SPA In The News

November 2022

Our graduate Disaster Resilient Community class (URP 6439), taught by School Director and Professor Dr. Robin Ersing, visited the Hillsborough County Emergency Operations Center. During the field trip, MURP students were able to interact directly with local government in the areas of disaster management and planning.

This course is part of the Graduate Certificate in Leadership for Coastal Resiliency Planning, which trains planners, policy makers, and public and nonprofit managers to address the growing challenges facing coastal communities.

November 2021

The Mentor a Public Administration Student program matches MPA students to practicing local administrators or nonprofit managers, where they are exposed to the actual work environments, responsibilities, and interactions with professional administrative positions in Florida. We kicked off the 2021 cohort with a virtual meet-and-greet meeting. This year, our students were partnered with mentors from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Hillsborough, Pasco, and Sarasota counties, the cities of Lake Alfred, Lakeland, Pinellas Park, and Plant City, the University of South Florida, Connect For More, ISPE, the Senior Connection Center, and Tampa Bay Water.

October 2021

MURP Program Director and Associate Professor Dr. Evangeline Linkous was appointed to the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Tampa Bay Executive Board. The Board is composed of key District Council leaders, public and private community leaders, and other active members who have a deep understanding of the mission and priorities of ULI. This leadership group sets priorities and assists in the delivery of services at the local level. These dedicated individuals give freely of their time, talent, and expertise and contribute to the District Council in meaningful and powerful ways.

September 2021

School Director and Associate Professor Dr. Robin Ersing was recently selected to join the USF Center for Justice Research and Policy (CJRP) leadership team. CJRP hosts an interdisciplinary team of scholars and practitioners focused on the study of crime, violence, and criminal and social justice policy. It is the first of its kind in Florida, recently approved by the Board of Governors as a state-level center. The CJRP's goal is to apply rigorous research and evaluations to enhance the evidence base of policing, corrections, and court practices.

July 2021

Forward Pinellas launches a new partnership with our MURP program for internships! This was an important step to create a formal internship program with the Tampa Bay region's largest institution of higher education and help explore the unique challenges of a highly urban coastal county focused on redevelopment.

November 2020

Associate Professor Dr. Elizabeth Strom partnered with the USF Center for Brownfields Research and Redevelopment, led by Dr. Christian Well, and the CDC of Tampa to address sustainable and equitable development needs in Tampa. Thanks to their collective efforts, they trained 60 East Tampa residents in skills in environmental mitigation to earn the certification necessary for jobs in the industry.

March 2020

Our graduate Policy Design and Implementation class (PAD 6307), taught by Associate Professor Dr. Stephen Neely, held a panel discussion on public "policy-making." Local professionals with real policy-making exposure and experience shared their stories, insights, and experiences with our MPA students.

Special thanks to MPA alumni James Jacobs, Brian Corley, Emily Colón, and Steve Spina for visiting the classroom and providing our students with invaluable advice and feedback.

Certificate in Community Real Estate Development (CRED) program: The challenging field of community real estate development requires practitioners that know how to use public and private resources, and demands skill sets in real estate development, finance and project management.

The CRED program at USF offers practical training for community developers and other industry professionals, and provides the tools needed to carry out successful affordable housing and community-based real estate development projects. CRED Tampa Bay develops practioners with insight to the community development issues facing Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota, and Manatee counties.

February 2020

MURP students and faculty participated in the second annual USF Transportation Day, hosted by the USF Center for Urban Transportation and Research (CUTR) and the USF College of Engineering—and sponsored by Bike/Walk Tampa Bay, the Tampa Bay Clean Cities Coalition, our Student Planning Organization (SPO), the Sun Coast Section of the American Planning Association (APA) Florida Chapter, and the Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), among various other organizations.

The event emphasized safety, sustainability, and innovation for all modes of transportation in and around our campus, including pedestrians, bicycling, public transportation, carsharing, bikesharing, carpooling, and other smart forms of transportation. A portion of Alumni Drive was closed down for people to enjoy fun and interactive activities on the open street.

January 2020

The Mentor a Public Administration Student program matches MPA students to practicing local administrators or nonprofit managers, where they are exposed to the actual work environments, responsibilities, and interactions with professional administrative positions in Florida. We kicked off the 2020 cohort with a meet-and-greet dinner. This year, our students were partnered with mentors from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Hillsborough County, the cities of Lakeland and Plant City, and the Senior Connection Center.

November 2019

Our School organized its second annual Fall 2019 Resume "Speed Dating" Workshop in partnership with the Suncoast Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA). Graduate and undergraduate students had the opportunity to pitch their elevator speech and have their resumes critiqued in "speed dating" fashion by various subject matter experts in the Tampa Bay area.

A very special thank you to our local public and private sector partners—Hillsborough County, Heidt Design, the James A. Haley Veterans Affairs Hospital, the City of Zephyrhills, the City of Oldsmar, and the Town of Belleair—for participating and providing our students with invaluable advice and feedback!

June 2019

Assistant Professor Dr. Christa Remington—a member of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) Section on Emergency and Crisis Management (SECM)—presented her research on vulnerable populations and resilience in San Juan, Puerto Rico at the 2019 NASPAA Emergency Management Education Conference. The conference convened elected officials, practitioners, and academics to discuss the current state and future of emergency management public service education.

April 2019

Our undergraduate Media and Politics class (POS 3931), taught by Assistant Professor Dr. Stephen Neely, visited Nielsen in Oldsmar to get a deeper understanding of their Sunshine State Survey project. During the tour, students learned more about Nielsen's history and company culture, as well as their high-tech call center.

Special thanks to William Miller, Nielsen's Director of Public Affairs and Community Engagements, for hosting us. We also want to thank Kimberly Hawkins, Lead Data Scientist, for explaining the importance of big data in public policy polling.

February 2019

Our School held its first annual Spring 2019 Resume Workshop for graduate MPA and MURP students to help them improve their resumes. These workshops were designed to help students learn how to make the most of their internship experience, improve their resumes in order to differentiate themselves, and gain valuable knowledge on how to succeed professionally. You can view the Facebook live recordings here: part one and part two.

MURP students and faculty participated in the first annual USF Transportation Day, hosted by the USF Center for Urban Transportation and Research (CUTR) and the USF College of Engineering—and sponsored by Bike/Walk Tampa Bay, the Tampa Bay Clean Cities Coalition, our Student Planning Organization (SPO), the Sun Coast Section of the American Planning Association (APA) Florida Chapter, and the Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), among various other organizations.

The event emphasized safety, sustainability, and innovation for all modes of transportation in and around our campus, including pedestrians, bicycling, public transportation, carsharing, bikesharing, carpooling, and other smart forms of transportation. A portion of Alumni Drive was closed down for people to enjoy fun and interactive activities on the open street.

The Mentor a Public Administration Student program matches MPA students to practicing local administrators or nonprofit managers, where they are exposed to the actual work environments, responsibilities, and interactions with professional administrative positions in Florida. We kicked off the 2019 cohort with a meet-and-greet dinner. This year, our students were partnered with mentors from Hillsborough and Pasco counties, ISPE, and the Senior Connection Center.

January 2019

Our School announced a series of professional development training courses and workshops in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) with Research Associate Steven Fernandez.

December 2018

Zephyrhills City Manager Steven Spina discussed Pasco County's partnership with our School, highlighting MURP alumni Kevie Defranc and Jensen Hackett—and their prior internships with the city—in the November/December 2018 issue of Quality Cities (turn to pages 20-21), which is a publication of the Florida League of Cities (FLC).

September 2018

MURP students Brandon Henry and Christopher Moorman, alumni Mara Latorre and Katrina Corcoran, faculty members Dr. Evangeline Linkous and Troy Salisbury, and program friends Melissa Dickens and Amber Dickerson presented at the 2018 APA Florida Annual Conference on the following topic panels: planning career development, women in planning, emerging issues impacting planning, and property rights.