Join STPA

The goal of the Section on Transportation Policy and Administration (STPA) is to organize a focus on transportation. STPA spotlights transportation within ASPA at a national, regional, and chapter level. The section similarly develops information to assist federal, state, and local policymakers, so that they might better administer transportation policy.

Only current members of ASPA may join the Section. You can join ASPA here. In the process of completing your membership application, you will be asked which Sections you would like to join. As a member of STPA, you will receive the section-sponsored quarterly journal - Public Works Management & Policy - the section's electronic newsletter, as well as special studies and reports 

STPA's sessions at the ASPA annual meeting are an important way of promoting our research, and discovering new ways to positively impact practice and scholarship. If you have intended to join, but just haven't gotten around to it, please do so as soon as possible. If you have any questions about joining the Section, please e-mail the Section Chair.

You can follow STPA on social media: 

Section Officers and Board Members

Section Chair
Jiseul Kim, Assistant Professor (Department of Public Affairs and Planning) - The University of Texas at Arlington

Jiseul Kim, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Affairs and Planning at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). Prior to joining UTA in 2023, Dr. Kim served as an Assistant Professor at Arkansas State University (2020-2023). Dr. Kim has published several articles related to state highway expenditures and highway conditions by focusing on the roles of infrastructure reporting and political institutions. Dr. Kim’s publications appear in peer-reviewed journals, including Public Works Management & Policy, Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, Municipal Finance Journal, Public Administration Review, and International Review of Public Administration. Her research was supported by grant funding including the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). Currently, she is working on several manuscripts that evaluate the effects of federal policies and other management characteristics on state highway performance.

Professionally, Dr. Kim serves as Chair of American Society of Public Administration (ASPA) Section on Transportation Policy and Administration (STPA) for 2023-2025. Previously, she served as Chair of the STPA’s best student paper award committee (2021-2023).

Treasurer/Newsletter Creator
Chad Miller, Professor - University of Southern Mississippi

Chad R. Miller, Ph.D., a Professor of Economic Development in the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) College of Business and Economic Development, is Graduate Coordinator of the Master of Science of Economic Development program. He works closely with the Trent Lott National Center conducting student-directed community research projects. He teaches economic development organization management, research data analytics, real estate development & land use planning, and coordinates the International Economic Development (IEDC) accredited True South Basic Economic Development course. He has extensive private and public sector experience including managing shipping and global distribution for American companies based in China and Vietnam. He was also an Army Officer stationed in the Pacific Rim. He first became involved with economic development as a trade specialist in Maryland. Prior to joining USM, he worked for the Virginia Tech Office of Economic Development. Chad has a Ph.D. from the Virginia Tech Center for Public Administration & Policy, a MBA from Boston University, and a BA in Government from the College of William & Mary. Chad is originally from Virginia; his wife, Susan, and son, Duncan, live in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Executive Member
Carol Ebdon, Professor Emerita - University of Nebraska at Omaha

Carol Ebdon, Ph.D., is a Professor Emerita in the School of Public Administration at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Her research interests are in the areas of public budgeting and financial management; a number of her publications focus on capital management, including transportation infrastructure. Dr. Ebdon also has experience as a local government practitioner, including service as the Finance Director for the City of Omaha, Nebraska.

Secretary/Webmaster
Josephine K. Hazelton-Boyle, Assistant Professor of Public Administration - California State University, Fresno

Josephine Hazelton-Boyle is an Assistant Professor of Public Administration at California State University, Fresno and a Faculty Fellow with the Fresno State Transportation Institute. Her research interests primarily revolve around transportation policy and administration. She is particularly interested in how transportation administrators work to address mobility disparities in car-centric urban environments. She received her PhD in Public Administration from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Her research on gender and public transportation received the ASPA Section on Democracy and Social Justice’s Best Dissertation Award.

Immediate Past Chair
Can Chen, Ph.D., Associate Professor - Georgia State University

Board Members

Suzanne Leland, Professor & MPA Director - University of North Carolina Charlotte

Dr. Leland received her PhD (1999) in Public Administration, American Politics, and Public Policy from University of Kansas. She Directed the Gerald G. Fox Masters of Public Administration Program from 2012- 2016. Her research interests focus around state and local government service delivery. This includes special purpose governments, business improvement districts, contracting out, the selling of public assets, school choice and public-private partnerships all critical issues facing public administrators at the state and local level. Dr. Leland has also worked on select other sub-national projects with my colleagues involving transportation policy, succession planning for local governments/nonprofits, and studied state legislators career patterns.

Olga Smirnova, Associate Professor - East Carolina University
Dr. Olga Smirnova is an Associate Professor within the MPA program situated in the Political Science Department at East Carolina University. She earned her Ph.D. in public policy in August 2008, from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Dr. Smirnova’s research interests include transportation, institutional stability, economic development, social networks, performance measurement, and visualizations of complex systems. She has published in the following journals: Energy Policy, Public Administration Review, Administration and Society, Global Crime, Journal of Public Transportation, Southeastern Geographer, Municipal Finance Journal, and North Carolina Geographer. She edited “Building a Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure for Long-term Economic Growth” (2019), which focuses on the ways infrastructure can be financed to be sustainable and contribute to long term economic growth. She teaches various courses at graduate and undergraduate levels, including economic development and analysis for the public sector.

Bethany Stich, Director (UNO Transportation Institute)/Professor - University of New Orleans

Dr. Bethany Stich is the Director of the Transportation Institute (UNOTI) at the University of New Orleans. Dr. Stich has served as the Principal Investigator of UNOTI’s two University Transportation Centers, the Maritime Transportation Research & Education Center housed at the University of Arkansas and the National Center for Strategic Transportation Policies, Investments and Decisions housed at the University of Maryland. Additionally, Stich served as the Principal Investigator for the Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence for Maritime Resiliency housed at Louisiana State University. Dr. Stich has published and presented globally on issues associated with intermodal transportation as it relates to economic, business, and workforce development. Her research ranges from work on Cuban trade to E-Navigation integration, Container on Barge supply chain integration to Liquefied Natural Gas development. Additionally, Dr. Stich serves as a committee member for the Transportation Research Board’s AMR20 - Standing Committee on Disaster Response, Emergency Evacuations, and Business Continuity and as a board member for HandsOn New Orleans.

Wie Yusuf, Professor (in the School of Public Service) - Old Dominion University

Dr. Wie Yusuf is a Professor in the School of Public Service and Assistant Director for the Institute for Coastal Adaptation and Resilience at Old Dominion University. Her research focuses on policy issues that emerge at the intersection of governments, non-profit/non-governmental organizations, businesses, and civil society. In the area of transportation finance, her focus is on public-private partnerships to deliver transportation projects, contracting by transit agencies, public preferences for financing transportation projects, and behavioral responses of drivers to tolls.

Committee Chair – STPA Student Paper Competition
Theodore W. Johnson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor - University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO)

Theodore W. Johnson, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha within their Aviation Institute. His research interests centralize social, racial, and educational equity, and inclusion with especial emphasis on the recruitment/retention of racial minorities to advance equity and promote opportunities in traditionally underrepresented fields such as aviation/aerospace. Dr. Johnson currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals (OBAP) and is an executive member for the American Society of Public Administration’s Section on Transportation Policy & Administration.