Our PhD Candidates

Admissions & Application Information
Program & Curriculum
Graduate Assistantships
Graduate Faculty
Our PhD Candidates

Placements (since 2016)

Academic placements:

Alabama State University
Appalachian State University
California State University, Fullerton
Campbell University; Central Arkansas
DePauw University
Kennesaw State University
Lander University
Northern Arizona University
Samford University
San Jose State University
Troy University
West Virginia University

Non-academic placements:

Policy Research Analyst, State of Alabama
Data Integration Specialist, James Madison University
Deputy Executive Director, National Association of Secretaries of State
Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education (ADECE)
Research Manager, Social Impact
Federal Grants Specialist, Hunger Solutions Institute

Deepika Chandel

PhD Public Admin Public Policy

Deepika Chandel is a Ph.D. candidate in the joint Ph.D. Program in Public Administration & Public Policy at Auburn University. Deepika earned her bachelor’s degree in Dental Surgery from India. During her time in India, she worked full-time as a dentist and frequently served nonprofit hospitals that provided free dental services. She also worked with multiple nonprofit entities to take oral health care and hygiene awareness to the grass-root level, provide mass education, and provide affordable professional services to people in rural areas. She received her Masters in Public Administration from Auburn University at Montgomery in the spring of 2016.

Deepika is passionate about being a change agent for healthcare policy. She is also a strong proponent of a proactive versus reactive approach to health policies. Her dissertation examines how the state executive policies and responses influence death rate outcomes in the U.S. during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Track: Public Administration, Nonprofit Organizations & Community Governance

Areas of interest: Public Administration & Policy Adoption, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Nonprofit Management, Research Methodology, State Politics and Policy

Education:

Master of Public Administration, Auburn University at Montgomery, AL
Bachelor of Dental Surgery, CCS University, India

Astin Cole

PhD Public Admin Public Policy

Astin received his Master of Public Administration degree from Auburn University and a Master's in Business Administration from the University of Montevallo. He received his joint bachelor's degree in history and political science from the University of Montevallo. Now a doctoral candidate in the joint Ph.D. Program in Public Administration & Public Policy in the Department of Political Science at Auburn University, he is completing his dissertation. He has taught an undergraduate American government course. He has presented at the Academy of Management Annual Symposium, the Southern Management Association Annual Conference, and the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Conference with research topics on turnover intention, stress management, survey design, and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

Track: Nonprofit, Global

Areas of Interest: Intergovernmental Relations, Health Disparities, Human Resources, Comparative Government, State and Local Government, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Education:

Master of Public Administration, Auburn University
Master of Business Administration, University of Montevallo
Bachelor of Science, History & Political Science, University of Montevallo

Kate Henvey DeMoss

PhD Public Admin Public Policy

Kate is a student in the joint Ph.D. program in Public Administration and Public Policy at Auburn University. She holds a MA from the Georgetown School of Foreign Service, and a BA in political science from Trinity University, Texas. Serving as a policymaker and researcher in international economics, trade and development for over fifteen years, Kate has worked at the World Bank Group, the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of International Affairs and the North American Development Bank.

Track: American Politics & Policy, Global Public Policy

Areas of interest: Trade policy, foreign aid policy, public opinion, political behavior

Education:
Master of Arts, Georgetown School of Foreign Service
Bachelor of Arts, Trinity University

Malerie Goodman

PhD Public Admin Public Policy

Malerie Goodman is a Ph.D. candidate in the joint Ph.D. Program in Public Administration & Public Policy. Malerie has worked as a Graduate Research Assistant for the Hunger Solutions Institute (HSI) in Auburn University’s College of Human Sciences since January 2020, where she researches college student hunger, supports innovative projects to address food insecurity with data-based approaches, and contributes to HSI’s growing bi-partisan impact on federal policy to address hunger nationwide. Malerie’s academic interests center on using mixed-methods research to inform family policy and child welfare policy decisions, especially at the state level.

Track: Public Administration, Nonprofit Organizations & Community Governance

Areas of Interest: Child Welfare Policy and Administration; Family Policy; State-level Policymaking; Political Culture; Hunger and Food Policy; Policy Framing

Education:
Educational Specialist Degree in School Psychology, California State University, Fresno
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego, California

Ryan Hankins

PhD Public Admin Public Policy

Ryan Hankins is a Ph.D. candidate in Public Policy. He is executive director of PARCA, the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works to inform and improve the decision making of state and local leaders in Alabama through objective research and analysis.

He is active in local and statewide nonprofit work and serves on numerous boards and committees including the Executive Team of the Alabama Committee for Grade Level Reading, the Alabama Counts! 2020 Census Committee, and the advisory boards for the Master of Public Administration at Auburn University and both the Master of Social Work and Department of Human Development and Family Science at Samford University. He has previously served on the board of the Alabama Association of Nonprofits, the Birmingham-Jefferson Food Policy Council, the Medicaid Citizens’ Advisory Board, the Bold Goals Workforce Development Council, the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham, and is past president of the Alabama Association of Free Clinics.

He is a graduate of the Nonprofit Executive Leadership Institute, Leadership Birmingham, Leadership Alabama, and a Birmingham Business Journal Top 40 Under 40 Honoree. He has taught courses in nonprofit management and has guest lectured in classes in nonprofit management and fundraising.

Track: Public Policy

Areas of Interest: Nonprofit theory and administration, nonprofits in policy making, philanthropy, faith-based organizations, state and local government, applied research

Education:
Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management Executive Education, Harvard Business School
Graduate Studies in Public Administration, University of Alabama, Birmingham
Master of Divinity, Samford University
Post-baccalaureate studies, Oxford University
Bachelor of Arts, Ouachita Baptist University

Douglas Jensen

PhD Public Admin Public Policy

Douglas Jensen is a Ph.D. candidate in the joint Ph.D. Program in Public Administration & Public Policy at Auburn University. His dissertation research focuses on leadership in the United States Congress. Douglas has personally communicated with the offices of every U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative over the course of his research.

Douglas is an Air Force combat veteran with three deployments and has directly worked with coalition partners or diplomats from France, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Norway, Latvia, Spain, Greece, and Afghanistan, among others.

His experience as an instructor includes Federal Continuity of Government; Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications; and Airborne Communications Officer technical training.

Tracks: American Politics & Policy, Global Politics & Policy

Areas of Interest: Leadership, Political Leadership, American Government, International Relations

Education:

Master of Science in Marine Science, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA
Squadron Officer School, Maxwell Air Force Base, AL
Master of Business Administration, Trident University, Cyprus, CA
Basic Communications Officer Training, Keesler Air Force Base, MS
Bachelor of Science in Engineering Mechanics and Astronautics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

Steven Nelson

PhD Public Admin Public Policy

Steven Nelson is a Ph.D. candidate in the joint Ph.D. Program in Public Administration & Public Policy. His professional experience spans almost 30 years in the environmental field and includes work as a consultant and contractor in private industry, performing environmental site investigations and cleanups. For the past 25 years he has focused on environmental health and safety management in higher education and currently serves as the Associate Director of Environmental Health and Safety at Auburn University. His dissertation involves comparative state water quality policy to address emerging contaminants. His published work has appeared in Review of Policy Research, The Extractive Industries and Society, and Risk, Hazards, & Crisis in Public Policy.

Track: Public Policy

Areas of Interest: Environmental and natural resources policy, sustainability, and environmental justice.

Education:
Bachelor of Arts, Southern Illinois University
Master of Business Administration, Georgia State University

Noemí Oeding

PhD Public Admin Public Policy

Noemí Oeding graduated with a B.A. in Vocal Performance and a Master's in Arts Administration, and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the joint Ph.D. Program in Public Administration & Public Policy at Auburn University. Prior to beginning her graduate studies, her career was spent in the arts, first as an opera singer and music teacher, and then as an administrator. She has worked with various arts nonprofits, most notably as Executive Director of the Montgomery Music Project in Montgomery, Alabama.

Noemí’s research interests revolve around nonprofits (specifically in the arts), American political behavior, and the intersectionality between the two. Her dissertation focuses on the impact Black operatic works have on mitigating racial bias. She has presented her research at multiple conferences, including the Southern Political Science Association, the International Society for Third Sector Research, and the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations & Voluntary Action.

At Auburn, Noemí teaches undergraduate courses in American Government and Political Participation. She has an applied background in nonprofit management, leadership and governance, fundraising and grant writing, and volunteer and event management. Noemí has successfully secured funding from the Alabama State Council on the Arts, the Florida State Arts Council, the Alabama State Department of Education, and various private foundations. She also has experience as a grant reader, including serving on the music grant review panel for the Alabama State Council on the Arts.

Tracks: Nonprofit Organizations & Community Governance, American Politics and Policy

Areas of Interest: Nonprofit funding and sustainability; Nonprofit management and best practices; Politicization of arts & culture nonprofits; Public opinion and political messaging; Political behavior and polarization

Education:
Master of Arts in Arts Administration, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
Bachelor of Arts in Vocal Performance, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

Undergraduate

Graduate

Our PhD Candidates

Deepika Chandel

Astin Cole

Kate Henvey DeMoss

Malerie Goodman

Ryan Hankins

Douglas Jensen

Steven Nelson

Noemí Oeding

Placements (since 2016)