Dana Harsell, Ph.D.

Associate Professor and MPA Director

 

Office: Gamble Hall 265 J
Phone: 777-3832
e-mail:dharsell@business.und.edu 

Education
• Syracuse University

Areas of Expertise
• Executive Management

• State and Local Government

• Public Budgeting

Undergraduate Courses Taught

• Presidential Leadership and Management

• Introduction to Public Administration

• Politics and Media

• State and Local Government

• State and Local Government (Online)

Graduate Courses Taught

• Business and Government

• Public Administration Seminar

More

Dana Michael Harsell is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration. He has been at the University of North Dakota since 2005. He teaches courses in American government and public administration. Dana has taught classes at both Syracuse University and Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY. Dr. Harsell holds a BA in political science and psychology and an MA in political science, both from the University of Montana, and a PhD in political science from Syracuse University.

Dana’s research interests include administrative reform, government performance and accountability, and public management. While at Syracuse, Dana helped analyze the managerial capacity of county and municipal levels of government for the Government Performance Project and The New Jersey Initiative. His dissertation investigated the complex relationship between career managers and political appointees in federal agencies and found that recent government reform efforts have enhanced these relationships by smoothing the often-stressful transition of principal leadership, creating a common language between career managers and political appointees, and promoting more substantively meaningful policymaking by increasing collaboration between these two executive branch actors. A summary of the findings can be found in a report issued by the IBM Center for the Business of Government.