SUNY Brockport

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PA Notes
Spring 2007 E-newsletter

Greetings from the Department Chair

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We usually highlight one alum or student for our "In the Spotlight" mention. This time, we want to start recognizing all of our alums for mention "In theSpotlight."

We recently surveyed our alums, and received responses from over 250 alums, including 35 who live and work outside of New York State. Since we have well over a thousand alums, we don't know whether these alums are reflective of all of our alums. But, there are some interesting findings about those who didrespond.

Just over a third of those who responded work in government: city (3%), county (16%), town (2%), state (11%), and federal (3%). Another 21% work in health care, and 17% work in nonprofit organizations. What was not expected was the percentage (14%) who work in higher education institutions. Another 3% work in K-12 educational settings. Two percent work in the private sector.

It is pretty clear that the MPA degree is of value to people in a variety of occupations. Individuals do change careers, and we hope that the MPA degree is instrumental to a variety of managerial and leadership career paths.

In coming editions of PA Notes, we'd like to highlight some of the many ways our alums are working to serve their communities.

Jim Fatula
Chair, Department of Public Administration

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In the Spotlight

Thank you to all who responded to our request for information last fall!

Click here for our MPA alum In the Spotlight.

We want to hear how you are doing! Send us your news, awards, achievements or promotions for our next issue! Click here to submit your information online: MPA Update Form.

Faculty Activities

Edward H. Downey, associate professor, is among the faculty selected to teach Perspectives on American Democracy as part of SUNY Brockport's American Democracy Project in or the Spring 2007 semester. In this course, undergraduate students will learn about various disciplinary perspectives on American democracy. Read more about the American Democracy Project here ...

Downey will be offering two fall 2007 courses that will fulfill the MPA program's computer course requirement. PAD/EPS 666 Computer Applications will be offered Thursday evenings (first meeting is September 6, 2007). This course is designed to bring you up to speed on the software used in MPA core courses.PAD 672 Internet for Managers will only have one meeting on Saturday, September 8 from 10 am to 4 pm in Dailey Hall on the main campus. In this course students develop and publish a Web site. The MPA fall 2007 course schedule can be found here: http://www.brockport.edu/pubadmin/schedule.htm.

Jim Fatula, chair and associate professor, has been appointed to the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration's (NASPAA) Data Task Force. The NASPAA Executive Council charged the Task Force with the responsibility to consider the data NASPAA would like to gather to help inform member schools and the public. The main objectives are to:

1. Identify appropriate, relevant and verifiable measures of the educational quality and characteristics of public affairs programs for NASPAA to collect from member schools, and
2. Offer alternative mechanisms for NASPAA to employ to collect and make available the designated data.

Fatula also authored the "Speaking Out" column, “Expanding Medicare would exacerbate system’s ills,” Democrat and Chronicle, on March 8, 2007, and served as guest expert for Kathy Driscoll’s "Managers at Work" column in the Rochester Business Journal, “What to look for when board rejects new thinking,” on January 5, 2007.

Gregory Saxton, associate professor, has recently had an article accepted for publication in the journal Public Performance & Management Review titled “New Dimensions of Nonprofit Responsiveness: The Application and Promise of Internet-Based Technologies.”

Saxton will be presenting two papers at the March 2007 annual meeting of the Western Academy of Management in Missoula, Montana titled “Information Technology and the Participatory Revolution in Management” and “Social Capital and the Vitality of Community-Based Organizations.”

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Pi Alpha Alpha is Growing!

To date, over 125 members have been inducted to the Department of Public Admi Pi Alpha Alpha Logo nistration's local chapter of Pi Alpha Alpha, the national honor society for public affairs and administration, whose purpose is to encourage and recognize accomplishment in public affairs and administration, foster integrity, professionalism and effective performance in the conduct of government and related public service activities. Established in 1974, the society has grown significantly. Graduating MPAs who are eligible for Pi Alpha Alpha are invited to join in April of each year.

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Department News

The faculty is considering curricular changes and would appreciate your ideas. Please send them to Ed Downey at profharley@aol.com .

Information about the Master of Public Administration (MPA) at SUNY Brockport can be found here: http://www.brockport.edu/pubadmin. Please visit our "Announcements" page regularly to check for any course schedule or program policy updates, and please subscribe to our Listserve!

Course schedules and online registration information may be found at http://www.brockport.edu/pubadmin/schedule.htm.

SUNY Brockport's Alumni Web page can be found at http://www .brockport.edu/alumni/.

We want to hear how you are doing! If you would like to submit information for our next issue, current students and alum can send us information by filling out the update form online. It will be emailed directly to us. Click here to submit your information online: MPA Update Form.

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Join our E-mail Listserves

NEW! Now you can join either the MPA student listserve or the MPA Alum listserve . . .or both! Click here for instructions on how to subscribe: http://www.brockport.edu/pubadmin/listservinstruc.html.

Please direct questions, comments or suggestions to Anne Canale Stalnecker, PA Notes editor, at acanale@brockport.edu.