Posts Tagged: Fels

New Fels Report Explores Innovative Ways for the Public Sector to Address the “Skills Gap”

As President Obama calls for new job creation that won’t raise the national budget deficit, an opportunity exists for the private and public sectors to work together. The University of Pennsylvania’s Fels Institute of Government lays out six proven strategies to help governments, businesses and workers successfully address the jobs problem in a new report,Read… Read more »

What Does It Take to Lead a State Agency?

By Associate Consultant Tess Mullen, MPA ‘13 This week, Fels Research & Consulting is releasing its latest Promising Practices report: “What It Takes to Lead State Agencies: Promising Practices for State Cabinet Secretaries.” Based on in-depth interviews with more than 24 current and former cabinet secretaries nationwide, this new report explores seven core competencies thatRead… Read more »

The Impact of the Fiscal Cliff on Local Governments

By Sam Williford, Associate Consultant As Congress works to find a solution to the ‘fiscal cliff’ by the end of the year, the federal budget is hardly the only player involved. Without a compromise, state and local governments, which are required to keep balanced budgets, would feel the effects from less federal support. This couldRead… Read more »

Calling the Presidential Election: Reforms to Polling Processes

By Eric Rabe, Fels Sr. Advisor By 11:16 election night, President Obama called it. He happily tweeted “Four more years” and sent along a celebratory photo. Yet it was another two hours before Mitt Romney conceded and the end-of-the-campaign speeches were finally over. Romney’s polls were showing Ohio and Florida, two critical states, still couldRead… Read more »

Measuring Success

By Susit Dhakal, Associate Consultant One of the projects I am working on this semester involves analyzing metrics that measure the success of programs which provide educational grants for women. As I started reaching out to various not-for-profit organizations to figure out how they measure the impact of their programs, I soon realized the challengesRead… Read more »

NASCA’s 2012 Annual Institute a Great Success

(Photo courtesy of the National Association of State Chief Administrators) By Tess Mullen, MPA ‘13 The reviews are in and leaders from around the country have declared that the 2012 National Association of State Chief Administrators’ Annual Institute was a great success. For the third year in a row, Fels Research & Consulting (Fels R&C)Read… Read more »

Hurricane Sandy Stresses Importance of Intergovernmental Cooperation

By Sam Williford, Associate Consultant Starting last week, and into the forseeable future, every level of government was called upon to work together to prepare for and clean up after Hurricane Sandy, which struck the area this past week. The recent disagreements between New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo Langford highlightRead… Read more »

Fels Report Highlights Strategies for Productive Public Engagement

Fels Research & Consulting released Building Common Ground, a report which focuses on proven strategies that produce effective results and positive public engagement. This report is part of the Promising Practices series, a compilation of briefs that provide public sector leaders and managers with effective, practical, and innovative information on a broad range of publicRead… Read more »

Fels Research and Consulting Works to Improve Economy

By Sam Williford, Associate Consultant While last week’s drop in unemployment was the first substantial good news for the economy in months (if not years), it underscores the work still that needs to be done to help the 12 million Americans unemployed as of last month. I have had the opportunity at Fels Research andRead… Read more »

The Tax Man Cometh: Philadelphia Narrows it Tax Gap with the Suburbs

By Tess Mullen, Associate Consultant When I worked in Congress prior to coming to Fels, I quickly learned that debates over taxes dominate the House and Senate floor on a near weekly basis. As such, I came to graduate school with a desire to dig into the details of how different tax policies actually playRead… Read more »