One of the primary reasons Penn State is recognized around the globe as a distinguished university is the sterling caliber of its faculty. As a World Campus student, you will have the opportunity to learn from the same instructors who teach traditional face-to-face classes on campus.

Jane Beckett-Camarata, PhD

Dr. Beckett-Camarata specializes in operating and capital budgeting, financial reporting, and debt management. Her current research is in municipal bankruptcy. She was a recipient of a Lilly Foundation Scholar Award for the advancement of teaching excellence. She has taught government finance courses at three Russian universities, and was a Fulbright Scholar at Kharkiv National University in Ukraine where she taught economic development finance.

Dr. Beckett-Camarata has authored many articles and book chapters which have been published in the Public Productivity and Management Review, Journal of Budgeting, Accounting and Financial Management, Municipal Finance Journal, International Journal of Public Administration, American Review of Public Administration, Journal of Business Research, Handbook of Public Sector Economics and Handbook of Globalization, Governance and Public Administration. She was the recipient of the Baruch College, CUNY distinguished Municipal Leadership and Finance Aware which funded her 2005 summer research on changes in New York City’s pension fund assets during fiscal crisis. She is a former chief financial officer in the Commonwealth of Virginia, where she managed operating and capital budgets, financial accounting and reporting, and revenue forecasting. She was instrumental in integrating the strategic plan into the budget and accounting system, and establishing and integrating financial performance measures. 

She earned a doctorate in public policy and administration from Virginia Commonwealth University, a master of public administration from the American University, and bachelor of science degree in finance from Syracuse University.

Beverly A. Cigler, PhD

Dr. Cigler is a professor of public policy and administration and a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. She specializes in intermunicipal and state-local relations, service delivery, public finance, land use, and emergency management. She has held leadership positions in national professional organizations, including that of associate editor of Public Administration Review (PAR). Her research receives external funding and includes more than 160 peer-reviewed articles/essays and chapters — ten in PAR — and several co-authored and co-edited books. She has served on thirteen editorial boards and made more than 190 presentations to national, regional, and state public officials' organizations.

Dr. Cigler has received national awards for intergovernmental research and public service, a Penn State Harrisburg research award, four statewide public service awards, a Distinguished Alumna Award, and a Pennsylvania Legislative Citation. She was a Fellow of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration–Federal Emergency Management Agency, and a Visiting Scholar in the Pennsylvania legislature, where she is now a faculty research associate. Dr. Cigler serves on the boards of directors of the Keystone Research Center, Pennsylvania, and The Bureaucrat, Inc., Washington, D.C., as well as on advisory committees for Pennsylvania's municipal managers, county officials, and the National Center for the Study of Counties. Dr. Ciglar can be reached at 717-948-6060 or by emailing bac8@psu.edu.

David P. Kitlan, PhD

Dr. David Kitlan joined Penn State Harrisburg in 2002 and teaches a variety of technology-related courses focusing on the role of information technology and information systems in organizations as well as web-based technologies, computer programming, and information security. He has more than 20 years of corporate and industry experience in research, engineering, manufacturing, business analysis, database management, Six-Sigma quality, project management, consulting, and training. His work has spanned the environmental, food, power, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, and other industries. He serves as webmaster for several organizations and lectures on topics related to management, leadership, and a variety of issues involving the use of information technology.

Kitlan is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (executive committee and webmaster); Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers; Beta Gamma Sigma (international business honor society); Sigma Iota Epsilon (business management honor society); and the American Society for Public Administration. His research interests include information technology in public and private sectors, STEM education, web-based learning and website design, information security, organizational change and development, e-government, e-commerce, Internet voting systems, leadership and management, and self-directed work teams.

Göktuğ Morçöl, PhD

Dr. Morçöl is an associate professor of public policy and administration in the School of Public Affairs at Penn State Harrisburg. His current research focuses on business improvement districts; complexity theory applications in public policy and governance, particularly metropolitan governance; and the methodology of public policy research. He is a co-editor of New Sciences for Public Administration and Policy (2000), the author of A New Mind for Policy Analysis (2002), the editor of Handbook of Decision Making (2007), and a co-editor of Business Improvement Districts: Research, Theories, and Controversies (2008), and Complexity and Policy Analysis: Tools and Methods for Designing Robust Policies in a Complex World (2008). His works have appeared in Administrative Theory & Praxis, International Journal of Public Administration, Politics & Policy, Policy Sciences, Emergence: Complexity and Organization, and other publications. Dr. Morçöl can be reached at 717-948-6126 or by emailing gxm27@psu.edu.

Dr. Gedeon Mudacumura

Dr. Gedeon Mudacumura is an associate professor of public administration at Cheyney University. He holds a bachelor of science in public policy, and a master and doctorate in public administration from Penn State.

Prior to joining Cheyney University, Dr. Mudacumura served as an adjunct faculty member at Penn State Harrisburg while working for the Pennsylvania Treasury Department, first as a research and development analyst, and then as a training development manager. Dr. Mudacumura has also worked for the government of Rwanda (Central Africa) on various development projects sponsored by the World Bank and the U.S. Agency for International Development. His current research focuses on the impact of the current economic downturn on state and local government budgetary actions, and their combined influence on local economic development initiatives, particularly in economically marginalized areas. Moreover, his research interest in international development explores the key factors that inhibit sustainable development in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Steven A. Peterson, PhD

Dr. Peterson received his doctorate in political science from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1974. He began his academic career at Alfred University, where he worked until 1997. In July 1997, he was named director of the School of Public Affairs and professor of politics and public affairs at Penn State Harrisburg. He has served as president of the New York State Political Science Association as well as the Northeastern Political Science Association. Dr. Peterson has published extensively, including more than one hundred publications and numerous books or monographs. His areas of research are varied — ranging from the study of American public opinion and politics, to public policy issues — especially AIDS policy and education policy — and the exploration of the relationship between biology and politics.

Among his other professional interests are American elections. His books reflect these interests, from textbooks on state and local politics and American politics to research reports on the political behavior of the elderly; how our everyday lives and experiences affect our political views and behaviors; the relevance of biological concepts and findings for our understanding of politics; the politics of policy analysis; and the threats to the widespread emergence and maintenance of democracy throughout the world. Dr. Peterson can be reached at 717-948-6058 or by emailing sap12@psu.edu.

Jeremy F. Plant, PhD

Dr. Plant is a professor of public policy and administration and coordinator of graduate programs in public administration at the School of Public Affairs, Penn State Harrisburg, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1988. Formerly he was an associate professor of public affairs and coordinator of public administration programs at George Mason University. He has also taught at the State University of New York at Albany and was a visiting faculty member at North Carolina State University and the University of Virginia. He received a bachelor's degree in political science, magna cum laude, from Colgate University in 1967; a master's degree in government from the University of Virginia in 1969; and a doctorate in government from the University of Virginia in 1975.

Dr. Plant's published work has appeared in such journals as the Public Administration Review, International Journal of Public Administration, American Review of Public Administration, Public Integrity, Policy Studies Review, Review of Policy Research, Public Budgeting & Finance, Journal of the American Planning Association, Public Works Management & Policy, The Public Manager, and several others. He recently edited the Handbook of Transportation Policy and Administration (Taylor & Francis, 2007) and is under contract to co-edit a volume on railroad security for Taylor & Francis. He has contributed more than a dozen chapters to books and is a frequent participant in disciplinary conferences. He has also authored or co-authored thirty illustrated books on railroads.

Dr. Plant is chair-elect of the Ethics Section of the American Society for Public Administration, and is the former chair of the Section on Transportation Policy and Administration. He has conducted research under contract for Citizens for Rail Safety, Inc., the U.S. Coast Guard, the Federal Highway Administration, and the County of Fairfax, Virginia. His current research focuses on railroad and transportation security issues since 9/11; public ethics; and the history of the American Society for Public Administration. He received the award for Excellence in Faculty Service in 2000 and was three times president of the Capital College Faculty Senate. Dr. Plant can be reached at 717-948-6058 or by emailing spagrad@psu.edu.

Bing Ran, PhD

Dr. Ran is an assistant professor of public administration at the School of Public Affairs at Penn State Harrisburg where he serves in the graduate faculty in the MPA, MHA, and Ph.D. programs. He received his doctorate, which focuses on organizational behavior and organization theory, from the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada in 2007. His research tackles the dynamic interactions between society's complex infrastructures and human behavior, focusing on topics such as innovation and creativity, organizational identity construction, knowledge integration and management, and the behavioral effects of the socio-technical interactions in traditional and virtual organizations.

Dr. Ran's recent articles have appeared in peer-reviewed journals such as Communications of ACM, Journal of Business and Technical Communication, Public Integrity, Knowledge and Process Management, International Journal of Cognitive Linguistics, Cognitive Sciences, and Administrative Theory and Praxis. He also served as editor of the book Contemporary Perspectives on Technological Innovation, Management and Policy (Information Age), the associate editor of Organizational Communication and Information Systems Division (Academy of Management 2009 Conference), and the associate editor, from 2008 to 2011, for the journals IST Transactions of Systems & Cybernetics- Theory and Applications (SCTA) and IST Transactions on Information Technology- Theory and Applications (ITTA).

He is an active member of the Academy of Management (AOM) and the Administrative Science Association of Canada (ASAC) and from 2003 to the present has been a frequent reviewer, presenter, and session chair for their annual conferences. He is the winner of the Best Paper Award, in organizational theory, at the 2010 ASAC Conference. Since 2004, Dr. Ran has taught various courses in the field of organization behavior and theory at Penn State; the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Canada; and currently serves as an adjunct professor at Shanxi University in Shanxi province, China. Dr. Ran can be reached at 717-948-6057 or by emailing bur12@psu.edu.

Odd J. Stalebrink, PhD

Dr. Stalebrink is an associate professor of public administration, with research and teaching specializations in the area of public budgeting and financial management. His scholarly work has appeared in numerous peer-reviewed journals including but not limited to American Review of Public Administration, Financial Accountability & Management, Critical Perspectives on Accounting, Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting, & Financial Management, Accounting Forum, and Public Budgeting & Finance. He is a member of the Association for Budgeting and Financial Management; the National Tax Association; and the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. He holds a doctorate in public policy from the School of Public Policy, George Mason University, Virginia, and master's and bachelor's degrees in business administration from Jönköping International Business School, Sweden. Dr. Stalebrink can be reached at 717-948-6319 or by emailing ojs10@psu.edu.

Jeffrey Stone, PhD

Dr. Jeffrey Stone teaches computer science and information sciences and technology (IST) at Penn State. His research involves examining the relationship of public policy and IT, with an emphasis on technology policies in public education. Prior to his arrival at Penn State, Dr. Stone was employed as a software developer for a firm specializing in utility network analysis software. Dr. Stone has also previously taught at Dickinson College and Harrisburg Area Community College.

Triparna Vasavada, PhD

Dr. Vasavada is an assistant professor of public administration in the School of Public Affairs at Penn State Harrisburg. Her research interests are nonprofit management; generosity, gender and leadership; and social network analysis. Dr. Vasavada's recent work has appeared in Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. She has presented her work at numerous national and international conferences, including the Association for Research in Nonprofit and Voluntary Association (ARNOVA), Association of Public Policy Analysis and Management, American Society of Public Administration, and International Society of Third Sector Research (ISTR).

Her current research project, supported by Research Council Grants of Penn State, focuses on the social network dynamics of women leaders of nonprofit organizations in the United States. As a Ford Foundation Fellow, she has worked as co-managing editor for a leading journal in women studies — Gender & Society. She has served on the founding committee of the Rockefeller College Review — Working Paper Series. She was assistant editor for the Book News section in Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. She has received numerous grants and awards including ARNOVA's Emerging Scholar award. She is a member of the scholarship committee for the ARNOVA conference and a reviewer for the 2010 ISTR conference. Dr. Vasavada can be reached at 717/948-6363 or by emailing tbv1@psu.edu.

T. Aaron Wachhaus, PhD

Dr. Wachhaus is a visiting instructor in the School of Public Affairs. He teaches courses in public management and policy analysis. His research interests center on problems of collective action, organizational networks, decision making and the limits of rational behavior, and uncertainty and complexity. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Theory network and the Southeastern Conference for Public Administration. He is also active in the American Society for Public Administration and currently serves on the Complexity and Network Studies publications committee as well as the Nonprofit Initiative planning committee. Dr. Wachhaus edits Public Administration Quarterly. Dt. Wachhaus can be reached at 717-948-6043 or by emailing taw203@psu.edu.