Suzanne Marie Leland, Ph.D
Curriculum Vitae
Department of Political Science
& Public Administration Phone: 704.779-2877 (Cell)
12850 Cheverly Drive
Huntersville, North Carolina 28078
Current Appointments
Professor, Department of Political Science & Public Administration, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (2013-present)
Director, Gerald G. Fox Master of Public Administration, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (2012-present)
Associate Director, Center for Transportation Studies, and University of North Carolina at Charlotte (2009-present)
Previous Appointments
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science & Public Administration, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (2006-2013)
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science & Public Administration, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (2001-2005)
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Kansas State University (August 1999-May 2001)
Education
Ph.D. Department of Political Science (Public Administration, American Politics, Public Policy), University of Kansas. 1999.
M.A. 1995. Minnesota State University, Department of Political Science
(Political Science).
B.S. 1993. Minnesota State University, Department of Political Science
(Major: Political Science, Minor: History).
Publications: Edited Books
Leland, Suzanne & Kurt Thurmaier.(Eds.) (2010). City-County Consolidation: Promises Made, Promises Kept? Washington DC: Georgetown University Press.
Leland, Suzanne & Kurt Thurmaier. (Eds). (2004). Reshaping the Local Government Landscape: Case Studies of Local Government Consolidation. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
Publications: Refereed Journal Articles
Heberlig, E, Leland, S. M., & Swindell, D. Forthcoming. The Disruption Costs of Post-9-11 Security Measures and Cities' Bids for Presidential Nominating Conventions." Journal of Urban Affairs.
Leland, Suzanne & Read, D. & Wittry, M. Forthcoming. "Analyzing the Perceived Benefits of LEED and Energy Star-Certified Buildings in the Realm of Local Economic Development." Economic Development Quarterly.
Smirnova, O. V., & Leland, S. M. (2014). Cutback Management during the Great Recession The Case of Transit Agencies and Contracting Out. State and Local Government Review, 46(4), 272-281.
Leland, S., & Thurmaier, K. (2014). Political and Functional Local Government Consolidation The Challenges for Core Public Administration Values and Regional Reform. The American Review of Public Administration, 0275074014533003.
Heberlig, E., Leland, S.M. & Read, D. (2014). “Local Politics, Organized Interests and Land Use Policy: A Research Note Analyzing the Perceptions of Urban Planners Working in City Government" Urban Affairs Review.
Smirnova, O. V., & Leland, S. M. (2014). “Public Transportation and Contracting Out,”
Public Works Management & Policy. doi: 10.1177/1087724x14545541.
Smirnova, O. V., & Leland, S. M. (2013). The Role of Power and Competition in Contracting Out: An Analysis of Public Transportation Markets. Administration & Society, 0095399713498748.
Goodman, C. & Leland, S.M. (2013). Cost Shocks and Their Relationship to the Creation, Consolidation and Dissolution of US Local Government. Public Finance and Management. 13 (2): 58-79.
Leland, S.M. & Read, D. (2012). Stimulating Real Estate Development through Public-Private Partnerships: Assessing the Perceived Opportunities and Challenges. Public Administration Quarterly. 36: 3.
Leland, S.M., Carman, J. & Swartz, N.J. (2012). Understanding Managerial Succession Planning at the Local Level: A Study of the Opportunities and Challenges Facing Cities and Counties. National Civic Review. 101:2.
Billings, S., Leland, S.M. & Swindell. D. (2011). The Effects of the Announcement and Opening of Light Rail Transit Stations on Neighborhood Crime.
Journal of Urban Affairs. 33:549-566
Read, D. & Leland, S.M. (2011). Does Sector Matter? An Analysis of Planners’ Attitudes Regarding Politics and Competing Interests in the Planning Process. American Review of Public Administration. 41: 639-653.
Carman, J., Leland, S.M. & Wilson, A. (2010). “Crisis in Leadership or Failure to Plan? Insights from Charlotte, NC.” Non-Profit and Management Leadership. 21: 93-111.
Read, D. & Leland, S.M. (2010). “Balancing Competing Values in the Sale of Publicly Owned Real Estate: A Case Study of the Charlotte Coliseum Disposition.” Journal of Real Estate Practice and Education. 13: 87-106
Billings, S.M. & Leland, S. (2009). “Examining the Logic Behind the Self-help, Self-taxing Movement: Business Improvement District Formation.” Public Budgeting and Finance. 29:108-124.
Leland, S. M. & Smirnova, S. (2009). “Reassessing Privatization 25 years Later: Revisiting Perry and Babitsky’s Comparative Performance Study of Urban Bus Transit Services” Public Administration Review. 69: 855-867.
Wilson, D., Leland S., Godwin,R.K. Baxter, A. Levy, A. Smart, J. Najjar, N. & Jayakrishnan A. (2009). “SmartChoice: An Online Recommender System to Support Low-Income Families in Public School Choice.” Artificial Intelligence Magazine. 32:46-58.
Smirnova, O., Leland, S. & Johnson, G.A. (2008). "Popular, but More Influential? A Test of Whether Special Purpose Governments Impact Federal Transit Financing." Municipal Finance Journal. 28:43-61. 3.
Leland, Suzanne & Olga Smirnova. 2008. "Does Government Structure Matter? A Comparative Analysis of Urban Bus Transit Efficiency." Journal of Public Transportation. 11: 1-21.
Heberlig, Eric & Suzanne Leland. 2007. “Fired or Fired-up? How Term Limits Affect Career Politicians.” The American Review of Politics. 28: 57-77.
Godwin, Ken, Suzanne Leland, Andy Baxter, and Stephanie Southworth. 2006. “Sinking Swann: Public School Choice and the Resegregation of Charlotte Schools,” Review of Policy Research 23: 983-987.
Leland, Suzanne & Kurt Thurmaier. (2006). “Economic Competitiveness Matters.” Public Administration Review. March/April.
Leland, Suzanne & Kurt Thurmaier. (2005). “When Efficiency is Unbelievable: Normative Lessons from 30 Years of City County Consolidations.” Public Administration Review. July/August.
Leland, Suzanne. (2001). “The Political Climate of Devolution and the Implementation Game.” Journal of Regional Policy and Analysis 31:397-414.
Bundt, Julie & Leland, Suzanne. (2001). “Wealthy or Poor: Who pays More? A Closer Look at Iowa School Finance.” Journal of Education Finance 26: 397-414.
Leland, Suzanne & Kurt Thurmaier. (2000). “The Politics of Reform: City-County Consolidation in Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas.” Public Administration Quarterly 24:202-221.
Publications: Non-Refereed Journal Articles
Leland, Suzanne . 2007. City-County Consolidation. Kansas Policy Review.
Leland, Suzanne & Sam Staley. 2006. The Effects of City-County Consolidation of Local Government Services: A Survey of Academic Experts. Indiana Policy Review. Winter: 20-32.
Publications: Book Chapters/Essays
Heberlig, Eric & Suzanne Leland. 2011. “Local Government Interest Groups.” In Guide to Interest Groups and Lobbying in the United States. Ed. Burdett Loomis, Peter Fancia & Dara Strolovitch. Washington DC: CQ Press.
Leland, Suzanne & Mark Rosentraub. 2009. “Consolidated and Fragmented Governments and Regional Cooperation: Surprising Lessons from Charlotte, Cleveland, 4
Indianapolis, and Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas. (with Mark Rosentraub). Ed. Don Phares. in Who Will Govern Metropolitan Regions in the 21st Century. ME Sharpe.
Wilson, David, Suzanne Leland, Kenneth Godwin, Andrew Baxter, Ashley Levy, Jamie Smart, Nadia Najjar, & Jayakrishnan Andaparambil. 2008. “The Law of Choice and the Decision not to Decide.” Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence Conference On Innovative Applications Of Artificial Intelligence Proceedings of the 20th national conference on Innovative applications of artificial intelligence. Volume 3. Chicago, Il: AAI Press.
Leland, Suzanne & Kurt Thurmaier. 2006. “Lessons from Thirty-Five Years of City-County Consolidation Attempts.” In The Municipal Yearbook. Washington: International City Management Association.
Leland, Suzanne. 2005. “Fiscal Characteristics of Public Expenditures.” In Handbook of Public Sector Economics. Ed. Donijo Robbins. CRC Press: Taylor& Francis Group.
Leland, Suzanne & Gary A. Johnson. “Public Authorities.” Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Policy. Ed. Jack Rabin. New York: New York. Marcel Dekker, Inc. 2005.
Leland, Suzanne. “Reforming Politics through Reorganization: City-County Consolidation in Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas.” 2004. In Reshaping the Local Government Landscape: Case Studies of Local Government Consolidation. Eds, Suzanne Leland and Kurt Thurmaier. M.E. Sharpe.
Leland, Suzanne & Gary A. Johnson. 2004. “Consolidation as an Enduring Issue: Why Consolidation Persists on Local Government Agendas.” (with Gary Johnson) In Reshaping the Local Government Landscape Local Government Consolidation and Its Alternative. Eds. Jered Carr and Rick Feiock. ME Sharpe.
Leland, Suzanne. 2004. Salter, Susanna: First Woman Elected Mayor. Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. University of Nebraska Press.
Leland, Suzanne & Kurt Thurmaier. 2003. “City-County Consolidation: The Case of Elusive Cost Savings.” (with Kurt Thurmaier) Case Studies in Public Budgeting and Financial Management. 2nd edition. Marcel Dekker, Inc.
Leland, Suzanne. “Budgeting, Line-Item and Object of Expenditure Controls.” 2003. Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Policy. Ed. Gerald Miller and Donijo Robbins. New York: New York. Marcel Dekker, Inc.
Leland, Suzanne. 2002. “Organizational Culture: Understanding Theoretical and Practical Applications.” Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems. UNESCO, Eolss Publishers. pp.1-6. 5
Steven Maynard-Moody & Suzanne Leland. 2000. “Squeaky Wheels, Getting Slammed, and Parking Lot Therapy: Street-Level Workers as Responsible Actors.” (with Steven Maynard-Moody) In Public Management Research. Eds. Hal Rainey & Jeff Brudney. Georgetown University Press. (2000)109-126.
Leland, Suzanne. 1997. "Eminent Domain." International Encyclopedia of Public Policy and Administration. Ed. Jay M. Shafritz.
Publications: Book Reviews
“The Politics and Identity and Managerialism: Civic Culture in Dallas.” Book Review. American Review of Public Administration. 2005.
“Insights into Growing Prosperity: Prescriptions and Lessons for Public Administrators, Policy Entrepreneurs and Politicians.” American Review of Public Administration. Book Review Essay. Vol.33, No.4, December 2003. pp.479-481.
Book Review of Jerry L. Mashaw, Greed Chaos and Governance, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997 for Journal of Public Administration and Research Theory 8 (April, 1998) 273-276.
External Grants & Contracts
Principal Investigator, Partnership for Working Families. Transparency in State Contracting. ($19,000). 2011-2012.
Principal Investigator, Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. SmartChoice: The Education Network.
2006-2007. With Ken Godwin. ($25,000).
Co-Principal Investigator, Spencer Foundation Grant
The Conflicting Goals of Public School Choice and Performance-Based Incentives.
2005-2006. With Ken Godwin. ($39,988).
Co-Principal Investigator, Mecklenburg County, Program ReviewReview County Management departments. Fall 2005. With MPA Faculty. ($18,000).
Co-Principal Investigator, Urban Institute.
The Conflicting Goals of Public School Choice and Performance-Based Incentives in an Urban Environment: A Study of Charlotte-Mecklenburg-Schools. Spring 2005. With Ken Godwin. ($5,000).
Principal Investigator, Charlotte Transit Governance Study 6
Summer 2003-2004.With Jerry Ingalls & Gary Johnson. ($91,425)
Principal Investigator, City-County Consolidation Feasibility Study
Wilmington and New Hanover County, North Carolina (Summer 2001). ($36,400).
Principal Investigator, Kansas Performance Review Board
Topeka, Kansas (January 1998-November 1999)
Duties: Conducted performance audit of the Central Motor Pool and Department of Health and Human Services which included interviewing agencies, writing reports, designing and analyzing customer satisfaction survey and assisting in public hearings ($17,500).
Research Analyst, Institute of Business & Public Policy, University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS, (1997-1998)
Duties: Analyzed survey results for the Certified Public Management Program.
Senior Researcher, Wyandotte County-Kansas City, Kansas Consolidation Study Commission
Kansas City, KS (June 1996-October 1997)
Duties: Assisted the commission in developing the consolidation recommendation & study report. Served as a liaison between the commission and the transition team in developing a plan to merge city & county departments.
Co-Principal Investigator, State of Minnesota Department of Health and Human Services, Mankato, MN (Summer 1995)
Duties: Designed fieldwork plan, conducted in-depth interviews and focus groups with rural elderly on senior social service provision. ($8,000).
Conference Papers
Leland, Suzanne & Holly Whisman. 2012. The Anatomy of Regional Governance. A paper presented at the 2012 Urban Affairs Association Meetings, Pittsburgh, PA.
Leland, Suzanne & Olga Smirnova. 2011. It’s a Small World After All: Understanding the Degrees of Separation in Transportation Contracting Networks. A paper presented at the 2011 ABFM Meetings, Washington DC.
Stivender, Carol & Suzanne Leland. 2011.Location, Location, Location: North Carolina Lottery Outlet Policy Implications. A paper presented at the 2011 ABFM Meetings, Washington DC.
Leland, Suzanne & Dustin Read. Stimulating Real Estate Development through Public-Private Partnerships: Planners' Perceptions about the Opportunities and Challenges. A 7
paper presented at the 2011 SECoPA Meeting, New Orleans. Competitive or Complimentary?
Carman, Joanne, Suzanne Leland & Melissa Duscha. 2011. Examining the Relationships between CDC’s and Municipal Government.
Heberlig, Eric, Suzanne Leland & Dustin Read. Mayoral Partisanship and Professionalism and the
Influence of Interest Groups on Local Land Use Policy. A paper presented at Midwest Political Science Association. (Note: Eric presented the paper).
Leland, Suzanne, Eric Heberlig & Dustin Read. Understanding Relative Influence of Local Government Interest Groups: Perceptions of Local Government Planners SECoPA. October, 2010.
Leland, Suzanne & Olga Smirnova. Managing Contracts Strategically. Omaha, NE. ABFM. September, 2010.
Leland, Suzanne & Kurt Thurmaier. An Assessment of the Economic Development Effectiveness of Consolidated Governments. Midwest Political Science Association. Chicago, IL. April 22, 2010.
Leland, Suzanne & Kurt Thurmaier. City-County Consolidation: Promises Made, Promises Kept. Urban Affairs Association. Chicago, IL. March 2009.
Leland, Suzanne & Olga Smirnova. Understanding Local Governments' Decision to Contract out for Transit. Association on Budgeting and Financial Management. Washington DC. September 2009.
Leland, Suzanne & Dustin Read. Planner's Attitudes Towards Public-Private Sector Partnerships. SECOPA. Louisville, KY. September 2009.
Leland, Suzanne & Olga Smirnova. Tranportation Contracting Out and Capital Budgeting Concerns. North Carolina Local Government Budgeting Association. Charlotte, NC. December 4th.
Smirnova, Olga and Suzanne Leland. Contracting Out for Transit: A National Survey. A paper presented at the 2008 ABFM Conference. October. Washington, DC.
Smirnova, Olga and Suzanne Leland. Managing Contracts Strategically: The Case of Public Transit. A paper presented at the 2008 ABFM Conference. October. Chicago, IL.
Leland, Suzanne, Joanne Carman, and Nicholas Swartz. Is there a Crisis in Leadership? A Study of the Challenges Facing the Management Capacity of North Carolina Cities and 8
Counties. A paper presented at the 2008 SECoPA Conference. September 24th. Orlando, FL.
Leland, Suzanne and Mark Rosentraub. Consolidation vs. Fragmentation: What is really going on in terms of regional cooperation? A paper presented at the 2008 Urban Affairs Association Meeting. Baltimore, MD.
Godwin, Ken, Suzanne Leland, David Wilson and Andy Baxter. Testing Tiebout:Intra-District Public School Choice as a Quasi-Market. A paper presented at the 2008 Midwest Political Science Association. Chicago, IL.
Leland, Suzanne and Olga Smirnova. Reassessing Privatization Strategies 25 Years Later: Revisiting Perry and Babitsky’s Comparative Performance Study of Urban Bus Transit Services. A paper presented at the 2008 Midwest Political Science Association. Chicago, IL.
Carman, Joanne, Suzanne Leland and Amanda Wilson. Crisis in Leadership? Nobody Available. A paper presented at the 36th Annual Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action Conference. Philadeplphia, PA on Nobember 20, 2008.