CPAP student Beth Offenbacker receives prestigious award from American Society of Public Administration

Beth Offenbacker, a Ph.D. student in the School of Public Administration and Policy (CPAP), Virginia Tech, National Capital Region, has been awarded the prestigious 2008 James E. Webb Award by the American Society of Public Administration (ASPA) for presenting the most outstanding paper at the organization's 2007 annual conference.

Offenbacker's presentation, "New Zealand Local Government: Creating a Meaningful Connection Between Participatory Budgeting and Performance Budgeting," was chosen for the award from among all papers presented at the annual ASPA conference. The paper discusses the importance of tying together performance budgeting with participatory budgeting for the benefit of accountability, highlights the framework for performance budgeting and participatory budgeting within the New Zealand context, reviews the techniques and reporting mechanisms used, and discusses the need for a more symmetrical approach to engagement of the public that is authentic and at the same time co-exists with the technical, rational needs of budget managers.

The ASPA will present the James E. Webb Award to Offenbacker during an awards ceremony at its 2008 Annual Conference in Dallas, Texas, next month.

Webb, for whom the award is named, had an illustrious federal government career, serving as director of the U.S. Bureau of the Budget, as an under Secretary of State and as administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). As an ASPA National Council member, Webb played an instrumental role in the Society's decision to move its headquarters from Chicago to Washington, DC in 1964. He served as ASPA's president from 1966 to 1967, leading the effort to create the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA).

Posted February 6, 2008