State & Local Government – A key focus for many MPA students

Wally Bobkiewicz, III (MPA ’89), City Manager, City of Evanston, IL moderates panel of local government officials.

State and local government is one of the key focal areas of Maxwell’s MPA degree, with the sector employing 28% of graduates.

International City/County Managers Association (ICMA)

Maxwell’s student ICMA chapter held a Local Government Panel discussion during the Fall Semester. Speakers included Maxwell alumni working as City Managers, Senior Budget Managers, Economic Development Specialist, and Township Administrators.

Additionally. this year twelve students attended the national ICMA conference in San Antonio, TX with financial assistance from the Maxwell’s Schools Palmer Center for Career Development. For the Spring Semester, students have a trip planned to Albany, NY and a presentation by Maxwell alumni from the Arizona Governor’s Office.

Maxwell’s Palmer Center for Career Development (PCCD)

PCCD offers one-on-one career support exclusively to Maxwell graduate students and alumni. During the Fall Semester, PCCD held a number initiatives focusing on state and local governance such as:

• Recruitment of top students to serve in the New York State Government’s Excelsior Service Fellowship Program
• Sessions with Maxwell alumni at the California Legislative Analyst Office and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

Professor Matt Young

Faculty Spotlight

Matt Young joined the Department of Public Administration and International Affairs in 2017 after completing his PhD and with over ten years of experience in technology startups. His research focuses on public sector innovation and technology, service delivery, governance, civic engagement, and social justice. He currently teaches the core course Public Organizations & Management and will be teaching Technology and Innovation in Public Organizations in the Spring Semester.

Course Highlight

Metropolitan Government and Politics

Minchin Lewis, Advisor of Maxwell’s student ICMA Chapter

With experience in political office, private financial management, and social services, Maxwell MPA alumnus Minch Lewis, focuses the course on current problems of urban management. According to Minch, “The class poses the question, ‘Is there a future for American cities?’ We search for answers in class discussions, policy papers, and a final group project. Power, the capacity to get things done, is the unifying theme.” The course sits in the context of urban politics, economics, and culture and touches on topics of urban planning, poverty, race, education, and equity. In line with the MPA’s focus on professional skill development, theory is applied to real world situations through guest lecturers from all levels of local government who bring the practical world into the classroom.

Related Posts/News –

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Alumni Return to Maxwell to Promote Excelsior Program – State of NY 

Professor John Yinger Honored with Steven Gold Award

Lewis discusses military base realignments and closures in PA Times

Recent Grad wins NASPAA Roback Scholarship (2015)