Spring Cleaning

Hi everyone, I hope your semesters are going well. I'll start with my classes: Administrative Law is about the same, following the same pattern from the first half of the semester. I did get my midterm back and was very pleased with the result. In Research Methods we administered our surveys and are tweaking a few issues before we move into the analysis of our results. We're covering quantitative methods and statistics right now and it makes me glad I worked so hard on those subjects in undergrad. It's still hard, but I imagine it'd be so much harder if I didn't learned the concepts well the first time around. This Thursday will already be time to register for fall classes and I'll be more than halfway finished with the program. This summer I'll have a break from classes and will hopefully be working at the internship I had a preliminary interview for last week. I'm anxiously waiting to hear back this week.

In the office, the NASPAA reaccreditation site visit took place two weeks ago and seemed to go really well. They met with various faculty, staff, students, and alumni. I'm continuing to work on a literature review of urban renewal and revitalization through community entertainment and arts districts. I had a library consultation last week and the research has been really interesting.

In PASS updates, last week we hosted guest speaker, Cincinnati vice mayor, Roxanne Qualls. Qualls addressed the topic of building inclusive organizations. More than twenty people from the MPA program attended and made up an active and engaged audience. Qualls pointed out that diversity is about more than the traditional concepts of gender, race and ethnicity, and includes a broader spectrum such as experience, perspective, and lifestyle. She emphasized the distinction between leadership and management, which are too often used interchangeably. Finally, she really drove home the point that an inclusive organization is important for many reasons, but perhaps the most important reason, is that it allows you to make better decisions. Qualls' presentation was informative and thought-provoking and I think gave each of us something to take back to our respective organizations. Thank you to everyone who attended and made this event so successful! This Saturday PASS will participate in Service on Saturday-A Day of Service in NKU's Backyard. Comment below if you'd like to join us or receive more information about the event. On a similar note, this Friday is the first MPA alumni (students, board, faculty, and staff also invited!) quarterly happy hour at Keystone Bar & Grill. Hope to see as many of you there as possible!

PASS 2012 spring social event at the Cincinnati Cyclones game 2/16

Time flies!

I cannot believe it has been over a month since my last post! I apologize for my absence, I've been busier than I realized. Let's see, there's a lot to catch up on. First, the Student Spotlights page has been added to the MPA website! You can view that and read about this semester's two featured MPA students here: http://psc-cj.nku.edu/programs/public/masters/Student_Spotlights.php.


The last time I wrote, I was headed off to the NKU MPA-ASPA annual dinner with guest speaker Joshua Smith. The dinner was delicious, Mexican buffet, and Joshua was very entertaining. Joshua shared with the audience his experience and career path in local government. His story was humorous and inspiring. As a note to pre-career students, he could not emphasize enough the value of internship and fellowship opportunities. I was intrigued with the thought of local government after Joshua's presentation and have since taken advantage of a few opportunities that I have come across in the MPA program. First, I attended  a Northern Kentucky City and County Managers Association meeting the following week to meet other leaders in the field and learn more about a career in local government. Second, I applied for a summer internship opportunity in local government. Keep your fingers crossed! It would be a great opportunity and I am really hoping it works out.


On February 10th, ASPA hosted Dr. Beth Honadle from the University of Cincinnati, who presented her paper "On Public Policy Analysis: Reflections and Practical Tips from the Field." Dr. Honadle's presentation focused on the distinction between doing academic policy work and doing policy work in the field. It was a very informative and interesting presentation especially since I am interested in a career in public policy.


The next week we had our first PASS event of the semester with a small group attending a Cincinnati Cyclones game. Despite the Cyclones loss in the final minutes, it was a really enjoyable outing. We're looking forward to the rest of our events this semester and hope to draw even bigger crowds.


The week after the Cyclones game, I attended the NKU Job Expo. I had a chance to talk to some great representatives from interesting organizations about the summer opportunities they had available. I got some good leads and feedback and have been in touch with a few places since then. Again, fingers crossed!


Now the real reason I've been so busy: classes. I had a midterm in Administrative Law Monday night (50% of our grade!). I spent a lot of time preparing for it and even though I wasn't feeling well when I sat down to take the exam, I do feel like it went pretty well. At least I hope it did, I guess I'll find out soon enough. Tuesday my group and I turned in our research design and are awaiting final approval of our survey so that we can begin collecting responses. Over spring break we will each collect 35 completed questionnaires for a total of 105. I can't believe we're already more than half-way through the semester and I'm looking ahead to what will be due the rest of the semester. As for Program Evaluation, we're more than half-way through, we're finished! All I have left is to turn in my final assignment, an evaluation of The Big Shake, due by Sunday at 6pm. I have an earlier personal deadline though because I fly out of Dayton for LAX at 4pm on Sunday! One assignment to go and I'll be enjoying five days of sunshine in California to visit my brother and a good friend from high school. I can't wait! When I get back things pick right back up with the NASPAA site visit team arriving for three days of evaluation. We're almost there!