MPA Capstone Courses – MPA Workshop & Executive Leadership Start Today

Executive Leadership Course integrated into MPA Workshop Experience

Today our MPA students begin their summer capstone courses.  For the first time this summer we are combining the MPA Workshop project course with our Executive Leadership Seminar.  Professors Bertini and Murrett are the instructors for Executive Leadership. The focus of this course is leadership and how leaders can be as effective as possible in a variety of challenging settings.  The objective is to have students be much better prepared to enter the world of leading, partnering and following in complex organizations.  This course will meet for one week, setting the stage for the student teams to take on their Workshop team projects.  This initial week will focus on group skills, team building and dynamics, communication and project management.  Student teams will then have four weeks to complete their MPA Workshop projects.

Workshop projects for Summer 2014 are varied and interesting.  A small sampling includes:

1)      Re-examining the child-sponsorship model for ChildFund International and developing a business model to engage younger donors to the work of ChildFund.

2)      Developing a training curriculum for a standard natural disaster emergency response for foreign military and security personnel, under the auspices of a US federal agency.

3)      Develop a series of policy recommendations for creation of an Age-Friendly Central New York community for the purposes of engaging and retaining the area’s Baby Boom generation.

4)      A review and analysis of techniques used for Institutionalizing Innovation in Municipal Government for the City of Philadelphia so as to allow the city to evaluate its own efforts and build a blue print for future steps.

5)      Provide a detailed analysis of the reduction in the Fiscal Year 2014 defense program and the FY15 Future Years’ defense program for acquisition, personnel and global deployment flexibility for the Institute for Defense Analysis.

6)      Complete a demographic analysis of patients and patient services for the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, Syracuse VA Medical Center.

7)      Complete an analysis of the issues surrounding the implementation of smart grid technology through the lens of consumer privacy frameworks, industry concerns, and priorities of the NYS Public Service Commission.

8)      An investigation of best practices surrounding gender mainstreaming in evaluation in international development institutions for the World Bank Independent Evaluation Group.

9)      Creating a program and project evaluation plan for the Municipio al Dia (City of Tomorrow) project with the Institute for Peruvian Studies.

Among many more …

Upon the completion of their projects, the students will reconvene for the final two weeks of Executive Leadership.  This format will allow for more complete integration of the major concepts, skills and underlying themes of leadership, informed decision-making, effective communication and project management as students complete their degrees.