Primary Research Interests:  Emergency response and recovery; housing recovery assistance; Neighborhood Institutions (HOA vs. NA); Local Governance and Inter-local Collaboration; Community Engagement Research; State Preemption

Dr. Linlang He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Administration and is the lead for the Sustainable Local Policy Lab. She teaches courses in public administration research methods, environmental policy analysis, and local government management. Her research interests include 1) the coupling of rural-urban systems and environmental governance, 2) conflicts and collaborations in the policy processes and the role of advocacy coalitions in policy debates, and 3) climate politics and environmental justice. Many of her research projects address issues at the intersection of the environment and social justice, explore the linkages between natural, human-built, and social systems in the connected rural-urban networks, and attend to the challenges in collaborative governance among different stakeholder groups at various institutional levels. Primary Research Interests:  The coupling of rural-urban systems and environmental governance; Conflicts and collaborations in policy processes and the role of advocacy coalitions; Climate politics and environmental justice

Hee Soun Jang is a professor and the assistant chair for the Department of Public Administration. She also is the lead for the Collective Solutions Lab. Primary Research Interests:  Nonprofit organizations engaging in public service as service providers; advocacy and resource development; local government policies and management of services; services for the homeless; network governance

Laura Keyes, Ph.D., an AICP-certified planner, holds the position of Clinical Assistant Professor and Undergraduate Coordinator in Nonprofit Leadership Studies and Urban Policy and Planning for the Department of Public Administration at the University of North Texas. She teaches courses on community development, nonprofit management, and program evaluation. Her research interests include local government, age-friendly cities, livable communities, undergraduate education, and service learning. As PI, for the City of San Antonio, Ride Connect of Texas, One Call One Click Transportation Research project, she and colleagues developed a community plan for non-traditional funding and policy solutions that enhance mobility access for older people and individuals with disabilities. Dr. Keyes also is is the lead for the Transcend Mobility Lab and serves on the editorial boards for the Journal of Applied Gerontology and the Journal of Nonprofit Leadership and Education. She recently co-authored and published her research specific to urban planning education in the Journal of Planning Education and Research (2024), age friendly cities policy in the Journal of Aging and Social Policy (2024), Journal of Applied Gerontology (2021) and the Journal of Aging and Social Policy (2022), corruption in local government in Public Integrity (2022) (John Rohr Best Article Award from American Society for Public Administration, nonprofit and local government policy response to the homeless population during the COVID 19 pandemic in Public Administration Review (2020), International Journal of Public Administration (2021), and Chinese Public Administration Review (2021), and nonprofit education in the Journal of Nonprofit Leadership Studies (2021 and 2024). She has published several textbook chapters on public administration. Primary Research Interests:  Local government, community development, nonprofit management, and undergraduate education Other Information:  Laura Keyes is the undergraduate coordinator for the Department of Public Administration. She coordinates our Urban Policy and Planning degree as well as Nonprofit Leadership Studies degree. Both programs have a minor option in addition to the minor in public administration. The department also offers two certificate programs in volunteer management and alternative dispute resolution.  For more information on undergraduate programs, send Dr. Keyes an email.