Wednesday, June 10, 2020

UIS and the Illinois Municipal League partner to publish the Illinois Municipal Policy Journal

The Illinois Municipal League (IML) announced a partnership with the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) to publish the Illinois Municipal Policy Journal.

Since 2016, IML has published the Journal as an educational tool that provides elected officials with academic research on the issues facing Illinois and its 1,298 cities, villages and towns. Additionally, it provides an arena for academics to publish their scholarly work on important topics, like public pensions, tax increment financing and other local government issues.

“This new partnership allows IML to continue expanding its benefits to our members by addressing some of the greatest challenges facing our state and providing solutions, which are needed now more than ever before as communities face decreased revenues that fund crucial programs,” said Brad Cole, IML executive director. “We are happy to join with the University of Illinois Springfield and look forward to the continued success of the Illinois Municipal Policy Journal.”

“A hallmark of this partnership is the blending of theory and practice made possible by balancing the talents and experiences of public officials delivering frontline municipal services with the input and observations of scholars who study and observe the role of municipal government in the state,” said Robert W. Smith, dean of the UIS College of Public Affairs and Administration. “This is something needed today more than ever to solve problems and improve municipal government and systems for all citizens in the State of Illinois.”

UIS’s College of Public Affairs and Administration will spearhead the development of content for the Journal. IML will publish and distribute the Journal widely to local and state elected officials, as well as academic and professional organizations around the country.

Three principal UIS faculty members will be involved in editing the Journal. Kenneth Kriz, UIS Distinguished Professor of Public Administration and Director of the Institute for Illinois Public Finance; Beverly Bunch, UIS Professor of Public Administration; and Arwi Kriz, a visiting Research Fellow in the UIS Center for State Policy and Leadership.

“We are very excited about providing government officials throughout the state with the most current research on issues that affect the state and its local governments. When challenges to governance are more severe then they have ever been, the state university system is befitting to shed light on best practices in governance, forces that affect governments and choices that governments face,” said Kenneth Kriz.

“We will be working with scholars across the state to synthesize and share research on various economic, financial, social, legal and environmental issues. We will address topics such as the potential impacts of different alternatives, the types of factors that are important to consider, and what has worked, or not worked, in other governments. We are pleased to be collaborating with IML on this project,” said Bunch.

The fifth volume of the Illinois Municipal Policy Journal is scheduled to be available in December 2020.

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