Derek R. Slagle, Ph.D. (he/him/his) is the Director of the University of Arkansas Little Rock (UALR) School of Public Affairs; tenured Associate Professor; and Director of the UALR Survey Research Center. Dr. Slagle oversees the state of Arkansas’ only academic survey research center, the Arkansas Public Administration Consortium (which includes the state’s only accredited Certified Public Manager program), undergraduate political science program, and the state’s highest ranked, accredited Public Affairs program. He is an Arkansas Governor-appointed Commissioner (2019-2022; 2023-2025) for the Governor’s Advisory Commission on National Public Service & Volunteerism and has administrative/ fiduciary oversight for Arkansas’ Service (e.g., AmeriCorps) and Volunteerism priorities. He was selected to be on the roster as a Fulbright specialist by the U.S. State Department and Fulbright Commission. Dr. Slagle has worked for the Arkansas House of Representatives and served as a technical expert for the Governor’s Red Tape Reduction Working Group. Concomitantly, he served as a state lead for Occupational Licensing Policy Learning Consortium, a three-year project supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor and managed jointly by the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Council of State Governments, and the National Governors Association’s Center for Best Practices. He has contracted with over 30 different state agencies, nonprofits, and for-profit companies on over 50 different contracts, grants, and applied research projects. His research in Public Affairs Education, Higher Education, Health Policy, & State Government have been published in a variety of academic journals. Derek is also a fine-art film photographer covering narratives primarily in the Southern and Midwestern areas of the U.S.A. His photographic work is focused on environmental conservation practices and has been exhibited and published, broadly.
Education:
Executive Education in Public Leadership (2021) Harvard University
Ph.D. in Public Administration (2015) Florida Atlantic University
M.S. in Health Administration and Health Policy – Allied Health Sciences (2010) East Tennessee State University
B.S. in Biochemistry & Cellular & Molecular Biology – Biological Sciences (2007) University of Tennessee at Knoxville