President-elect Joe Biden is nominating New York emergency department commissioner Deanne Criswell to serve as the Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator. Criswell, an alum of the Master of Public Administration program at the CU Denver School of Public Affairs, is the first woman nominated to head the agency.
Paul Taylor, an assistant professor in the CU Denver School of Public Affairs, is working with the CU Boulder Community Safety Task Force as an external facilitator to help in increasing accountability, transparency, engagement, and trust between the University of Colorado Boulder Police Department (CUPD) and the broader university community.
Colorado House of Representatives Alec Garnett poses for the portrait at the House chambers of Colorado State Capitol in Denver, Colorado on Thursday. November 12, 2020. Garnett, who is a CU Denver School of Public Affairs alumnus of the Accelerated Master of Public Administration program, will lead 73rd Colorado legislative session as speaker.
On December 4, the CU Denver School of Public Affairs hosted its First Friday event centered around how governments are changing to meet the needs of our time, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Comprised of experts from state, city, and county governments in Colorado, the panel took a deep dive into the pivots that organizations have made during the tumultuous year of 2020, what processes would continue, and their hopes for the future.
On October 6, the CU Denver School of Public Affairs hosted its second virtual First Friday on the topic of What Are We Voting On? Joined by an expert panel, the event was moderated by Paul Teske, Dean of the School of Public Affairs. The panelists were Michael Fields, Executive Director of Colorado Rising Action; Lynea Hansen, Senior Vice President of Strategies 360; and Andrew Kenney, Public Affairs Reporter for Colorado Public Radio. The discussion covered a range of topics from the upcoming presidential election to the state and local ballot amendments and proposals.
Colorado’s nine Democratic presidential electors cast their votes for Joe Biden at the state Capitol on Monday. First-time elector Alan Kennedy, an attorney and doctoral student at the CU Denver School of Public Affairs, said he hoped Monday’s nationwide vote brings acceptance of Biden’s presidential victory.
Over the past fall semester, the CU Boulder Community Safety Task Force has continued its work to forge new paths and bring forth recommendations to increase accountability, transparency, engagement and trust between the University of Colorado Boulder Police Department and the broader university community. Paul Taylor, an assistant professor in the CU Denver School of Public Affairs and the task force’s external facilitator, said members are on track to deliver actionable recommendations to campus leaders.
On November 6, the CU Denver School of Public Affairs hosted What happened in our elections?, its third installment of the First Fridays virtual event series, to unpack a range of topics from the presidential election (which had not yet been called at the time of the event) to the state and local ballot results. Moderator Paul Teske, Dean of the School of Public Affairs, was joined by Saja Hindi, reporter for The Denver Post; Mike Littwin, columnist for The Colorado Sun; and Sean Walsh, election consultant for Sean Walsh Consulting.
November is Native American Heritage Month, which is also the month many people in the United States celebrate Thanksgiving. While it’s tempting to ignore history and focus on the benign, familiar archetypes of Pilgrims and Indians, the reality for Indigenous Peoples is far more complex. At CU Denver, Native student Queana Maher, students from the Native American Student Organization (NASO), and Professor John Ronquillo, PhD, co-chair of the university’s new Equity Task Force, discussed what Native American Heritage Month means to them.
On March 6, the School of Public Affairs hosted a diverse and expert panel of creative individuals to share their thoughts on how the arts can and do strengthen Denver’s communities. The event, "The Arts as Catalyst in Strengthening Denver’s Communities," part of the CU Denver School of Public Affairs First Friday Breakfast Series, was moderated by Dr. Jane Hansberry, an Associate Professor, Clinical Teaching Track, at the school.
The School of Public Affairs Economic Development class has been credited by communities for providing an important service at this time of need. Read about how students and partners Downtown Colorado Inc. helped two Southern Colorado communities -- Cañon City and Rocky Ford -- adapt and help their small businesses, youth, and residents stay hopeful.
Two CU Denver School of Public Affairs students are among this year’s recipients: Public Service student David Olguin (featured at timestamp 3:22 in the video) and Criminal Justice student Sinead (Kalin) Mooney (featured at timestamp 3:42).
In a new research paper published in Police Quarterly, University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs Assistant Professor Paul Taylor found officers can significantly improve shoot/no-shoot decisions by simply lowering the position of their firearm.
Barbara Paradiso, director of the Center on Domestic Violence in CU Denver’s School of Public Affairs, speaks to CU Denver News about the connection between coronavirus and domestic violence.
Winners from the CU Denver School of Public Affairs are Associate Professor Todd Ely, with his project titled “Understanding and Leveraging Philanthropic Foundations in Colorado’s Urban Areas,” and Scholar in Residence Dr. Serena Kim, with her project titled “Integrated Solar Energy for Sustainable, Resilient, and Equitable Communities.”
As more organizations increasingly recognize the need to move beyond solidarity statements and into the work of creating more equitable policies and cultures in their workplaces, the CU Denver School of Public Affairs dedicated its inaugural First Fridays event for the 2020-21 academic year to this topic. The virtual event, Leading Towards Equity: Stories of Organizational Change, held on Sept. 11, brought together panelists who have been doing this organizational work for some time.
By studying 488 public airports in the United States, University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs researcher Serena Kim, PhD, found that 20% of them have adopted solar photovoltaic (PV), commonly known as solar panels, over the last decade.
Since 2017, students in Randy Harrison’s Economic Development class (PUAD 5630) have had the opportunity to engage with Colorado communities in an experience unlike any felt in a typical classroom. Through its partnership with Downtown Colorado, Inc., this CU Denver School of Public Affairs (SPA) course allows students to become project coordinators in a process known as the Colorado Challenge Program. Students connect with community members and experts in the field to establish a plan of work to engage public, private, and non-profit partners in addressing a significant community challenge over the course of their semester. Through their partnership, SPA students and DCI have connected with and created initiatives for almost 30 Colorado communities.