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.
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