Dean Wall Announces 11 New Awards for School of Government Faculty
Dean Aimee N. Wall announced several new awards and professorships for School of Government faculty in March 2023. Selected during former Dean Mike Smith’s tenure, these honors recognize outstanding “quality, quantity, breadth, and depth of service rendered to the people of the State through the School.”
Smith awarded one permanent professorship, nine term professorships, and one teaching award based on nominations submitted by colleagues and public officials,.
In announcing the selections, Wall praised the sweeping span of expertise among the faculty and celebrated the recipients’ dedication to putting scholarship to practice
“Every day our faculty engage in challenging and important work in support of our mission,” said Wall. “The range of disciplines, experience, and expertise represented in this group of award winners reflects the richness of our faculty ranks. These are remarkable people truly doing remarkable work for the state of North Carolina.”
Read more about the award recipients, including their areas of expertise, special projects, and remarks from former Dean Smith about their contributions to the School.
David M. Lawrence Distinguished Professorship (Term: Permanent)
Areas of expertise: community development; economic development; affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization; public-private partnerships for development; development finance; downtown development
Special project: Serving as director and lead faculty of the School’s Development Finance Initiative (DFI), which has helped local governments attract millions of dollars in private investment for transformative projects in communities across the state.
“It is significant that Tyler’s breakthrough innovation with DFI has inspired many colleagues in the School to develop entrepreneurial initiatives in other important areas of our work.”[HM3] [BA4]
Albert and Gladys Hall Coates Distinguished Professorship (Term: Two Years)
Areas of expertise: property tax administration, listing, appraisal, and collection; special tax districts; occupancy tax administration and collection; collection of other local taxes and fees (special assessments, demolition liens, nuisance abatement fees); ethics for government attorneys; open government laws relating to local tax administration
Special project: Contracting with counties across North Carolina to study potential biases and inequities among property tax appeal rates.
“Chris helped us learn how to recruit effectively during the pandemic, and his optimistic attitude sustained all of us. The proof is in the results—the new faculty members are stellar.”
Albert and Gladys Hall Coates Distinguished Associate Professorship (Term: Two Years)
Areas of expertise: adoption; clerks of superior court; estate administration; foreclosure; guardianship (adult); incompetency
Special project: Helped found and form the School’s Adult Protection Network, a virtual resource to connect, inform, and support multidisciplinary teams working to combat the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of vulnerable adults in North Carolina.
“Meredith is a terrific teacher and an effective advisor, both in handling short-term inquiries and longer-term projects. She is a terrific colleague.”
Albert and Gladys Hall Coates Distinguished Assistant Professorship (Term: Two Years)
Areas of expertise: Confidentiality; delinquency; juvenile justice; juvenile transfer; undisciplined juveniles
Special project: Partnered with the North Carolina Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile to ensure effective implementation of the Juvenile Justice Reinvestment Act.
“Jacqui is an extremely good colleague and citizen of the School, serving in a variety of ways, including on the Strategic Management Committee.”
Robert W. Bradshaw Jr. Distinguished Associate Professorship (Term: Two Years)
Current work: Launching a revitalized North Carolina Benchmarking 2.0, incorporating new features including streamlined data collection, immediate analysis and reporting, and enhanced interaction between participating departments to comparatively assess their services.
“He has jumped into a range of projects and teaching with public officials while also continuing to be a productive and influential scholar in the field of public administration.”
Robert W. Bradshaw Jr. Distinguished Assistant Professorship (Term: Two Years)
Areas of expertise: Human services organization and governance; powers and duties of social services directors and boards; consolidated human services agencies (CHSAs); confidentiality (social services records)
Special project: Launched a new web resource, The North Carolina Human Services Hub, to help human services professionals navigate the array of laws and responsibilities in their field into one accessible platform.
“Kristi has made a significant and immediate impact. There is an urgent need for reliable legal guidance on [human services]. . . her response illustrates Kristi’s initiative and creativity.”
Areas of expertise: public administration; public management; nonprofit management; nonprofit–government relations; public–private partnerships; organizational change and development; citizen participation and civic involvement; collaboration in groups;
cross-organizational collaboration; research methods for public administration
Special project: Partnering with The SUN Project to facilitate best practices for supporting the health, safety, well-being, and recovery of pregnant patients with a substance use disorder.
“Teshanee is off to a terrific start as a new faculty member. She is focused on helping local governments and nonprofit organizations collaborate to address complex problems.”
Albert and Gladys Hall Coates Distinguished Teaching Assistant Professorship (Term: Two Years)
Areas of expertise: board development; coaching in the public sector; collaboration in groups; cross-organizational collaboration; facilitation; leadership development; organizational change and development; regional governance; strategic planning and visioning
Special project: Designing and instructing curriculum for the Center for Public Leadership and Governance One Day Series trainings, an informal leadership training pathway for public officials.
“Lydian is an incredibly skilled facilitator and has done important work with collaborative leadership. She is a thoughtful and supportive colleague, and cares deeply about our mission.”
Areas of expertise: property tax appraisal and assessment
Special project: Partnered with the Department of Revenue (DOR) to offer more property tax appraisal courses tailored to North Carolina; co-authored a Public Management Bulletin with Margaret Henderson, detailing how property tax officials can help recognize human trafficking indicators.
“Whenever possible, Kirk has reached out to colleagues in related fields, and he has partnered with them in creative ways. He is a wonderful colleague and deeply committed to our mission.”
Albert and Gladys Hall Coates Distinguished Teaching Professorship (Term: Two Years)
Areas of expertise: Budget and Fiscal Control Act; governmental accounting and reporting; cash management and investments; external audit requirements and procedures; financial condition analysis; fiduciary duties and responsibilities
Special project: Joining in the School’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) training, providing expertise to help local governments on the accounting and auditing challenges with managing and reporting ARPA funds.
“Greg’s approach always is to ask what needs to be done to advance our mission and support his colleagues, and he never considers if it will be good for him.”
Albert and Gladys Hall Coates Distinguished Teaching Excellence Award
Areas of expertise: Child welfare law; confidentiality in social services; immunization, children and adolescents
Special project: Published the free primer, Human Trafficking: Mandated Reporting and Agency Response, to explain North Carolina reporting laws as they apply to human trafficking.
“Sara is creative, thoughtful, and intentional about how she imparts information and engages audiences and develops useful take away resources for them.”