Institute for Public Management and Community Service

The Institute for Public Management and Community Service was re-established at Florida International University in 1994. Since then, the Institute has had extensive involvement in governance reform projects in North, Central and South America as well as Africa, Eastern and Western Europe and Asia. These projects have involved the Institute's Director, Assistant Director and other staff in working with many national legislative bodies, national chief executives and numerous government ministers. Institute projects have focused on issues of executive-legislative relations, legislative development, decentralization, civil service reform, the strengthening of local and other sub-national government and the promotion of citizen participation and governmental and political accountability. Particularly notable in this regard has been the work of the Institute in Argentina, China, Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, Paraguay, Poland, Sierra Leone and Ukraine where, through USAID and UN funded projects, Institute personnel have worked with national, sub-national and local governments and grassroots communities. In several instances these efforts have brought about important governance reforms at varying levels of society. In addition to its extensive technical assistance and consulting activities, the Institute has carried out, numerous research and training activities, both within and outside of the United States.

In its activities in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Peru, Institute staff have worked very closely with the leadership of the government of Miami-Dade County in carrying out a wide variety of local government technical assistance and democratic development activities. The Institute continues its work with Miami-Dade County through its organization each year for the County of the annual Inter American Conference of Mayors, which typically brings together 600 municipal leaders from throughout Latin America, the Caribbean and North America. This annual gathering has come to be recognized throughout the Hemisphere as the principal recurring meeting on issues of local governance in Latin America. In addition, the Institute has organized numerous conferences and seminars throughout the Hemisphere. It also served as the secretariat for the 1999 annual conference of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration in Miami Beach, the 2000 annual conference of the International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration in Beijing, China and organized in 2000 a major international conference focusing upon comparative public administration in France and the U.S..

The Director of the Institute, Dr. Allan Rosenbaum, has worked in local, state and national government in the United States and has consulted extensively both within the United States and in most parts of the world and for the United Nations. He currently serves on the governing board of the International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration in Brussels, Belgium and on the Executive Council of and as Chairperson of the International Committee of the US-based National Association of School of Public Affairs and Administration. He has written extensively on issues of democratization, public administration, governance reform, decentralization and strengthening of local governance. Mrs. Cristina Rodriguez-Acosta, the Institute Deputy Director received her Bachelors Degree from Universidad del Salvador in Argentina and a Masters Degree from Georgetown University in the United States. A native of Argentina, Mrs. Rodriguez-Acosta has had considerable experience in various parts of Latin America and oversaw the Institute's extensive activities in Paraguay. The Institute for Public Management and Community Service is located on the University Park Campus, PCA 350B at 11200 SW 8th ST. Miami, FL 33199. For more information call (305) 348-1271 or e-mail: rosenbau@fiu.edu.