Faculty Highlights

Dr. Billie Sandberg is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Public Administration. Dr. Sandberg spent 20 years working in the nonprofit sector before earning her PhD in Public Administration. During that time she became interested in the forces that shape decision making in nonprofit organizations.

Her recent research has focused on the idea of meaningful work, exploring issues like burnout, work-life balance, and how performance pressures affect employees.

What makes PSU special?

PSU’s commitment to community engagement and applied research sets it apart from other institutions. It has the capacity to be engaged with communities, which faculty and students exemplify. There is a desire and shared belief across the university to be of use and of service.

Dr. Frankline Muthomi is an Assistant Professor of Public Administration in the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government. His research interests include participatory budgeting, performance budgeting, and budget reforms in local governments. While there is a wide range of research on citizen participation, he tends to focus on whether and how individuals, groups, and communities can influence and change budgetary decisions in local governments.

His latest paper is titled “Citizen Engagement in Budget Simulation: Examining the Effectiveness of Balancing Act Modules in Aligning Public Priorities and Allocation Choices”. This research demonstrates participatory benefits of Balancing Act budget simulations that are increasingly gaining recognition among scholars and local government managers in facilitating effective and meaningful public engagement in the contemporary digital era. The study advances the concept of decision alignment through sequential budget simulation exercise and contributes to behavioral public budgeting frameworks.

Read the full paper here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0160323X261416888.