Kenneth Kickham, Ph.D.
Professor
About
Born in Illinois during the Kennedy administration, Dr. Kickham holds a B.S. in Accounting from OSU, an MPA from OU, a PhD in Political Science from OU, and a Masters in Adult Education from UCO. For several years he was a bureaucrat with the Department of Human Services, Oklahoma’s largest agency in terms of personnel. As an agency Comptroller, Dr. Kickham exercised budget responsibility for over $350,000,000. His research is published in public administration, political science, business, and anthropology journals, and he is former president of the National Association for Welfare Research and Statistics (2003-2004).
Classes Taught
I teach classes in statistics, research methods, policy analysis, program evaluation, organization theory, budgeting, intergovernmental relations and ethics.
Education and Certifications
M.Ed., Adult and Higher Education, University of Central Oklahoma, 2016
Ph.D., Political Science, University of Oklahoma, 2000
MPA, Public Administration, University of Oklahoma, 1994
B.S., Accounting, Oklahoma State University, 1992
Experience
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
Chair, Department of Political Science, University of Central Oklahoma, 2019 – present
Assistant Chair, Department of Political Science, University of Central Oklahoma, Jan. – June, 2019
Professor of Political Science, University of Central Oklahoma, 2014 – present
Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Central Oklahoma, 2010 – 2014
Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Central Oklahoma, 2005 – 2010
Instructor in Political Science, University of Oklahoma, August 2001 – 2010
Instructor in Statistics, Oklahoma State University, 2004
Graduate Research Assistant and Teaching Assistant, University of Oklahoma, 1996 – 1999
OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Comptroller
Budget Unit, Finance Division, Oklahoma Department of Human Services
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
October 2004 – August 2005
Senior Researcher
Office of Planning, Policy and Research, Oklahoma Department of Human Services
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
September 2000 – October 2004
Management Analyst
Planning and Research Unit, Oklahoma Department of Human Services
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
October 1999 – August 2000
Office Hours
9 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday
Research, Published Work, and Scholarly Activities
Sharp, Brett S., Grant Aguirre, and Kenneth Kickham. 2016. Managing in the Public Sector: A Casebook in Ethics and Leadership (2nd Edition). New York, NY: Routledge.
Kickham, Kenneth. 2019. “Oklahoma’s Governor and Elected Executives,” in and Brett S. Sharp, Christopher L. Markwood and Jan C. Hardt (eds.), Oklahoma Government and Politics: An Introduction (6th Edition). Dubuque, IA: Kendall-Hunt.
Horowitz, Mark, William Yaworsky, and Kenneth Kickham. (accepted for publication). “Anthropology’s Science Wars: Social Institutions, Moral Judgments, and Anthropologists,” Current Anthropology.
Horowitz, Mark, Anthony Haynor, and Kenneth Kickham. 2018. “Sociology’s Sacred Victims and the Politics of Knowledge: Moral Foundations Theory and Disciplinary Controversies,” The American Sociologist June: 1-37.
Wood, John, Ryan Kiggins, and Kenneth Kickham. 2017. “Food or Thought? Assessing Internal and External Factors Affecting Evaluations of Instructor Effectiveness,” Journal of Political Science Education 13(4): 373-388. DOI: 10.1080/15512169.2017.1329089.
Yaworsky, William, Mark Horowitz, and Kenneth Kickham. 2015. “Gender and Politics Among Anthropologists in the Units of Selection Debate,” Biological Theory 10(2): 145-155. DOI: 10.1007/s13752-014-0196-5.
Horowitz, Mark, William Yaworsky, and Kenneth Kickham. 2014. “Whither the Blank Slate? A Report on the Reception of Evolutionary Biological Ideas among Sociological Theorists,” Sociological Spectrum 34: 489-509.
Kickham, Kenneth, and David A. Ford. 2013. “Effect of Divorce on State Medicaid Expenditures,” Journal of Poverty 17(1): 1-12.
Yaworsky, William, and Kenneth Kickham. 2012. “Who Participates in Mexico's Program for Migrant Agricultural Laborers? Explaining the Distribution of Communities in Ahuacuotzingo, Guerrero.” Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment 34(2): 148-160.
Findley, Dean A., and Kenneth Kickham. 2012. “Politics, Policy and Presidential Disaster Declarations: Is There a Good Time (or Place) to Have a Disaster?” The Researcher: An Interdisciplinary Journal 25(3): 1-21.
Yaworsky, William, and Kenneth Kickham. 2009. “The Pull of the Marketplace: Colonia Growth and Regional Migration in Guerrero, Mexico,” The Latin Americanist 53(4): 29-48.
Kickham, Kenneth, and David A. Ford. 2009. “Are State Marriage Initiatives Having an Effect? An Initial Exploration of the Impact on Divorce and Childhood Poverty Rates,” Public Administration Review 69(5): 846-54.
Salehezadeh, Zohre, and Kenneth Kickham. 2005. “How Public Policies Affect Work and Marriage Incentives,” Oklahoma Business Bulletin 73(1): 9-21.
Salehezadeh, Zohre, and Kenneth Kickham. 2003. “Baby Boomers’ Retirement: Are We Prepared?” Oklahoma Business Bulletin 71(3): 3-15.
Morgan, David R., Kenneth Kickham, and James T. LaPlant. 2002. “State Support for Higher Education: A Political Economy Approach,” Policy Studies Journal 29(3): 359-71. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1541-0072.2001.tb02098.x/pdf
Morgan, David R., and Kenneth Kickham. 2001. “Children in Poverty: Do State Policies Matter?” Social Science Quarterly 82(3): 478-93.
Morgan, David R., and Kenneth Kickham. 1999. “Work and Welfare in the American States: Analyzing the Effects of the JOBS Program,” Political Research Quarterly 52(4): 867-83.
Morgan, David R., and Kenneth Kickham. 1999. “Changing the Form of County Government: Effects on Revenue and Expenditure Policy,” Public Administration Review 59(4): 315-24.
Morgan, David R., and Kenneth Kickham. 1997. “Modernization among the U.S. States: Change and Continuity from 1960 to 1990,” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 27(3): 23-39.
OTHER ARTICLES AND PUBLISHED RESEARCH
“Speaker’s Claims Simply Don’t Add Up,” Oklahoma Observer (with David R. Morgan, May 10, 2007, p. 8).
“Governmental Capacity: Measuring Up in the 21st Century,” in Strategies for Oklahoma’s Future, The Oklahoma Academy (October 2006).
Modeling Work and Marriage Incentives in Public Policies, Oklahoma City, OK: Department of Human Services (with Zohre Salehezadeh, May 2004).
"The Creative Class: Sooners Strike Out," Oklahoma Observer (with David R. Morgan, March 10, 2004).
Baby Boomers’ Retirement: Are We Prepared? Oklahoma City, OK: Department of Human Services (with Zohre Salehezadeh, January 2003).
Teaching Philosophy
In education circles, the term learning community has become commonplace. It is being used to mean any number of things, such as extending classroom practice into the community; bringing community personnel into the school to enhance the curriculum and learning tasks for students; or engaging students, teachers, and administrators simultaneously in learning - to suggest just a few. I use the term to convey a sense of what our experience will be like this semester as we participate in an organization characterized by the following elements:
- collegial and facilitative participation of Dr. Kickham, who shares leadership - and thus, power and authority - through inviting student input in decision making;
- shared vision that is developed from unswerving commitment to learning, and that is consistently articulated and referenced;
- collective learning among students and facilitator, and application of that learning to solutions that address the needs of the learning community;
- supportive review of each community member’s classroom performance by peers as a feedback and assistance activity to support individual and community improvement; and,
- physical conditions that support such an operation.
The views expressed by UCO faculty and staff on their personal websites and social media pages do not necessarily reflect the positions of the University of Central Oklahoma. UCO faculty and staff are advised to follow the university’s social media guidelines and are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with policies outlined in UCO’s Employee Handbook and/or Faculty Handbook.