Associate Professor applies research in MPA management course

Meet Dr. Jiaqi Liang, an Associate Professor for the University of Illinois Chicago’s Online Master of Public Administration program. Receiving a PhD in Public Administration with a second major in Comparative Politics from American University, Dr. Liang has been part of the UIC community for the past six years.

Dr. Liang is a distinguished academic and researcher whose expertise spans a diverse range of fields within public administration and policy. Her research interests encompass public management, bureaucratic politics, policy process, policy implementation, social equity, and environmental policy. Through her scholarly endeavors, her research has appeared in various journals, including the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Public Administration Review, and Policy Studies Journal.

Developing the PA 505: Public Management Practices course for the online MPA program, Dr. Liang hopes to familiarize students with the key concepts, ideas, and practical issues associated with managing organizations in the public sector using real-world applications.

Learn more about Dr. Liang and the PA 505 course.

Tell us a little about yourself.

My academic journey in public administration and public policy started at the University of Missouri where I studied in the Master of Public Affairs program with the concentration of Public Policy. I later pursued my doctoral study at American University in Washington, D.C. and graduated with a PhD in Public Administration with a second major in Comparative Politics.

Speaking broadly, my research interests include public management, policy process, policy implementation, social equity, and environmental policy. My research agenda has four focuses: policy and institutional design, public sector diversity and representativeness, bureaucratic motivations, and government transparency. In the Department of Public Policy, Management, and Analytics at UIC, I teach courses within three academic programs: Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy, Master of Public Administration, and PhD in Public Administration.

Why and/or how did you become interested in public administration?

Prior to becoming a student of public administration, I studied law and legal systems, which are a critical, integral part of government’s policymaking framework. However, I have increasingly been puzzled by problems related to the disconnection between policy adoption and policy impacts. Moreover, this phenomenon transcends national contexts and political regimes. This prompted me to acquire in-depth and systematic knowledge about how public policies are implemented and what factors account for the variations in policy implementation outcomes. The disciplines of public administration and public policy provide me with imperative training in terms of theoretical understanding and methodological skills to explore bureaucratic behavior and institutions.

What valuable skills/knowledge will students develop in your PA 505: Public Management Practices course? How can they apply these skills to future career endeavors?

The primary goals of this core MPA course are to familiarize students with the key concepts, ideas, and practical issues associated with managing organizations in the public sector, and to help them identify important factors that affect the management, performance, and goal achievement of public organizations. In this course, students will be trained to build a solid and comprehensive knowledge base regarding the theories of organization and organizational behavior, think critically about theoretical arguments and empirical approaches, understand and interpret evidence-based research, and apply theoretical knowledge to analyze and resolve real-world problems of public management.

Are there any projects or real-world applications that students can look forward to in the PA 505: Public Management Practices course?

There are two learning activities in the PA 505 course that engage students in real-world applications. First, we use news briefs to connect a recent story in the news to the weekly topic and analyze it using relevant ideas and concepts from the learning materials. The second application are case memos that improve the students’ ability to analyze a problem situation presented in a case, to identify which multiple different factors are the most consequential for the problem and, based on that analysis, to recommend a particular course of action.

Why would you recommend the online MPA program at UIC?

The public administration graduate program offered by UIC’s Department of Public Policy, Management, and Analytics has been constantly ranked and broadly recognized as one of best public affairs programs in the country (#36 out of 269 programs in the 2023 U.S. News and World Report Public Affairs ranking). Also highly ranked are several specialties within our program, including Nonprofit Management (#20), and Public Management and Leadership (#35). Our faculty members are experts in a wide array of public administration and policy areas.

Tell us about the most exciting project you are working on right now.

My colleagues and I have been working on a research project titled “Open Government Data, Digital Exclusion, and Environmental Equity”. Existing research has consistently highlighted the political, social, and economic challenges faced by potential environmental justice communities. However, a gap in the current scholarship is a focus on the widespread digitalization of government’s environmental information and services. Additionally, there is a need to recognize that digitally excluded populations often overlap with communities of environmental justice concern.

In the setting of the implementation of the Clean Air Act, this study addresses two key questions:

• Does the availability of open government data related to air quality contribute to the effectiveness of government policy implementation outputs?
• To what extent does the digital exclusion experienced by socially vulnerable communities impact the positive influence of open government data?

By exploring these questions, our research aims to shed light on the relationship between open government data, policy implementation, and the digital disparities affecting socially vulnerable groups.