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Evelyn Rodriguez-Plesa

Assistant Professor, Public Administration

Dr. Evelyn Rodriguez-Plesa is an assistant professor of Public Administration at North Carolina Central University (NCCU). She is a public management scholar whose research interests include human resources management, government contracting, social and economic equity and local government administration. Her most recent research has been published in Public Administration Review, Review of Public Personnel Administration, International Journal of Public Administration, and the Journal of Cleaner Production.

Prior to her role at NCCU, she served in local government for over 10 years and the U.S. Army Reserves for 8 years. She currently serves as the faculty advisor for the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) Student Chapter at NCCU. She is also on the ICMA Graduate Education Committee. Additionally, she serves as the immediate past president of the American Society for Public Administration’s South Florida Chapter. 

Dr. Rodriguez-Plesa is the recipient of the College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities 2024 Research Excellence Award and the 2023 Teaching Excellence Award for the Department of Public Administration. Dr. Rodriguez-Plesa teaches several core and elective courses in the Master of Public Administration program. Her teaching style is learner-oriented to help prepare students for a career in the public sector by providing them with theoretical and practical knowledge, as well as critical-thinking skills they can apply to their current environment and evolving challenges facing the public sector. In her courses, she aims to use relatable and engaging activities to create interaction and transform the learning environment.

Courses

PADG 5060 - State and Local Government
PADG 5120 - Personnel Management
PADG 5130 - Principles of Public Management
PADG 5610 - Public Administration Research Methods

Publications

Peer-Reviewed Articles

  • Rodriguez-Plesa, E. (2024). Representative Bureaucracy and Local Government Contracting: Examining Supplier Diversity Programs. Public Administration Review. DOI: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/puar.13867.
  • Brunjes, B., and Rodriguez-Plesa, E. (2024). Equity in Government Contracting: Analyzing the Performance of Small Disadvantaged Businesses. Public Administration Review, 84(3): 484–499. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13704
  • Dimand, A., Patrucco, A., Rodriguez-Plesa, E., & Hiriscau, A. (2023). Social Equity in Federal Contracting During Emergencies: A Portfolio Management Perspective. Public Administration Review. DOI: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pua...
  • Dimand, A., Abutabenjeh, S., Rodriguez-Plesa, E., Alkadry, M., & Ali, S. (2022). Human Capital Drivers of Employee Intent to Innovate: The Case of Public Procurement Professionals. Review of Public Personnel Administration. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0734371X221123294.
  • Rodriguez-Plesa E., Dimand, A., & Alkadry, M. (2022). Community Social Capital, Political Values or Organizational Capacity? Indicators of Engagement in Sustainable Public Procurement at the Local Level. Journal of Cleaner Production. Vol. 338, No. 1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.130556.
  • Abutabenjeh, S., Dimand, A., Rodriguez-Plesa, E., Ahmadu, A. (2022). The Nexus between Gender Diversity and Research Performance: The Case of Public Procurement. International Journal of Public Administration. DOI: 10.1080/01900692.2021.2013258.
  • Abutabenjeh, S., Anguelov, L., Brunjes, B., Dimand, A., Rodriguez-Plesa, E. (2021). Supplying the Pandemic Response: The Importance of Public Procurement. Journal of Emergency Management, Vol. 18, No. 7, 189-208.

Book Chapters

  • Brunjes, B., Abutabenjeh, S., Anguelov, L., Dimand, A., & Rodriguez-Plesa, E. (forthcoming). Future Directions for Research in Public Procurement and Contract Management in K.D. Dzigbede & W.B. Hildreth (Eds.), Research Handbook on Public Financial Management. Edward Elgar Publishing (London, United Kingdom).

Research Reports

  • Rodriguez-Plesa, E., Atkinson, C., Williams, A., Prier, E., & McCue, C. (2021). Getting the Job Done in Public Procurement During COVID-19: A National Panel Study. Prepared for NIGP: The Institute for Public Procurement.