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Dr. Jaclyn Bunch is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice at the University of South Alabama. Originally a New York state native, Jaclyn pursued her undergraduate course work at Pace University. She earned her Ph.D. in Political Science from Florida State University in 2014. Jaclyn's primary research falls within the fields of ÃÞ»¨ÌÇÖ±²¥n Politics and Public Policy, with particular interests in state and local relations, federalism, political media, and the substantive topics of healthcare, administration, and budgeting. Jaclyn has had her work accepted and published in numerous respected journals in her field including PS: Political Science, State and Local Government Review, and Public Policy and Administration. She also has several dedicated book chapters and has presented at numerous conferences on topics of political science, policy analysis, and public administration. Currently Jaclyn teaches for both political science and for the U.S.A Masters in Public Administration program. Prior to her endeavors in academia Jaclyn served as an Emergency Medical Technician for five years in New York State and now resides in Mobile with her husband Robert. 

Dr. Thomas Shaw is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice and Director of the USA Polling Group at the University of South Alabama. He is originally a native of Gulfport, Mississippi and attained his doctorate in Political Science in 1998 from the University of New Orleans. He worked briefly for the National Opinion Research Center in Chicago before joining the Institute for Policy Research (IPR) at the University of Cincinnati in 2000. While at the IPR, Thomas attained the rank of Senior Research Associate and was the Associate Director of the Greater Cincinnati Survey. In 2005, Thomas accepted a position as Assistant Professor at the University of South Alabama. In 2010, he joined the USA Polling Group as a Co-Director; in 2011, he received tenure and was promoted to Associate Professor and then in 2013, he took over as sole Director of the USA Polling Group. In addition to conducting a variety of research projects through the Polling Group, Thomas continues to teach a mix of upper and lower level undergraduate political science courses as well as graduate level courses in the department’s Master of Public Administration program.