blog posts

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  Change, Hope, and Renewal

  Feb 4, 2021 9:30 am29 views

  The January 6th Capitol riot, Martin Luther King Day Celebrations, the Inauguration of President Biden and the pending Impeachment Trial of Donald Trump. What a start to 2021! What do all four events/days have in common? Nothing some may say, and everything, others may suggest. I’m in the group that will highlight some important similarities and very real differences between these events.

• The Depth of Illinois Debt Problem and its Potential Consequences

  Feb 2, 2021 3:30 pm1262 views

  Most Illinoisans know that the state is in debt, and many understand that it has a large debt. However, few understand just how large the debt is and the potential consequences for the state. At the Institute for Illinois Public Finance, we have been developing measures of states' debt burden over the last year for a research project on the effects of fiscal imbalances like debt on economic growth.  While our larger research project will focus on all states and local governments, the data that we have collected should be interesting to all Illinoisans.

• Do You Have Information Problems? Meet the Institute for Legal, Legislative, and Policy Studies (ILLAPS) at the University of Illinois Springfield

  Jan 29, 2021 11:00 am125 views

  When government entities or non-profit organizations want to make decisions on policies and practices, they often run into the problem of not having necessary, easy to understand information to move their work forward. This often leads to uncertainty, inaction, or incomplete decisions. However, it doesn’t have to be like that.

  The Institute for Legal, Legislative, and Policy Studies (ILLAPS) in the Center for State Policy and Leadership at UIS’ mission is to help solve these information problems for non-profits and government entities of all sizes. In coordination with our partners, we solve information problems in three ways:

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  Aim for the Future: Goal Setting and Goal Sharing Innovate Springfield

  Jan 26, 2021 12:00 pm41 views

  According to research, writing down a goal, assessing our commitment and motivation towards that goal, and then sharing progress with peers greatly increases our chances for success! Five years ago, this is exactly what Innovate Springfield and the Continuum of Learning did. They put their minds together, along with voices from all over the community, toward the goal of improving outcomes for Sangamon County children facing multiple barriers. Now, it’s time to share the progress that Innovate Springfield has made with the community! We are compiling the statistics and stories that show how much Sangamon Success has accomplished in five years and building a progress report that will fuel our growth in years to come. In order to tell the whole story, however, we need help. 

• A Path Forward for Graduate Internships at UIS

  Jan 21, 2021 11:00 am217 views

  The Graduate Public Service Intern (GPSI) Program is one of nine units within the University of Illinois Springfield’s (UIS) Center for State Policy and Leadership (CSPL).  This program affords eligible graduate students an introduction to public service, the opportunity to get work experience in their field of study, and provides students a tuition waiver and monthly stipend that makes graduate school more affordable.  The Program allows participating agencies an opportunity to educate and train potential future public service professionals and obtain necessary help on various projects throughout their agencies.

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  Time to stop hating on journalists for reporting facts

  Jan 18, 2021 10:15 pm42 views

  I didn’t get into journalism to be liked. But I didn’t get into it to be hated, either. After the last four years of President Trump’s attacks on the media, his followers feel more emboldened than ever to direct hateful language and dangerous threats toward journalists trying to do their jobs.

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  “Where Do We Go From Here?” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Address at the 11th Annual SCLC Convention

  Jan 18, 2021 9:00 am805 views

  In August 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. addressed the 11th Annual Student Christian Leadership Congress (SCLC) in Atlanta, Georgia before over 100 Black leaders.  In his address, he asked the question, “Where Do we Go From Here?”.  He eloquently talked about the major accomplishments and tasks ahead for SCLC.  Dr. King urged Black leaders to organize and register voters in order to elect individuals who would address Black Americans’ social, political and economic issues.

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  Violent Protest or Seditious Conspiracy

  Jan 13, 2021 9:00 am41 views

  While watching the events of January 6, 2021, in Washington D.C., I, like many other Americans, felt a wide range of emotions. First shock and disbelief that our Capitol was under siege by its own citizens. Second, confusion as I realized that this was not a protest for better wages, equal rights, or climate change but a protest over the outcome of an election that occurred two months ago. Finally, the criminal lawyer in me couldn’t help but analyze the legal consequences that each one of these rioters would potentially be facing if arrested.

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  The Path of Least Resistance: A Reflection on the Events of January 6th

  Jan 12, 2021 9:00 am51 views

  I never imagined writing this. But I also never imagined witnessing what unfolded as I prepared for the Spring Semester this past week, working on courses while watching the Senate and the House certify the electoral college votes on the afternoon of January 6th.

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  Introduction to the CSPL Centerpiece

  Jan 6, 2021 4:00 pm60 views

  With the start of 2021, CSPL enthusiastically joins in partnership with the College of Public Affairs and Administration (CPAA) to administer and connect with you via The Capitol Connection Blog (thank you CPAA!).  One goal for CSPL is to communicate, connect and collaborate more to build awareness and increase public value of CSPL.  Many years ago, CSPL released a monthly newsletter called The Centerpiece.  Built on great history, The Centerpiece will serve as the identifying monthly blog entry for CSPL. 

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  Happy Holidays! A video message from Dean Smith

  Dec 22, 2020 9:00 am33 views

  Holiday Greetings from Dean Robert Smith

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  Alternative Approaches to State Budget Cuts: What does Budget Theory Suggest?

  Dec 17, 2020 9:00 am131 views

  Now that Illinois voters rejected the Graduated Income Tax Amendment, the next logical question is how the state will balance its budget for fiscal year 2021 and beyond. While there is room in the state’s borrowing authority with the Federal Reserve under the Municipal Liquidity Facility (MLF), a larger concern is that much of this deficit is not due to COVID-19 related revenues and expenditures, but due to a long standing mismatch between state revenues and expenditures, a problem that the graduated income tax proposal was supposed to address. Borrowing this way would get the state through the immediate budgetary challenge, but what happens in FY22 and beyond?

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  PAR Alumni Spotlight: Daralene Jones helps reveal truth of Ocoee Massacre

  Dec 15, 2020 9:00 am241 views

  For 100 years, the story of the Ocoee Massacre remained largely untold. But thanks to the efforts of Public Affairs Reporting graduate Daralene Jones and her team at WFTV Channel 9 in Orlando, the truth of what happened to Black residents in Ocoee on Election Day 1920 is being revealed to a new generation of people in Florida and beyond.

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  Give Local this Holiday: iSPI Holiday Shop

  Dec 10, 2020 9:00 am66 views

  This giving season, we're celebrating the small businesses who have established their headquarters at Innovate Springfield, in the heart of our community, and who proudly call Springfield their home. Welcome to the iSPI Holiday Shop, a curated selection of Innovate Springfield member-owned products and services.

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  Seven Tips for Crisis Leadership

  Dec 8, 2020 9:00 am26 views

  While a time of crisis is daunting for any team, strong leadership is needed to help the organization move forward well and perhaps even find a few positive outcomes.  In this blog, we will examine seven tips for crisis leadership that may help lead toward positive results.

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  Gloves, boxes, and masks: Waste visibility, challenges, and opportunities during and post COVID - 19 pandemic

  Dec 3, 2020 9:00 am222 views

  Garbage is everywhere but is mostly overlooked in our everyday environment. Though as individuals we deal with municipal solid waste every day, waste infrastructure – like black bags, covered bins, enclosed trucks, industrial waste cycles, and publicly inaccessible landfills - keeps the majority of garbage out of sight and mind.  In reality, in Illinois, landfill space is limited (average lifespan = 21 years), and the Covid-19 pandemic is exposing just how essential, complex, and fragile our waste cycle is.

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  A Customized Approach to Maintain Good Financial Condition for Illinois Local Governments

  Dec 1, 2020 9:00 am45 views

  During the pandemic, state governments in the U.S. have experienced dramatic declines in revenues.  In addition to the current budget situation, the states face economic uncertainty in future fiscal years about the path of the economic recovery. However, Illinois had already been running structural deficits over several years prior to the outbreak. The combination of that structural deficit and pandemic driven revenue shortfalls have created extreme fiscal stress for the state.   For local governments, one of the main concerns is that the state may cut state aid as a part of its budget balancing strategies.  In this post, we suggest a set of bespoke strategies for Illinois local governments.     

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  Thanksgiving 2020: What It Really Means?

  Nov 25, 2020 9:00 am24 views

  I don’t think there is any way to sugarcoat the fact that this Thanksgiving may not be the best Thanksgiving of record for many people.

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  Setting Policy in a World of Science

  Nov 24, 2020 9:45 am38 views

  Since COVID-19 debuted in our world, there has been no end to politicians, pundits, and social media sirens crying out something along the line of “we are following the science” or “because the science says so” as they support one new policy or another or to bring down one political view or another.  As professionals who set, guide, and lead public policy, we need to start asking questions of “show me the science” or “where does the science say this” when we are faced with the never-ending barrage of “because science says so” claims in relation to public policy.

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  What Has Health Got to Do with It?

  Nov 19, 2020 9:00 am44 views

  Supreme Court Determines Fate of the Affordable Care Act During a Pandemic.  Health policy has absolutely nothing to do with the United States Supreme Court’s pending decision in California v. Texas, according to newly confirmed Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett

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  Can you see me? Children in the Shadows of the Pandemic

  Nov 17, 2020 10:45 am47 views

  In March, schools sent children home and students across Illinois and the nation sequestered in their homes where they attempted to continue their schoolwork remotely, in front of their computer screens.  Before too long child advocates nationwide observed an alarming trend – significant decreases in calls to child abuse hotlines.  States reported precipitous drops – upwards to 50% in some states. 

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  The Economic Impact of COVID-19

  Nov 12, 2020 9:45 am15 views

  The coronavirus (SARS-CoV2) and associated COVID-19 disease pandemic have wrought tremendous damage to the world's health. But the pandemic, and the public health mitigation policies brought on by it, have wrought an equally large amount of economic carnage.

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  Thank you to our Veterans

  Nov 11, 2020 9:00 am12 views

  Much can be said to our veterans…but it starts with a simple “thank you” for your service!

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  Let me State the Obvious – 2020 has been a Heck of a Year

  Nov 10, 2020 10:30 am14 views

  Those of us in Public Affairs (professors, practitioners, public officials, students and keen observers) are always trying to learn from previous events and past decisions and try to predict or forecast the future to some extent. The goal is to take those lessons and learn and do better the next time around. At least we try in a public policy context.

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  Ensuring A Just University

  Nov 5, 2020 2:15 pm51 views

  As an educator and a civically engaged citizen, I believe we will never fully realize “this great experiment of democracy” until we fully realize the common cause for justice. We cannot have justice until we reduce racism to such a level that the civic life of our society can conduct itself in a forward and consistent fashion to ensure that all people, no matter their race, can expect and receive the fruits and benefits of our society. 

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  Protests on the Streets: Seeing From the Lens of Goodness

  Nov 3, 2020 9:00 am132 views

  A beautiful Arabic proverb teaches us that a vessel only spills that which it contains. If a cup of water falls, it will spill merely that which it holds. Our heart is also a vessel of sorts. If it harbors prejudice and hate, what it divulges is simply a manifestation of what was in it. But if it houses compassion and love, then it will accordingly release what it bears.

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  Election Day 2020: More than a Presidential Election

  Nov 2, 2020 9:30 am77 views

  Every four years, we elect a president based upon each candidate’s vision for the future and our assessments of who is most capable of addressing the issues facing the country.  As is common in most presidential elections, supporters of both candidates are calling this the most important election of their lifetime.  Of course, no matter how important the presidential election may be, it is not the only important decision voters have to make this year.

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  Effect of K-12 instruction types on reported COVID-19 cases and deaths in Illinois counties

  Oct 29, 2020 8:45 am9 views

  Few decisions made by state and local governments in response to the coronavirus pandemic have affected families as much as decisions about K-12 instruction types – whether to provide in-person instruction, online-only instruction, or a hybrid of in-person and online instruction. Decisions about instruction types this fall have varied widely across states, counties, and school districts, partly because of differences in COVID-19 case metrics and partly for other reasons, including political differences.

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  Building Board Diversity is a Win for Springfield and Beyond

  Oct 27, 2020 9:00 am23 views

  When Raychel McBride and Sarah Tapscott contacted Innovate Springfield about an initiative encouraging more diversity on local nonprofit boards, we only had one question. “When do we start?”

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  Illinois Municipalities Face Difficult Decisions during COVID 19 Pandemic

  Oct 22, 2020 11:15 am35 views

  Six months ago, the world was a completely different place. The American economy was growing. Families were regularly coming together for birthdays, weddings and other special occasions. The 1,298 cities, villages and towns throughout Illinois were providing regular and critical services to support the health, safety and welfare of their residents.

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  Is It A Lost Cause To Get Young People To Read Newspapers?

  Oct 20, 2020 9:30 am734 views

  When we think about the average reader of a newspaper – the actual paper kind – the profile tends to be older, more educated and more affluent compared to a non-newspaper reader.  Combine that with the stereotypical image of a college student – younger and less affluent with their eyes and fingers glued to a screen – and you might think there’s little chance of ever turning a 20-something into someone who sips their coffee over the morning paper.  It might not all be a lost cause, however.

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  Ushering in the New Clean Energy Economy

  Oct 15, 2020 9:00 am47 views

  It was hard to miss the attention-grabbing headline last month: “California Governor Signs Order Banning Sales of New Gasoline Cars by 2035” (NPR, September 30, 2020). But is the internal combustion engine about to go the way of the horse and buggy within the next 15 years? That much remains to be seen. But with little doubt, California is ushering in a new era of green technology, and it is government “driving” the market, not the other way around.

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  Midwest Association for Latin American Studies Hosting Virtual Conference

  Oct 14, 2020 9:30 am12 views

  The 70th Annual MALAS meeting, scheduled to be held in Washington, D.C., will be held virtually with fantastic presenters from the DC area and top public officials from inter-American organizations.

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  Not Voting is Never an Option

  Oct 13, 2020 9:00 am119 views

  In my role as Dean of a College of Public Affairs, I am bound to the promotion of civic engagement, participation in democratic institutions, and encouraging citizens to vote and participate in our system of government.

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  The Great Dissenters: “Writing not for today but for tomorrow”

  Oct 7, 2020 2:00 pm176 views

  In the last decade of her life, Justice Ginsburg was revered as a genuine American cultural icon.  Her life serves as a testimony of the importance to fight for the equal citizenship stature of men and women in the U.S.

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  Promoting Equity through Digital Inclusion

  Oct 6, 2020 9:00 am34 views

  In today’s world where everyone needs to be able to connect through the Internet for school, work, and socialization, it is critical that we prioritize finding equitable ways to connect our urban, suburban, and rural areas.

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  Politics Suck: Can I get an amen?

  Oct 1, 2020 9:00 am111 views

  Now, do I have your attention? Good, but this article is not about Donald Trump or Joe Biden.

  It’s about you. It’s about me. It’s about us.

  It’s about the type of office politics that we all engage in that undermine the health of our workplaces and our own futures.

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  3 Day Startup at Innovate Springfield

  Sep 29, 2020 9:45 am26 views

  We’re excited to share that we recently held our FIRST Virtual 3 Day Startup (3DS) Event @iSPI/UIS on September 18, 19, and 20, 2020. The 3DS program is designed to engage and connect university students to experiential learning opportunities in entrepreneurship and innovation over the course of a three day startup weekend. The intended outcomes align with Innovate Springfield’s Strategic Compass goal to support students in pursuing and achieving their personal goals and to provide robust training, and other strong supports to student members of iSPI's business incubation program. 3DS served as a rich and vibrant virtual experience for those who participated.

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  Is It Too Early to Talk About a Post Covid-19 World?

  Sep 24, 2020 10:45 am57 views

  In our CPAA All-College meeting last week, we discussed the topic of navigating in a “post Covid-19” environment; a future we all look forward to sharing. In the meantime, Covid-19 looms large in each one of our lives. I am pleased to share two important initiatives to move us toward the post-Covid-19 goal.

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  Fed Up with the Status Quo: Read This

  Sep 17, 2020 9:45 am192 views

  Look around your organization. Are you amazed at just how resigned everyone is to the status quo? Does the seeming acceptance of mediocrity bother you?  Despite severe environmental pressures, are the people around you behaving in obviously ineffective ways that could be threatening the very survival of the organization?  The problem is that most organizations are incapable of learning or changing themselves in response to experience (i.e., the discrepancy between expectations and results).  So what is the solution?

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  Trump Controversies Raise Journalism Ethics Questions

  Sep 15, 2020 9:15 am107 views

  An analysis:  two recent news stories that make President Trump look bad have launched important discussions about journalism ethics. 

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  When Rhetoric Becomes Reality: Trump, Latinos, and COVID-19

  Sep 10, 2020 9:00 am36 views

  COVID-19, the global pandemic that resulted from it, and the insufficient U.S. response revealed a multitude of issues but none perhaps as pressing than the direct challenge to President Trump’s nationalist agenda and anti-immigrant rhetoric. As the nation prepares to vote with the effects of the pandemic still looming and President Trump seeking re-election, what must be called to question is the voracity with which he launched his “America first” campaign.

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  September Public Affairs Minute: The Labor Day Blues

  Sep 8, 2020 10:30 am23 views

  The COVID Pandemic has pushed unemployment rates to historic highs (inclusive of swings both up and down).  With sooo many businesses closed or experiencing slowdowns and layoffs occurring across all sectors in response to COVID is this really the time to celebrate Labor Day? Well despite the pain and economic hardships many families are facing maybe there is a reason to actually use Labor Day as a wakeup call to action.

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  Race, Housing and Equity

  Sep 3, 2020 9:15 am222 views

  When we examine housing policy in the United States today, we find huge disparities along racial lines in terms of home ownership, the value of property, and the ability to obtain a mortgage.  These disparities still exist even when accounting for things like geographic location, down payment, and income.

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  Can the COVID crisis teach us to respond to climate change with more justice and impact?

  Aug 27, 2020 9:00 am28 views

  As the COVID crisis began to bite in Central Illinois this past spring, my Introduction to Cultural Geography students packed up their belongings, left campus, and settled into whatever housing they could, where, among myriad other tasks, they completed their current events papers for my course.  Several of them centered those papers on a developing media narrative:  perhaps Covid-19 held a silver lining for the environment, including the climate, as humans’ greenhouse gas emissions plummeted around the globe.

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  Social Innovation at Innovate Springfield

  Aug 25, 2020 9:00 am18 views

  What in the world is social innovation? Simply put, we believe that by working together, we can make our community a better place for everyone, but especially for community members who are less-advantaged.

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  Power in Other Places: On Uprisings, Black Lives Matter, and Politics

  Aug 20, 2020 9:00 am203 views

  I have always been drawn to the politics of everyday people who act outside of and against conventional politics. This grounds my interest in the resurgence of Black Lives Matter uprisings. I am interested in those moments when presumptively “powerless” people mobilize and realize other powers than those of the established institutional apparatus of politics, an apparatus which includes the police, prisons, courts, and military.

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  We Don’t Want to Hear about Kamala Harris’ Shoes

  Aug 18, 2020 10:15 am127 views

  When vice presidential hopeful Kamala Harris delivers her prime-time speech at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, pay attention to the words used to describe her.  Unfortunately, commentators, opinionmakers and sometimes even news reporters have a bad habit of describing female politicians in ways they rarely or never do about male politicians.

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  Many of Your Employees are Miserable: Three Reasons it Could be Your Fault

  Aug 13, 2020 9:00 am109 views

  Look around you, how many of your employees are fully engaged or immersed in their work? How many seem to be finding fulfillment or joy in what they do?  Now, how many of your employees are apathetic and, at best, grudgingly complying with directives and carrying out their roles and responsibilities?

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  August Public Affairs Minute: Baseball, Politics and Ethics…The National Pastime?

  Aug 11, 2020 2:00 pm34 views

  Where might I even begin with such a title? And how does baseball relate to public affairs or developments in the College?  Given the serious themes of my past Minute segments, and as a keen baseball fan, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try to blend baseball and public affairs and offer an upbeat reflection of our current circumstances in relation to our national pastime. This seemed timely given that the abbreviated Major League Baseball Season has finally started.