Research & Faculty

The school’s award-winning faculty generate knowledge and best practices in public and nonprofit administration, and collaborates with organizations and professional networks in the region as well across the country and around the globe.
 

• SPAA has over 20 faculty members whose research areas include public administration, nonprofit management, human resources and labor relations, public finance and budgeting, administrative law, health administration, philanthropy, international affairs, urban policy, and other areas of expertise.
   
• Our faculty have published hundreds of articles in leading journals and authored dozens of books that shape knowledge and influence policy and practice.
   
• SPAA faculty serve as editors of top journals in the field, including:
  – The American Review of Public Administration (ARPA)
  – IJPA – International Journal of Public Administration (IJPA)
  – IPMJ – International Public Management Journal (IPMJ)
  – NVSQ – Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly (NVSQ)
   
• SPAA faculty have won major awards and have been elected NAPA Fellows – the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) is a non-partisan organization chartered by Congress to advance government practices through studies and projects held to the highest standards of efficiency and excellence.
   
• Members of SPAA's faculty hold leadership roles in major professional organizations, including the:
  – American Society for Public Administration (ASPA)
  – Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA)
  – Public Management Research Association (PMRA)
  – Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA)
  – International Research Society for Public Management (IRSPM)
  – Association for Budgeting and Financial Management (ABFM)

Through our centers and institutes, we further our mission to generate and diffuse knowledge in the field of public administration.

• Center for Applied Appreciative Inquiry (CAAI)
  CAAI assists community organizations and groups with strategic planning, reorganization, and community engagement initiatives toward facilitating positive change.
   
• Center for Experimental and Behavioral Public Administration (CEBPA)
  CEBPA works to support and develop experimental and behavioral approaches to public administration research and practice.
   
• Center for Health Equity and Community Engagement (CHECE)
  CHECE supports public, nonprofit and private sector entities to effectively engage underrepresented urban constituencies in health research, scholarship, policy and decision-making, service delivery, community engagement and assessment. 
   
• Rutgers Institute on Anti-Corruption Studies (RIACS)
  RIACS conducts research on private and public corruption and devises ways to reduce it.
   
• Transparency and Governance Center (TGC)
  TGC focuses on programming, research, and projects related to public sector transparency and governance.

Our projects and initiatives help to serve the community and the field of public administration.
 

• CivicPanel is a university-based, nonprofit project that aims to tap the potential of the Internet as a tool for academic and applied research on what citizens think about important issues relating to government and public affairs.
   
• New Jersey Nonprofit Panel collects data to examine contemporary trends, challenges, and best practices that the New Jersey nonprofit sector experiences over time in serving the state and its residents.
   
• The New Jersey State Policy Lab assists the State of New Jersey and its many communities in the design, implementation, and evaluation of state policies and programs by conducting rigorous evidence-based research that considers equity, efficiency, and efficacy of public policies and programs in holistic and innovative ways.
   
• Public Service Research Panel (PSRPanel) is a university-based, nonprofit project that supports research on public service professionals — the work they do, the organizations they help lead, and the approaches they use to better serve the public. 
   
• The Smart and Connected Cities Project, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), is helping the City of Newark develop strategies and tools to create inclusive and equitable digital public services. NSF awarded a three-year, $2.3 million grant to Rutgers University faculty from the Transparency and Governance Center (TGC) at Rutgers SPAA in Newark and the Department of Computer Science and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in New Brunswick to partner with the city.
   
• SPAA's Charitable Action and Philanthropic Exploration (CAPE) Lab leads experiential philanthropy learning projects which benefit local nonprofits.