Boo!

The open house was a success! I was impressed with the number of people who stopped by the MPA table. It was great to talk to so many people interested in the program and I've even been in touch with a few since then. I'm always happy to answer questions about the program or life as a student, so if you have any, post them below!

The week after the open house I had my first midterm of the semester in Foundations, and my first in-class exam of grad school! Hint: The study group was worth it. If nothing else, it's helpful to identify what information goes with what question, make sure you have the all the material, and are clear on it. After that it was a lot of reviewing and quizzing for me. Like I said, it paid off and I'm happy with the grade I earned. I have an online, open-book midterm tonight in Managing a Nonprofit. It will consist of a case study of a nonprofit with issues and in three essays, we'll apply what we've learned thus far. Wish me luck!

Last week we had Fall Break, which was a nice two day respite from classes. It gave me some time to catch up (on reading and sleep!) and look ahead at the rest of the semester.

As usual, there's a lot going on in Volunteer Management! We turned in our Volunteer Program Overviews last week and are awaiting feedback. We also did our site visits to the nonprofits applying for grants from Toyota. Although I cannot mention names, I can say the visits were both informative and inspiring. It is going to be tough to make recommendations when all of these organizations are doing wonderful things for the community. Toyota's criteria will help though and I'm excited to get further into the process.

Last weekend PASS invited MPA students to attend the Newport Gangster Tour at half price! I already had plans to return to Wittenberg for homecoming, but it sounded really fun! On November 2nd PASS is sponsoring a guest speaker and holding elections for the upcoming year. I'll keep you all posted!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Week 7, check.

This has been a big week in the MPA Program! On Tuesday night we were joined by MPA alumni for the Fall Reception. It was a laid back affair with light refreshments and plenty of time for socializing. Introductions were made, including new professors and new MPA alumni President Anita Hurst-Southwick. Dr. Julie Olberding made a few MPA announcements and Anita imparted some words of wisdom to current MPA students. It was a very enjoyable time and there was a great turnout. Two hours later, I was off to my shortened Tuesday night class. Additionally, the MPA Program will participate in the Graduate Open House this Saturday from 10 AM-noon. If you’re in the area and interested, stop by and see us!

Classes are moving along at a steady clip. I’ve been working really hard to stay abreast of my reading assignments. Unfortunately, I know all too well from firsthand experience, that once you get behind on any reading it just snowballs and it seems like you’ll never catch back up. So I have learned to treat it just like an assignment that has to be turned in at the beginning of class and make sure it gets done. Speaking of assignments, I turned in two proposals this week for research paper topics. In Managing a Nonprofit I’ll be researching the CEO turnover at The American Red Cross and examining whether it was due to Human Resource, Governance, or image issues. In Foundations of Public Administration I decided to go along with my initial topic of privatizing education and taking a closer looks at the voucher option. I have already found and reviewed several very good articles for this assignment and I’m really looking forward to continuing this research.  Next week I have my first midterm in Foundations. Our class organized a study group for this Saturday. I’m planning on putting in a good amount of time studying Friday (so I can be a productive, contributing group member Saturday!), then review with a classmate Sunday. Whew. Big plans for the weekend! 

In Volunteer Management I got to meet the representative we’d be working with from Crossover. They are already doing a lot of really great things and we were able to pinpoint a few areas where my classmates and I may be able to help them operate more efficiently. It looks like the two groups will be divided between compiling a volunteer handbook and creating a volunteer skills and interests survey and conducting a subsequent pilot study. Both options sound interesting to me and I am excited to be working with Crossover. The next week we were assigned our sites for the Toyota grant application evaluations. My group and I will be doing site visits in two weeks. Since we’ve been discussing volunteer motivation in class we took a Volunteer Functions Inventory, where I learned that I am motivated by values, enhancement, and career.  

Unfortunately, I had to miss the most recent PASS event at Cincinnati Nature Center, but I’ve included photos below! I hope everyone’s October is off to a great start and I’ll write again soon!