Seoul National University GSPA and Rutgers SPAA Hold Joint International Conference at Rutgers University–Newark

The 2022 SNU GSPA-Rutgers SPAA International Conference, sponsored jointly by the School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA) at Rutgers University–Newark and the Graduate School of Public Administration (GSPA) at Seoul National University (SNU), was held Nov. 4-7 on the RU-N campus. The conference, with a theme of "Democracy, Performance, and the Challenge of Inclusive Governance," brought together scholars from around the globe to share insights on how governments can respond to current and future challenges. Rutgers SPAA faculty Miyeon Song, assistant professor, and Gregg Van Ryzin, professor and interim dean, served on the organization committee.

Photo Album: 2022 SNU GSPA-Rutgers SPAA International Conference

Over four days, the conference provided an in-depth look at complex public administration issues faced by societies around the world with sessions that included "New Perspectives in Public Administration," "Budget and Finance," "Democracy and Transparency," "Citizens and Public Policy," "Collaboration and Performance Information," and "Finance and Local Government." The event opened with keynote speaker Kenneth J. Meier, distinguished scholar in residence at American University, who spoke on "Democracy, Performance and Inclusive Governance: Politics, Context and Choice."

Among the presenters were SPAA faculty and PhD students, who presented on various topics pertinent to global public administration:

• Gregg Van Ryzin, professor and interim dean, presented "Coproduction as a Causal Process" 
• Lindsey McDougle, associate professor, presented "A Pedagogic Approach to the Democratization of Foundation Philanthropy"
• Pengju Zhang, assistant professor, presented "Do Local Electoral Rules Affect Government Size? Evidence from California"
• Marilyn Rubin, distinguished research fellow, presented "Achieving Gender Equity: The Role of Gender Budgeting"
• Jihye Jung, assistant teaching professor, presented "Is Jim Williams More Capable Director Than Young Kim? An Experiment on Donation Discrimination"
• Yong Chan Rhee, PhD student, presented "The Usage of Racial Cues in Police Killings" (co-authored with Charles Menifield, professor)
• Yahong Zhang, associate professor, presented "Public Employees’ Whistleblowing Intention: An Explanation by the Modified Theory of Planned Behavior" (co-authored with Wan-Ju Hung, PhD student)
• Jinah Yoo, PhD student, presented "How Relative Performance Information Affects Citizens’ Perceptions and Attitudes: Do Reference Points Matter?"
• Ying Liu, PhD student, presented "Does Symbolic Representation in Non-Profit Organizations Matter? Gender Representation, Leadership, and Donation Willingness"
• Fangda Ding, PhD candidate, presented "Impact of Executive Leader's Political Ideology on Bureaucratic Representation: Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design"

Kenneth Meier (on screen) speaks on "Democracy, Performance and Inclusive Governance: Politics, Context and Choice" following a welcome by Gregg Van Ryzin (at podium).

Marilyn Rubin discusses the role of gender budgeting.

Yahong Zhang presents research on public employees’ whistleblowing intention.

Lindsey McDougle discusses a pedagogic approach to the democratization of foundation philanthropy.

Jihye Jung presents an experiment on donation discrimination.

Pengju Zhang presents the effects of local electoral rules on government size.