S. Nicole Diggs
Dr. S. Nicole Diggs is a tenured associate professor and associate chair of the Public Administration Department at NCCU. While co-leading the M.P.A. program and Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA) reaccreditation efforts, she teaches courses in the M.P.A. core curriculum and electives in the Urban and Regional Planning concentration.
She bridges scholarship and practice by mentoring future public servants and translating research into actionable policy, and her students engage directly with the community, from participating in the Unhoused Point-in-Time Count to presenting to local officials and community groups. She has a strong commitment to educating and encouraging future public administrators who are furthering their education in graduate studies and currently serves as the Pi Alpha Alpha (PAA) and ICMA advisor.
Dr. Diggs has been an active member of the American Society of Public Administration (ASPA) since 2010 and is currently serving her second term on the National Council (2025–2027). She has held membership across five ASPA sections, including the Conference of Minority Public Administrators, Democracy and Social Justice (former board member 2020–2023), Health and Human Services Administration, Public Administration Education, and Women in Public Administration.
She is the immediate past president of the Conference of Minority Public Administrators (COMPA), following terms as president-elect, vice president, and electoral district III representative. During her COMPA presidency (2025–2026), she hosted the 2026 COMPA conference at NCCU, where faculty and students representing 40 academic institutions joined together to speak on the ways public servants bridge futures by bridging divides for tomorrow’s governance.
Her leadership spans beyond ASPA, as she co-chaired NASPAA’s Diversity and Social Equity Committee. She strongly believes in housing equity and currently serves as the mayor’s appointee to the Durham Housing Authority Board of Commissioners. She is also on the Governance Board for Housing for New Hope and on the leadership committee for the Coalition for Affordable Housing and Transit.
Her scholarship examines how power, privilege, and systemic barriers shape marginalized communities and institutions. She has published widely on gender and leadership, intersectionality, community and neighborhood development, and public procurement, including her case study on equitable neighborhood development in Durham's Southside.
In addition, she is an award-winning teaching, scholar, and leader, receiving the Excellence in Teaching award (AY 21-22, AY 23-24, and AY24-25), the Excellence in Research award (AY 22-23), the Journal of Public Affairs (JPAE) Author Spotlight for an article examining mentoring at HBCUs, the COMPA Best Paper award and the Jewel Prestage Trailblazer award. During her COMPA presidency, she also received the Patricia Yearwood ASPA Section Award.
Education
| Ph.D. | Public Administration, Florida Atlantic University |
| M.P.A. | Urban and Regional Planning, Old Dominion University |
| B.B.A. | Finance and Marketing, North Carolina Central University |
Courses
Publications
- Sweeting, K. and Diggs, S.N. (forthcoming). Exhausted by Design: A Critical Interpretive Analysis of Technocratic Neoliberal Logics in Academic Life. Journal of Public Administration Education
- Diggs, S.N. and Heckler, N. (2025). Patterns in the Mosaic: Toward a Taxonomy of Common Types of Intersectionality. In M. Holmes, N. Elias, and M. D’Agostino, (Eds.). Making Sense of Identity and Equity in Public Sector Workplaces. Routledge
- Sweeting, K., Diggs, S.N., and Bharath, D. (2024). All is Not as it Seems: A Critical Analysis of Bureaucracy, Democracy, Social Equity, and Justice in Zootopia. Journal of Social Equity and Public Administration
- Diggs, S.N., Bharath, D., Roberts-Lewis, K., and Bailey, D. (2023). Mentoring at the Intersection of Student and Faculty Retention at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) Master of Public Administration programs. Journal of Public Affairs Education
- Diggs, S.N. (2022). Equitable Neighborhood Development in Durham, NC: The Case of Southside. In R.G. Johnson and S. Meyer, (Eds) Lessons in Social Equity: Case Study Book. Birkdale Publishers, p.105-132
- Diggs, S.N. (2022). The Delusion of Privilege. Administrative Theory and Praxis, 44(2): 105-112
- Diggs, S.N. (2022). Intersectionality of gender and race in governmental affairs. In P. Shields. and N. Elias, (Eds.) Handbook on Gender in Public Administration. Edward Elgar Publishing.
- Lee, D., Paul, C., Pilkington, W., Mulrooney, T., Diggs, S. N., and Kumar, D. (2021). Examining Social Determinants of Health’s Effects on COVID-19 Related Stress and Family’s Stress and Discord, and COVID-19 Symptoms Severity. Journal of Affective Disorders Report, 5, 100183, 1-7
- Diggs, S.N. (2012). Health Disparities and Health Care Financing: Restructuring the American health care system. Journal of Public Health Finance
- Diggs, S.N. and Roman, A. V. (2012). Understanding and Tracing Accountability within the Public Procurement Process: Interpretations, Performance Measurements and the Possibility of Developing Public-Private Partnerships. Public Performance and Management Review
Grants
Diggs, SN (PI), Paul, CJ, and Doughty, I. HBCU Health Equity Data Consortium on COVID-19’s impact on wealth in Medicaid Region 4 residents. $85,184. Component project of $2.25 billion CDC National Initiative to Address COVID-19 Health Disparities Grant. 2023.
Paul CJ (PI), Diggs SN (co-PI), Lee D. The Role of Food Security in the Social Determinants of Health: Contingent Impacts of COVID-19 in North Carolina. NC Policy Collaboratory. $65,606. Component project of $1,000,000 grant (PI: Kumar D). 2020.
Paul CJ (PI) and Diggs SN (co-PI). The Role of Food Security in the Social Determinants of Health: A COVID-19 Rapid Response Pilot Project in the H.O.P.E. Counties. $8,800. COVID19 Response Pilot (CORP) Grants, NCCU NIMHD RCMI. 2020.
Paul CJ (PI) and Diggs SN (co-PI). Participatory Budgeting Process and Community Engagement in Durham (Project Evaluation). $20,000. Inter-local Agreement with the City of Durham, North Carolina. 2019.