This is the first book project for Karen Kunz and Stavros Atsas. Before this, we collaborated on articles about “Obamacare” and policies that faclitated equitable access to health care. We have ideas for more “cost of…” studies and look forward to our next project.
Dr. Karen Kunz is a public policy consultant with Kunz Consulting, specializing in analysis of state executive and legislative programs and policies. She is currently working on an aviation policy study for the West Virginia Department of Transportation. Other work includes co-authored studies for the IBM Center on the Business of Government on the use of AI for federal payment security and state government use of performance measures to anticipate and address transformational events, and numerous reports and legislative testimony for legislative and administrative leaders on topics ranging from sustainable funding for volunteer firefighters to administrative rules for manufacturing agricultural hemp.
Dr. Kunz is an Associate Professor Emerita in the Eberly College of Arts & Sciences at West Virginia University. Prior to joining academia, Dr. Kunz founded and ran a Los Angeles consulting firm that catered to multinational and boutique investment firms and principles across the country. She and Professor Jena Martin co-authored “When the Levee Breaks: Revisioning Securities Markets Regulation.”
Dr. Kunz’s expertise is in federal and state public budgeting and financial management, adaptive capacity, and public economics. Other interests include policy advocacy and public leadership. She is US Army veteran and an active board member with the American Association of Budget and Program Analysts (AABPA) and The West Virginia Food and Farm Coalition. In addition, she was a longstanding board member of the West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy and a former Commissioner with the Morgantown Utility Board (MUB) and Morgantown Human Rights Commission. More about Karen …
Stavros Atsas is the Director, Research Analysis & Organizational Culture for the Division of People, Culture and Belonging at Kent State University. His primary responsibilities include creating and analyzing university-wide engagement, climate, and exit surveys, conducting assessment and research using HRIS data, and collaborating on division-wide operations and strategic initiatives.
Stavros has Masters’ degrees in Public Administration and Higher Education Administration, and is a doctoral candidate (ABD) in the Research, Measurement & Statistics program at Kent State University. His expertise is in research methodology and education policy, with a focus on administrative capacity.
Stavros’ research Interests include policy analysis, social science research methodology, program evaluation, administrative capacity, and state and federal budget policy. More about Stavros …
The Cost of Congress 