor & Program Director, UVa, School of Continuing and Professional Studies

The theme of the 2021 Annual Research Symposium was responsive public service, exploring how public and non-profit agencies seek to identify the evolving needs and expectations of the communities they serve in a dynamic political, economic, and social environment. The evenr was held on March 18, 2021, 10:30 am – noon (Eastern).

Paper # 1
Title	Environmental nonprofits and institutional diversity: An analysis of diversity practices, demographics and implications for sustainability
Author	Taiwo Olanrewaju-Lasisi PhD Student, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA
Author e-mail	togun001@odu.edu
Topic	The research analyzed the gender and racial composition and diversity practices of the board of directors and staff based on secondary data on GuideStar, one of the largest nonprofit databases in the world. The goal was to see how diverse their demographics are in terms of gender and race. This was achieved by looking through percentage data of racial and gender representation of the board of directors and staff and questions answered regarding their organizations’ diversity practices. The study gave conclusions and implications for coastal sustainability and public service based on findings.

Paper # 2
Title	How can we mitigate mass sheltering environments from the opioid and COVID-19 hazards?
Author	Michael A. Brown, PhD, CIP President/CEO, One World, One Way, Inc., Atlanta, GA   Denise C. De Varanez, MD
Author e-mail	oneworldonewayinc@gmail.com
Overview	Right now, there is no National framework or guidelines to address the growing problem inadequate mass sheltering facilities in the United States or its Territories.  More research is needed and more collaboration amongst some potential partners is needed during this critical time.  To resolve the issues of licit and or illicit use of class II drugs there is a need for specialists in pain management and pharmaceutical experts to join with public health and emergency managers to develop, design, and ensure the necessary safe and secure processes of a National Preparedness Mass Sheltering program and plan that helps to protect, prevent and mitigate against the “Ninja Hazards, e.g., opioid addiction, pandemics (COVID 19), and other medical comorbidities that threaten citizens’ health while in Mass Sheltering Environments.

Paper # 3
Title	The level of trust in U.S. governments : A comparative study in local, state, and federal governments
Author	Koffi Jean Narcisse Djaha MPA Student, Regent University, Virginia Beach, VA
Author e-mail	koffdja@mail.regent.edu
Topic	The closer a government is to the people, the more trust that people have in it. Most Americans trust the local government more than they trust the state and the federal government because the local government provides the services that meet their immediate needs. This paper examines the different levels of trust that citizens have in the local, state, and federal governments in the United States of America.

Paper # 4
Title	Servant leadership and its effectiveness in promoting sustainable employee well being in a post-pandemic, virtual workplace
Author	Gary Roberts, PhD Professor/MPA Program Director, Robertson School of Government, Regent University, Virginia Beach, VA
Author e-mail	garyrob@regent.edu
Overview	One of the greatest challenges of leadership and management is to promote sustainable organizational effectiveness while preserving employee well-being in a virtual environment. This presentation will describe the factors of servant leadership that promote employee well-being and success in the virtual workplace. Virtual employee well-being is a multi-dimensional construct, but for the purposes of this presentation, it is defined by the ability of the organization to achieve its mission while promoting the greater good and cultivating the welfare of employees over an extended period.

Call for Papers

The Hampton Roads Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration (HR-ASPA) will be holding the annual research symposium on March 18, 2021, from 9:30 am – noon (Eastern). This year’s symposium will be entirely virtual. We welcome papers from practitioners and graduate students.

Symposium Theme: Responsive Public Service

The theme of the symposium is responsive public service. We will be exploring how public and non-profit agencies seek to identify the evolving needs and expectations of the communities they serve in a dynamic political, economic, and social environment.

Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:

• Diversity: Public Sector Challenges and Opportunities
• Public Sector Response to Pandemics
• Public Service Education: Creating Relevance in a Dynamic Public Sector Environment
• Empowering Public Administration Students in Research and Practice
• Public Administration in the Post-truth Environment

Format

There will be panels from 9:45-10:45 am and from 11:00 am – noon (Eastern). Each presentation will be 10-12 minutes in length, with each panel having 4-5 individual papers.  No registration fees

Proposals

Proposals must be submitted to tom.poulin@hotmail.com by 1/23/2021. Acceptance notification will be shared no later than 2/7/21. Proposals must include:

• Author(s) name and affiliation
• Author(s) contact information (email and phone)
• Title and abstract of the proposed presentation (250-500 words)
• Please note whether the proposal is for an individual paper or part of a proposed panel presentation.

Questions?

If you have any questions, please contact HR-ASPA President Tom Poulin at tom.poulin@hotmail.com or at 757-681-6650.

Responsive Public Service: Local Government Leadership and Management Resiliency Challenges, Lessons and Opportunities in the COVID-19 Era:
Staying the Course under Duress

When: Thursday, November 19, 2020
Time: Noon-1 pm (Eastern)

Panelists:

• Dr. Edwin Daley, Interim County Administrator, Warren County Virginia, Regent University Practitioner in Residence, Past President of the International City Management Association.
• Ms. Laura Fitzpatrick, Deputy City Manager, City of Chesapeake, Vice-President ICMA Board of Directors, Southeast Region
• Sam Gaston, City Manager, Mountain Brook Alabama, Regent University Practitioner in Residence, Past President of the International City Management Association.

Join the forum using Zoom Link:
https://regent.zoom.us/j/91072613884?pwd=blpWVjZ0bDlhRFprNU9KMkNzOFdXQT09
Passcode: 381535

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented public administrators with unprecedented stress and uncertainty given the toxic mixture of increased service demands juxtaposed with diminishing financial resources. This highly variable and uncertain public health crisis with its sweeping economic, political, and cultural effects also presents a unique opportunity to promote innovative and creative solutions that will benefit public administration long after the pandemic ends. The Webinar will feature three experienced local government administrators reflecting on their past and present experiences in providing quality services under duress and their views on the potential positive outcomes of the crisis. The panelists will discuss both leadership and management practices as well as personal coping strategies to remain steady under pressure.

Responsive Public Service: Social Equity
Held on September 17, 2020 – 12:00pm to 1:00pm EST

Panelists