Iris Baxter: Professor of Public Administration Honored by American Society for Public Administration

Iris Baxter, associate professor of public administration and public policy was honored last month with the Harry Scoville Award for Academic Excellence by the American Society for Public Administration’s (ASPA) Los Angeles Metro Chapter at the organization’s annual awards dinner, which was held at the Loker Student Union at California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Baxter urges her students and colleagues to join organizations like ASPA in order to enhance their professional development and networking opportunities.

“I encourage students going into public administration and public policy fields to join organizations like ASPA because it provides them an opportunity to hear directly from administrators about their daily responsibilities and decision-making authority in the governance of public programs,” she says. “These networking opportunities allow them to meet public sector professionals who often are responsible for hiring graduates to manage programs and analyze public policy. For students and professionals, ASPA provides opportunities to engage in presentations at professional meetings, scholarships and grants, and publishing in renowned journals.”

Baxter, who teaches undergraduate and graduate level courses in leadership and organizational behavior, health services administration, and health policy, says that her membership in ASPA helps her to teach, mentor, and even place her students in the fields they aspire to.

“My involvement in ASPA has resulted in internship opportunities and full time jobs for many public administration students,” she says. “[It allows me] to frequently interact with leaders in local, state, and federal government. My conversations with these individuals include problem-solving approaches and skills needed to address pressing social problems, leadership, organizational behavior, budgetary processes, accountability and public service values.”

An alumna of CSU Dominguez Hills (Class of ’90, B.S., healthcare management; ’92, M.P.A.), Baxter earned her doctorate in public administration at the University of Southern California. Her most recent publication was “Hiring Teachers in New York State's Public Schools: Does the Principal Make a Difference?” which she co-authored with Frank Papa, Jr., former assistant professor of public administration at CSU Dominguez Hills. It appeared in the January 2008 issue of Leadership and Policy in Schools.

- Joanie Harmon