Making Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration a Primary Resource for Community and Public Engagement

Charles E. Menifield, the new dean of Rutgers SPAA, offers his vision for the future

"In five years, we will move up in rankings; be seen as the number one school of public affairs and administration that prepares students for public engagement; have the most engaged alumni among all programs at Rutgers; and be seen by every local government in New Jersey as the best location to not only find quality employees, but to send their employees for additional training."

 

 – Charles E. Menifield

Charles E. Menifield – a respected scholar, award-winning professor and an experienced administrator with substantial experience in the public sector – became dean of the School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA) at Rutgers University-Newark on Sept. 1, 2017.

Menifield came to SPAA from the University of Missouri-Columbia, where he was the associate dean for academic programs at the Harry S Truman School of Public Affairs since 2013 and professor since 2012. Prior to that he was at the University of Memphis, where he was a professor and associate professor and served as director of the public and nonprofit administration program.

In the interview below, Menifield discusses his desire to make Rutgers SPAA a primary resource for students, faculty, alumni and community members looking to advance engagement between academia and the public as well as to better serve the school’s students and alumni.

What attracted you to Rutgers SPAA?

I was most attracted to SPAA because of the faculty and the quality of the students produced; SPAA is replete with well-seasoned faculty and scholars on the rise. Two of our core faculty are in the [Congressionally chartered] National Academy of Public Administration, and I suspect that we will have three to four more in the next few years. Also, the placement of PhD students reflects the strong training that they received from our internationally respected faculty. For example, I was at the University of Missouri-Columbia when we hired Mirae Kim, a former SPAA PhD student, a few years ago. I believe that she had a dozen articles in very good journals by her third year with many more in progress. Another PhD graduate, RaJade Berry-James, an associate professor at North Carolina State, is a well-established scholar, and there are many others. SPAA has a long history of producing good scholars and has an excellent reputation in the field.

What are your top priorities for your first year? What do you consider your highest priority as dean?

All institutions should forge ahead with a well-thought-out strategic plan. Since my arrival, I have spent countless hours talking to the staff, faculty, students and alumni with the goal of getting input on a strategic plan that will focus on public engagement, student recruitment and faculty support and development. If I had to prioritize these items, I would place student recruitment as number one. We need to constantly evaluate our courses, certificates, degrees and processes in order to ensure that we are offering and delivering the best programs.

Given the public service component of our mission, I also believe we need an entity to support our public engagement activities. I would like to establish a Division of Public Engagement by the end of the academic year with a clear vision and goal to facilitate and expand our public engagement activities in every respect as they relate to students, faculty and the community at large.

We also need to reconnect and stay connected with our alumni and those who embrace the work that we do. I believe that our alumni are looking for a reason to be involved with the school and its activities. Hence, we will formally engage them in devising the strategic plan and get their ideas on key areas that we should focus our attention and resources.

What do you see as Rutgers SPAA’s biggest challenge within the next five years? Where do you see the school in five years?

I believe that competition for students and declining revenues from governmental entities will be the biggest challenges for all public universities over the next five years. Therefore, we have to constantly reexamine our programs and processes to maximize our opportunities, while continuing to attract the best faculty and provide them with the best resources in order to be successful. In five years, we will move up in rankings; be seen as the number one school of public affairs and administration that prepares students for public engagement; have the most engaged alumni among all programs at Rutgers; and be seen by every local government in New Jersey as the best location to not only find quality employees, but to send their employees for additional training.

Fill in the blank: When my time as dean is over, I will have considered my deanship successful if _____________.

I will have considered my deanship successful if we move up in the rankings; the Division of Public Engagement is viewed as a valuable resource to the university and the local governments in New Jersey; our students continue to be placed in highly visible public service organizations and universities; we continue to see an increase in the student population in every modality; our faculty continues to expand its diversity and inclusion efforts; the number of active alumni members grows; the number and amount of student scholarships grow; and the school is named. 

– Ginger Swiston