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Dr. Al Bavon is Professor of Public Administration at the Clinton School of Public Service at the University of Arkansas, teaching courses in Program Planning and Development, Data Analysis, and Program Evaluation. Outside the classroom, Bavon researches the intersection of program development and public service.
The former chair of the Department of Policy Studies at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, Bavon has an extensive background and publication record in the areas of program planning, management, and evaluation. Previously, he served as program coordinator of the doctoral program in public administration at the University of North Texas. He also has focused research on relevant issues in his home country of Ghana and has completed a number of grant-funded projects that focus primarily on evaluation of programs ranging from a court-based drug program to a community-based arts initiative.
Bavon earned a Ph.D. in public administration from Florida State University and a M.S. in regional and urban planning, also from Florida State University. Prior to joining academia, he worked for 10 years as a policy analyst for the State of Florida.
Bavon’s published articles in scholarly journals include Preparing African Public Administrators for Development Management: Student Learning Outcomes Assessment for Performance Improvement for the Journal of Public Affairs Education; Lessons Learned From C-SPs Targeting the BOP: Business, Government, NGO, and University Experiences for the Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings; and Improving Evaluation Capacity in Ghana’s Public Enterprises: Issues and Challenges for the African Social Science Review.
Among his many conference presentations are “Business, not-for-profit, and university cross-sector partnerships targeting the base of the pyramid” at the Academy of Management Africa Conference; “Evaluating the Effects of Park Improvements in North Little Rock, Ark., on Park Use and Physical Activity” at the Southern Medical Association’s 2013 Annual Scientific Assembly; and “Using the Retrospective Pretest-Posttest Method to Evaluate School-Based Physical Activity Intervention to Promote Active Living” at the American Evaluation Association Annual Conference.
Recently, Bavon was chair of the Clinton School’s Executive Master of Public Service search committee in the spring of 2017. Bavon has served as a member of the Clinton School Curriculum Committee since 2015 and the Faculty Affairs Committee since 2012. Since 2009, he has served as chair of the Curriculum Development/Assessment Committee. Since 2002, he has been a member of the Promotion and Tenure Committee.
Additionally, Bavon has been a Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of American (CCFA) Arkansas Chapter Board member since 2011. Since 2013, he has been a Clinton Health Initiatives Pulaski County Blueprint Strategic Meeting Content expert.