Karen Mossberger traveled more than 1,700 miles for her new job as director of the School of Public Affairs, exchanging extremes in climate from bitter winters to harsh summers.
“It is hot. Having lived through Midwest winters, I just figured, well it’s sort of the opposite of the Midwest winter, it’s the season where you stay inside,” Mossberger said. “You run to your car or you run to the light rail and try not to sit out there, waiting for very long. But I have to say, I am looking forward to fall and winter.”
Previously the head of the department of public administration at the University of Illinois, Mossberger said she moved across the nation for the innovative research at the School of Public Affairs at ASU’s College of Public Programs.
A total of seven new faculty members joined the School of Public Affairs after a nationwide search. The school added new faculty after senior faculty members retired, said Jonathan Koppell, dean of the College of Public Programs.
ASU also plans to hire more faculty members at the School of Public Affairs next year. The school focuses on educating its students about how to enhance the effectiveness of government institutions to improve the lives of its citizens.
Koppell said that when Mossberger worked for the city of Detroit, she was also pursuing her college education in political science. She later earned her doctorate in political science while working.
Koppell added that Mossberger would be familiar with the experiences and needs of students.
“Karen Mossberger stood out as being someone who is ideally suited for the (School of Public Affairs),” Koppell said. “She was motivated to study by knowledge.”
Mossberger was excited about the Center for Urban Innovation and their partnership with the Alliance for Innovation. Both programs focus on local government connecting with citizens in a meaningful way to solve major issues and improve citizens’ lives.
David Swindell was hired as the director of the Center for Urban Innovation and as an associate professor.
Swindell, along with other faculty and students, will conduct research to find the best ways to improve quality of life through local governance.
Swindell said he is hoping to evaluate the effectiveness of civilians communicating with government officials through social media, email, television and the Internet.
The present technology does not allow for issues to be solved, Swindell said. The conversation needs to go both ways to solve issues and the conversation needs to be meaningful, he said
Swindell said he does not know what tool will accomplish this goal but he is hoping to find out through the research the Center for Urban Innovation will do.
“But what has actually changed in terms of people’s lives because of these technologies?” Swindell said. “You don’t want to be trying to solve the diplomatic crisis of Syria on Twitter; it’s complicated. Twitter is probably not the best tool for facilitating meaningful citizen engagement at the local level.”
The School of Public Affairs is recognized as a top program in the country and was named the sixteenth-highest graduate-level program out of 166 ranked schools in the most recent U.S. News and World Report rankings. The school is tied with the programs from Duke University, Florida State University, University at Albany, University of Kentucky, University of Minnesota and University of Texas.
The graduate-level city management and urban policy program at the school was ranked second in the country out of 20 schools, tied with Cleveland State University and New York University. University of Kansas is ranked first.
“We have a great deal of momentum here that the president and the dean are quite responsible for creating,” Swindell said. “We are going to be doing even more hiring this next year so this momentum of building is going to continue.”
Mossberger said that the school still has recognition to gain to catch up to its reviews. She is hoping to build relationships not only nationally but also locally in downtown Phoenix.
“I’m meeting people throughout the Valley and one of the things I really want to do is to not only maintain but expand relationships here in the community to make a difference locally as well as to have national visibility,” Mossberger said.
The only problem that Swindell can think of for his new position is having too many opportunities, he said.
“This is a good place to be, not just for our personal careers, but to be part of a really energetic environment and atmosphere that ASU provides that is going to hopefully lead to improvements in quality of life for citizens throughout Arizona,” Swindell said.
Contact the reporter at aimackli@asu.edu
