November 2009 Roundtable with Former Congressman Tom Davis

This November the Center for Public Administration and Policy Round Table on Leadership and Administration featured the Honorable Tom Davis, former Congressman from the 11th district of Virginia, as the guest speaker. The Round Table, "Leadership through Oversight: Politics and Administration," focused on Congressman Davis's leadership in Congress, particularly as the Chair of the House Government Reform Committee, and the dynamics and challenges of legislative oversight of government agencies.

The Round Table drew a standing room only crowd of CPAP students, faculty, alumni and friends. Davis's insights on the response to Hurricane Katrina, government contracting, developing the federal work force, and information technology policy, among others, created an engaging and informational forum enjoyed by all. Anne Khademian, director of CPAP in Alexandria and co-host of the Round Table with Dr. Colleen Woodard, noted the importance for the CPAP community, and the broader public administration field to develop a richer understanding of Congress and the oversight process and dynamics to improve communication and to enhance the performance of public programs. "Tom Davis was a remarkable leader in Congress with a commitment to strong public policy and strong administration of programs, and his experiences in Congress are very valuable for everyone interested in improving the policy process."

A recording of the Round Table can be found below. (Please note: this is a large file and will take a few minutes for the file to load before it plays)

Two Roundtable Reports

Reports are now available for the July 2008 and November 2008 Roundtables on Leadership and Administration.

November 2008 Roundtable Podcast Now Available

Listen to the November 2008 Roundtable on Leadership and Administration by clicking on the arrow at the bottom of this post.

The subject of this Roundtable session was "Public Leadership: Understanding and Responding to Crisis.” CPAP's own Dr. Anne Khademian interviewed Professor Roger Leeds, Research Professor of International Finance and Director Center for International Business and Public Policy at Johns Hopkins University.




(Note that it may take 30-45 seconds for the podcast to load and begin playing.)

July 2008 Roundtable Podcast

Listen to a podcast from the July 2008 Roundtable on Leadership and Administration.

(Note that it may take 30-45 seconds for the podcast to load and begin playing.)

This Roundtable subject is entitled "Leading, Organizing and the Stand-up of DHS."

At this Roundtable, CPAP's own Dr. Colleen Woodard led a panel discussion with Beryl Radin, Professor of Public Administration at American University and Janet Hale, former Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and presently with Deloitte Touche.

Summer 2008 Roundtable Slated for Wed, July 23

Join us on Wednesday, July 23rd at 6:30pm at The Lyceum for the Summer 2008 Roundtable on Leadership and Administration.

The subject of this Roundtable session is "Leading, Organizing and the Stand-up of DHS." CPAP's own Dr. Colleen Woodard will lead a panel discussion with Beryl Radin, Professor of Public Administration at American University and Janet Hale, former Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and presently with Deloitte Touche.

Refreshments will be provided. The Lyceum is approximately eight blocks east of CPAP, at the corner of Prince and Washington Streets. Street and garage parking is available nearby.

Please RSVP no later than Monday, July 21st if you plan to attend. We hope to see you on July 23rd!

Roundtable Report - July 2007

The final report from the July 2007 Roundtable on Leadership and Administration is now available.

This Roundtable was devoted to a CPAP community effort to strategize and guide our future forums on developing and understanding leadership and administration. Stepping outside the scholar/practitioner format we have followed for the Roundtable, we asked three CPAP doctoral students to lead this Roundtable discussion with specific audience engagement.

CPAP’s very own Susan Maybaumwisniewski framed and moderated a discussion with CPAP PhD students Maria DiPasquantonio and Jeff Stern, followed by breakout discussions with CPAP students. The report also reflects the reporting out from the breakout groups.

CPAP is glad to share this resource with interested students and scholars. Feedback or questions about the report are encouraged and may be submitted to this blog posting.

Ethics Question from Matthew Worner

My father is a city council chairperson in Mayville, North Dakota (ND). Currently, Mayville, ND and Portland, ND (which is two miles away) share police. Through its municipal budget, the Mayville (population - 1800) city officials hire the police and Portland (population = 700) pays Mayville under the terms of a service agreement. Because of the nature of small towns in North Dakota, and specifically, Mayville and Portland, "everyone knows everyone... the Hatfields and McCoys... everyone is related to everyone." Portland officials have recently decided to opt of this service agreement for cheaper services with the County Sheriff, who resides 15 miles away in Hatton, ND.

So, here's the public affairs (or ethics) question of the day... what happens if there is a violent crime incident in one of the Portland bars? The Sheriff that serves Portland is much farther away than Mayville City Policy and may take longer to respond (because the Sheriff could be half way acrocss the county). Knowing Portland police services are now the responsibility of the Sheriff, are the Mayville City Police obligated to respond to the violent incident if they receive a call? If they are not legally obligated to respond, might it be in effective political move if they do not respond? Ethically, do the Mayville City Police have a responsibility to act if they know in good conscience that the County Sheriff may not be able to respond as quickly as they could?

I think Mayville should respond in this instance because politically, it would be horrible not to respond since everyone knows everyone here and a civil war could basically break out between the two towns... and ethically, we have the responsibility to take care of the lives of others... we can talk about money later.

Give me your thoughts :-)

Matthew Worner - DHS OIG - MPA 2008