Background
Dr. Kecskes is Department Chair, and Professor of Public Administration in the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government at Portland State University. His primary teaching areas are global leadership and ethics in the Masters of Public Administration (MPA) program where he serves as the lead faculty advisor for the Global Leadership and Management specialization. He also regularly teaches on community engagement and leadership in the undergraduate civic leadership program, which he co-founded. Prior to joining the faculty, Dr. Kecskes provided university-wide leadership in various positions at PSU including Associate Vice Provost for Engagement and Director for Community-University Partnerships. He helped establish and directed PSU's International Institute on Partnerships.
From 1997-2002, Dr. Kecskes was the Program Director of the Western Region Campus Compact Consortium at Western Washington University. He has consulted on community-engaged teaching and research with multiple colleges, universities and public and nonprofit community partners over the past 25 years. Since the 1980s, Dr. Kecskes has maintained an active global agenda, primarily in Latin America, Asia and in the Middle East.
Research Focus & Interests
Dr. Kecskes’ research focuses on community engagement and civic capacity building, including: leadership, community, organizational and institutional development locally and globally; community-engaged research and teaching; collaborative governance and sustainability. Dr. Kecskes’ publications explore departmental engagement, cultural theory, social sustainability and community development, assessment and the future of higher education.
Dr. Kecskes has directed multiple privately and publicly funded research and other grant projects. Since 2012, he has served as Principal Investigator for PSU's Middle Eastern Partnership Initiative (MEPI) Student Leaders program. He is currently participating in research and program development efforts focused on the Middle East/North Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia regions.
Community Engagements/Service
Dr. Kecskes works regularly with public and community-based organizations locally and globally. He was a two-term commissioner on the OR Governor’s Commission for Community Action and Service and is an active member of several professional associations. He regularly serves as an external reviewer for numerous professional journals and scholarly initiatives.
Publications & Awards
Dr. Kecskes was nominated for the "Excellence in Sustainability Teaching" award (2018), received the “Outstanding Teacher of the Year” award from the College of Urban and Public Affairs, Department of Public Administration (2016-17), and was recognized as “One of the Top Professors in the College” for teaching excellence by students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Kecskes, K., (Ed.) (2006) Engaging Departments: Moving Faculty Culture from Private to Public, Individual to Collective Focus for the Common Good. Jossey-Bass, http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1933371021.html
Adams, N. & Kecskes, K. (2020, In press) The long-haul: Buddhist educational strategies to strengthen students’ resilience for lifelong personal transformation and positive community change. Metropolitan Universities Journal.
Kecskes, K. (2019). Radical epistemic reset: Educating for just communities worldwide. Entrepreneurial and engaged university thoughtbook, Munich, Germany. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/pubadmin_fac/40/
Kecskes, K. (2018) History in motion: Seeing Cuba’s future through the past and present, Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs. Vol. 3: Is. 1, Article 1. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/hgjpa/vol3/iss1/1/
Kecskes, K, Joyalle, J., Elliott, E. & Sherman, J. D. (2017). Sustainability of our planet and all species as organizing principle for SLCE. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1041&context=pubadmin_fac
Sandberg, B. & Kecskes, K. (2017). Using rubrics as a foundation for assessing student achievement of program competencies: One public administration program’s creative exercise. Journal of Public Affairs Education. 23 (1), 637–652. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&context=pubadmin_fac
Kecskes, K. (2015). Collectivizing our impact: Engaging departments and academic change. Partnerships: A Journal of Service-Learning and Civic Engagement, (6) 3. Greensboro, NC ISSN: 1944-1061 https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1012&context=pubadmin_fac
Nishishiba, M and Kecskes, K. (2012). Capacity building for the common good: PSU’s interdisciplinary minor in civic leadership. Journal of College and Character, (13) 1, 1-5. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=publicservice_pub
Kecskes, K., Nishishiba, M., and Morgan, D. F. (2014). Educating for new public governance: Civic engagement and the liberal arts, in Morgan, D. F. and Cook, B., (Eds.) New Public Governance: A Regime Perspective, M.E. Sharp Inc, Irvine CA.