PPRC Faculty Fellow Program

Executive Summary

The Public Procurement Research Center (PPRC) at Florida Atlantic University is initiating a new program, the PPRC Distinguished Faculty Fellows Program beginning in January 2008. Consistent with the mission of the PPRC to identify and support the education, research and service needed to advance the public procurement field, the PPRC Distinguished Faculty Fellows Program will provide the public procurement community quality research, advanced educational opportunities, and continued professional development by promoting equitable access to current research while nurturing partnerships through a growing network of high-ranking public officials and scholars.
In its first year alone, the PPRC Distinguished Faculty Fellows Program will strengthen the fragile web of scholars who have dedicated their careers to shaping and steering the public procurement occupation as an academic discipline worthy of study. As a consequence, the Distinguished Faculty Fellows Program of the Public Procurement Research Center at Florida Atlantic University will be in an excellent position to build bridges among various stakeholders and be at the forefront of developing the Public Procurement Body of Knowledge that is sorely needed to meet the changing needs of public procurement scholars and practitioners.

The Distinguished Faculty Fellows Program

It is currently unknown how many faculty researchers devote their time to studying public procurement, but a recent international conference in Rome in 2006 had over 200 attendees from more than a dozen countries. Moreover, there are at least three research centers dedicated to issues in private procurement, and they include the Centre for Research in Strategic Purchasing and Supply (CRiSPS), the Institute of Supply Management’s Center for Advanced Procurement and Supply (CAPS), and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS). However, the Public Procurement Research Center at Florida Atlantic University is entirely devoted to public procurement. Consequently, it is initiating the PPRC Distinguished Faculty Fellows Program. The mission of the Fellows program is to promote and strengthen the network of scholars who are interested in better realizing the potential of their research efforts.

Since the PPRC has few (if any) direct competitors in its focus on public procurement, we feel that this program will capture many of the premier researchers in the public procurement space. The PPRC is unique in that there is no other organization solely committed to serving the public procurement community by providing quality research, advanced educational opportunities, and continued professional development. That is why the PPRC is internationally recognized as a leader dedicated to building bridges among stakeholders.

Jointly sponsored by the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing, the Distinguished Faculty Fellows Program offers a unique opportunity where scholars from a variety of disciplines and professional colleagues can network to discuss work in progress in this important field. The networking opportunities afforded by joining the PPRC Distinguished Faculty Fellows Program will help Fellows by extending their circle of contacts and perhaps develop new research opportunities with future research collaborators; gain new perspectives and ideas; and substantially contribute and nurture one’s own personal satisfaction of helping to shape and steer the public procurement as an academic discipline worthy of study.

The target market for potential Faculty Fellows is wide and will include approximately fifteen scholars from the United States and an additional twenty researchers from other nations. While most international scholars are likely to focus on countries of the European Union, there is growing evidence that more researchers are becoming interested in public procurement in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Potential Fellows from the U.S. are distributed across the continent and Canada.

The PPRC Distinguished Faculty Fellows Program is designed to minimize the need for face-to-face operations by overcoming the disbursed geography of the potential Fellows. To accomplish this, the PPRC is committed to developing a world-class Web presence in the next 14 months. By offering a portal through which Distinguished Faculty Fellows can smoothly interact, the PPRC will be providing a unique resource to this underserved clientele.

The PPRC is committed to identifying and recruiting appropriate Fellows through a systematic process which includes:

• Identifying active scholars
• Sending solicitation letters
• Pursuing face-to-face entreaties at conferences
• Advertising in appropriate venues
• Hosting various web-based conferences
• Developing the annual expert survey of the profession
• Launching the Distinguished Lecture Series

Once this program is institutionalized, it is projected to become a mechanism to promote stronger linkages not only between scholars actively engaged within the field, but also to help foster more collaboration between academics and practitioners. The PPRC is committed to communicating substantive research to the community of scholars and practitioners with a central message that includes delineating the importance of the scholarship and how it can help in the real world of public procurement.

The Distinguished Faculty Fellows Program will be managed and administered completely through the PPRC with funding help from the NIGP. Faculty Fellows are expected to advise the PPRC Distinguished Faculty Fellows Program Coordinator of issues and developments within the field, as well as conscientiously contribute to the academic mission of the PPRC. Due to logistics concerning the global distribution of the Fellows, there will be no required face-to-face meetings in which the Fellows need attend, but there will be host of electronic meetings that will foster follow-up questions and discussions through the PPRC Web portal.

The Director of the PPRC and the Distinguished Faculty Fellows Program Coordinator comprise the permanent in-house management team. Depending on circumstances and demand, this internal management team may be expanded in the future to include a Faculty Fellow who would be an advisory external management resource. Since the Program will be solely managed by the PPRC, all procedures must conform to the policies of Florida Atlantic University.

The PPRC is committed to the Program’s success, and it has budgeted $3,250 for the FY 2008 to initiate this unique program. This will cover the costs of identifying, contacting, and following-up with potential Fellows, as well as subsidizing the revamping of the Web presence.