MPA Newsletter for UVM

A PUBLICATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT MPA PROGRAM

SPRING 2010

MASTER OF

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION INSIDE Vol. 4, No. 1 MPA News. . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Dear Reader Transdisciplinary Research Initiatives

Alumni Update . . . . . . . . . 3 Richard Donahey (‘09) Trevor Lashua (‘05)

Student Perspective. . . . . 4 Internship Briefs

Community Connection. . 5 Local Government in Brattleboro, VT

Faculty Profile. . . . . . . . . . 6 Robert Lawson

www.uvm.edu/mpa Master of Public Administration Community Development and Applied Economics Dept.

103 Morrill Hall Burlington, VT 05405 Email: mpa@uvm.edu Tele: 802.656.0009

Beyond The Green

Next Generation Town Managers: Barre Town Leads the Way with Innovative Internship Program

In the late-1990s, Barre Town Manager Carl Rogers looked around the room at an International City and County Management Association Meeting and came to a conclusion. “What I saw was a lot of grey hair; we were an aging group of professionals.” Rogers went back to Barre Town and formed an internship program that opens the doors of local government to emerging public administrators.

Photo: Anna Masozera

Preparing Innovative Leaders for the Public Sector

Kelly Murphy (‘09) and Barre Town Manager Carl Rogers sit together in a meting room at the town offices in Barre Town.

Kelly Murphy, a 2009 graduate from the MPA Program at UVM is the current Management Intern in the Town of Barre, a post that she held since January 2009. Because the internship is full-time and paid, it is highly integrated into the day-to-day and fiscal operations of the Town.

“Although ‘Intern’ is attached to my name, it isn’t close to what I do.”

Murphy explains with a reflective smile.

Murphy finds herself working in town management in a time of economic uncertainty. Although Barre Town has been affected along with other parts of the state, no major restrictions on town budget have come to pass.

“Budgeting is fascinating,” comments Murphy as she recounts the process in Barre Town in which a 10-member budget committee goes line-by-line through the budget presented by Rogers.

What she does every day is play an important role in Town management.

She works with public information, serves as the staff person to Recreation Board, attends board and committee meetings, and writes community development grants.

And as Vermont doesn’t have formal county-level administration, Murphy liaises directly to the State on behalf of the Town of Barre. “If I do my job correctly, no one beyond this office knows that I am an intern.”

Murphy, a native of Farmington, New Hampshire, was always fond of civics and planned for a career in international policy and diplomacy. As an undergraduate in New Hampshire, she got a taste for that as an intern in Washington, DC, with the American Council of Young Political Leaders.

She also did some work at the state level in New Hampshire and has, over the years, focused her energy on the local level. She also used her time in the MPA Program to get focus and Continued on page 3...

Colleagues and Friends, Welcome to another edition of Beyond the Green, the biannual newsletter of the UVMMPA Program. This edition comes out at the end of another successful academic year. Aside from the outstanding accomplishments of the students featured in this issue, I have a number of other highlights to share with you.

First, I want to recognize the tremendous job that Anna Masozera , our department and program communication coordinator, has done to not only create the template for this outstanding newsletter, but also in redesigning and updating our program’s website. Anna has very often written most of the stories in these newsletters, and those she did not write, she inspired others, particularly students and former students, to write. The end result is a publication that reflects the values and mission of the UVM-MPA Program— people-centered, down-to-earth, and reflective of the public service values that we aspire to uphold and advance. The bad news for us is that Anna is leaving us to move with her family, husband Michel and daughter Marie-Clare, to Rwanda.

Anna has been a silent leader around these parts, the type of person who impresses you with her thoughtful reflection and innate quality to inspire the best in others. She has been a great friend who will be missed by all.

We also celebrate the official retirement of Robert Lawson, a former MPA director and Professor of Psychology. Robert has been a steadfast supporter of the MPA Program through thick and thin. It has been an honor to work along side of him during my years as director of the program. He has been a wonderful mentor and friend. Leslie and I had the privilege of attending Robert’s retirement party. Amidst the funny stories (who knew Robert is an avid bowler?), there was a lot of admiration in the room for a man of gentle spirit, keen intellect and passionate desire to connect with and inspire others. The good news for us is that Robert will continue teaching PA courses, helping us to inspire and prepare future generations of public service leaders. Check out the spotlight on Robert on page 6 if you have not done so already.

In other program news, we received word last month that the university administration has agreed to support our pursuit of accreditation from the National Society of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA). Over the course of the next two years we will embark on an extensive self-study and peer review process. The MPA program faculty have been gearing up for this for a number of years

2

MPA Welcomes Returned Peace Corps Volunteers as Peace Corps Fellows

Photo: Anna Masozera

MPA News

From left: Mark McMillen (MPA), PCF Director Ned McMahon, Daniel DiFranco (MS), Jacob Evans (MS), Brandy Wood (MPA), Liz Ferris (MS), Amanda Goldstein (MS ‘09), Jeff Frank (MS), and Louise Sutton (MPA). Not pictured is Mark Weber (MPA)

The University of Vermont participates in the Peace Corps Fellows Program, a program that provides an opportunity for Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) to build upon the communication, facilitation, organization, and planning skills gained while serving overseas by pursuing a graduate degree.

Read an essay by Brandy Wood on Page 4.

FIND OUT MORE: http://www.uvm.edu/~cdaepcf

now. We believe that we are prepared to actively pursue and attain accreditation for the first time in the program’s history. We will need all current students and alumni support as we pursue this. Please be on the lookout for a request to complete a survey. Your cooperation and critical insights are extremely important to us.

As part of preparing for the accreditation process, we have completed a comprehensive review of the program curriculum and have made several changes to our program of study. We have modified the titles and course descriptions of all of our core courses. We have instituted that an internship be required of all but the most seasoned students. We are in the process of designing a new capstone course that will replace the comprehensive exam requirement and provide our students with an opportunity to synthesize and apply what they have learned to real world problems and solutions. We are aiming to have the capstone up and running by the spring of 2012.

I suppose that it is safe to say that we have been very busy this past year, and that we have our work cut out for us over the next few years. Should we expect anything else?

No rest for the weary and no greater reward than to provide service to community.

Sincerely, -Christopher Koliba, UVM MPA Director

Alumni Update

By Sharon Alajajian, MPA ‘10

I recently touched base with MPA graduate Richard Donahey, who was promoted in January from his role as St. Albans City Accountant to the city’s Business Manager. In his new position, he helps the City Manager with statutory and policy research and recently completed work on a comprehensive revision of the city’s charter.

Barre Town Management Internship, cont. find where she wanted to be. “Mission accomplished,” she says with a smile.

“What excites me about local government is that we’re the first line of government for citizens.”

Murphy is the third UVM MPA alumnus to serve as the Barre Town Management Intern since it was established in 2001.

The first intern to hold the position was Aaron Brodeur, who graduated from the MPA Program at UVM in 2002, is now a budget analyst at the State of Vermont’s Department of Management and Budget.

Trevor Lashua (MPA ’05), now Assistant Town Manager in Essex, Vermont, served in Barre Town from 2004-2005.

When I asked him if he had suggestions for others who are interested in working in government, Donahey advised that individuals harness their particular talents and seek out niche opportunities in public service. Donahey noted, “A career in government offers a rare combination of extremely challenging but rewarding work.

There are resource constraints in the public sector that are uniquely challenging. But on balance, to develop creative solutions to these challenges while being able to contribute to something that is worthwhile is really satisfying.”

Lashua found himself interested in local government as a newspaper reporter in Claremont, New Hampshire. As a reporter, he covered a lot of local issues. “Charles Kuralt classified news as ‘relentlessly local’ and that’s really what it was,” reflects Lashua. “But what I discovered is that I loved being around local government and local issues, but not as a reporter. So I started to pursue open avenues to be more directly involved.”

Donahey and his wife continue to enjoy living and working in St. Albans City and are looking forward to celebrating their daughter’s third birthday in June.

“With the Management Internship, the traditional roles don’t apply. You’re involved in everything- union negotiations, early drafts of zoning plans, and grant writing.” It was clearly a beneficial experience for Lashua who subsequently worked as Senior Associate with the Vermont League of Cities & Towns. In that position he served as an advocate for cities and towns in Vermont to the state government.

Search for “Master of Public Administration at UVM” and connect with students, alumni, and faculty.

While working at the Burlington Parks and Recreation Department, he was pointed in the direction of the MPA Program. “I put a local twist on the subject matter in every class. I challenged myself to answer ‘How does this apply if I’m working in a town office?’” he recalls. When he was selected for the Management Internship, he was primed for the experience.

Since December 2009, Lashua inhabits an office in the Town of Essex Offices.

But he doesn’t spend much time in front of a computer screen. It’s his home

Photo: Anna Masozera

Alumni Update: Catching Up with Richard Donahey, MPA 2009

Trevor Lashua (‘05) is Assistant Town Manager for Essex, Vermont. He is photographed outside town offices in mid-March.

TREVOR LASHUA (‘05) base between meetings, site visits, and preparing for others. His whiteboard contains not only his schedule and notes, but sayings like ‘Blame no one. Expect nothing. Do something.’

Clearly, local government is not a 9-5 job.

Murphy and Lashua put their efforts into their roles because they gain something more in return. “Here, I have a hands-on sense of accomplishment and service,” he says. They also both point to Rogers’ ability to be a true mentor. “He is patient and easy to get along with and doesn’t micro-manage. I hope that I will be a similar town manager,” says Murphy.

The Management Internship in Barre Town is unique in Vermont and New England as well. However, Windsor, VT, and Essex Junction, VT, have recently followed suite. When MPA students couple these experiences with their degrees, they emerge as experienced local administrators and what the cities, towns, and villages of Vermont get from it is short-term management support and longterm cultivation of management experts ready to carry the torch.

OUR MISSION The Master of Public Administration at the University of Vermont is a professional interdisciplinary degree that prepares pre and in-service leaders, managers and policy analysts by combining the theoretical and practical foundations of public administration focusing on the complexity of governance systems and the democratic, collaborative traditions that are a hallmark of Vermont communities.

3

Interested in applying your local government skills internationally?

By Brandy Wood (‘11)

The University of Vermont’s Masters in Public Administration program attracts students who are not only interested in studying local government and decentralization, but who have also had life experiences that have focused their research and career interests in the international sphere. Many of those students are Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, and luckily, the MPA provides them with an opportunity to build upon the sustainable development skills that they learned overseas, in communities here in Vermont and across the US. Throughout the MPA courses, students often apply the important community development tools learned in the developing world, to the local communities here in the United States. They continue to learn the importance of communities having strong local level governing systems in place to engage community members in the process of sustainable development.

UVM’s MPA program provides its students with the skills in local government administration that are directly applicable to communities

here in the United States, as well as the local level communities of foreign nations. If interested, MPA students can take their domestic knowledge and experience gained through studying the changing demands of local level governments, the elements of effectively providing local level management of public services, and the administration of community based participatory development to communities internationally.

MPA students can apply a global perspective to the strategies studied in the MPA program that are aimed at the administration of sub-national government systems. The United States government alone, through its two main foreign policy programming mechanisms, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), spends millions of dollars a year designing and funding local government focused research, development and institutional strengthening initiatives worldwide.

These local government initiatives focus on public administration, transparency, accountability and

responsiveness, citizen participation, fiscal performance and economic growth; all of which are skills taught to students in the MPA program, and often implemented through local level service learning projects.

Cities, towns, villages, and counties are the vital link between the government and its people, and being in UVM’s Masters in Public Administration program, affords you the skills to serve those communities locally, nationally, or internationally.

--Brandy Wood is Proposal Specialist and Gender Focal Point at ARD, Inc., headquartered in Burlington, Vermont.

Brandy served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Samoa from 2003-2005.

MPA Thesis Sawyer Joecks (‘10) successfully defended his thesis on February 22.

Thesis title: Vermont Recovery Act Transportation Dollars: How funds were spent, how the State could have spent them more effectively, and alternative modes of implementation.

Student Perspective Photo: Provided by Jeffrey Moreau

Students in Action: Student Internship Briefs

JEFFREY T. MOREAU (‘11)

4

Jeffrey T. MoreauNorthwestern Counseling & Support Services, Inc. “NCSS is a $27 million dollar private non-profit organization, located in St. Albans, VT. Over 350 individuals are employed

by NCSS along with an additional 300 contracted staff. Mental health services are offered through the following 3 core divisions: behavioral health, children, youth & families, and developmental services. Historically, NCSS has employed the Applied Strategic Planning Model for its strategic planning process. The Intern will study this model as well as others to determine if a change is merited. Further, the process must consider the following accreditation standards: expectations of persons served and stakeholders, the competitive environment, financial opportunities and threats, the organization’s capabilities, service area needs, demographics of service area, the organization’s relationship with external stakeholders, along with the regulatory and legislative environments.”

Representative Town Meeting in Brattleboro, Vermont

Photo: Anna Masozera

By Scott McCarty (‘11)

SCOTT MCCARTY (‘11)

Brattleboro celebrated its 50th representative town meeting this year and I was a part of it. Frustrated with what I felt was an inability of Town Meeting Representatives to focus on “the bigger picture,” I decided to run after my mom said I should get involved. She was actually referring to me possibly writing a letter to the editor or maybe volunteer for a local event so she was shocked when I returned home with a petition and asked for her signature. Because I was an unknown, I campaigned which was something new to the process: I printed out a few pieces of campaign literature, and knocked on as many doors as I could in District 3 for two weekends

while also taking classes at UVM. In my sophomore year, I came in 4th out of 15 candidates. Something about what Professor Bryan refers to as real democracy where people make their decisions “on the spot” and in front of their peers. Over my years, I have seen countless “on the spot decisions” when people were tested and where we sometimes had to speak for the whole of the community. Recently, our town has been debating whether or not the town should continue to provide trash removal as a “public good” that was taxpayer funded and supported by our municipal government. During the 2010 Town Meeting, we voted to create a “pay as you throw” system of trash removal to help increase recycling and reduce waste. The result has been explosive and incredibly emotional.

Regardless of how we felt about the issue of trash – the discussion was beyond civil. It was neighborly and even though I saw arguing on the floor of the Brattleboro Union High School gymnasium on March 20th (many days after the elections), I was impressed by the friendship that exists among town meeting representatives.

There have been rumblings in our town charter committee by some progressive movers and shakers to do away with town meeting because it has outlasted its usefulness and Brattleboro is now “too big.” With 12,000 people, I couldn’t disagree more. The founders of representative town meeting in Brattleboro kept town meeting for a reason: they realized that real democracy, as Frank Bryan calls it, is best when decisions are not made by a few but by the many.

Our system of government in Brattleboro is now effective and it is true to its roots so much that other communities are considering adopting the representative town hall meeting model across Vermont as population centers continue to grow. It creates civility; it promotes democracy and defines our state. Town Meeting may have reformists in bluster but I know it will be here long after I hang up my coat and say goodbye. Town Meeting is here to stay.

--Scott McCarty is currently a Town Meeting Representative in Brattleboro as well as a member of several local boards.

Community Connection

Internships- an integral part of the MPA Program at the University of Vermont

“I am currently completing an internship with the Turning Point Center of Chittenden County, which offers support and social services to those in recovery from drugs or alcohol. I am working exclusively on grant writing and grant research. I would eventually like to work for a nonprofit and I decided that since nonprofits face unique fundraising challenges, it would be a good idea for me to gain some practical experience with grant writing. I chose the Turning Point Center because I really enjoyed the work I was doing before I started the MPA program, which was more direct-service in nature and was largely with people in recovery. I wanted to support an organization that was doing that type of work, while at the same time being among people that I enjoy working with and being in an environment that is positive and uplifting for those who are struggling in their lives. ”

Photo: TRC

Diana ColangeloTurning Point Center of Chittenden County

DIANA COLANGELO (‘10) 5

Transportation Research Center Research Exposition 2010 Chris Koliba, Ph.D., Asim Zia, Ph.D., Brian H.Y. Lee, Ph.D., Erica Campbell, Diana Colangelo (‘10), Matthew Tucker, and Daniel Kent. The Analysis of Complex Governance System Dynamics: Emergent Patterns of Formation, Operation and Performance of Regional Planning Networks.

Asim Zia, Ph.D. and Diana Colangelo (‘10). Social Dynamics of “Journey to Work” Commute Patterns Across U.S. Metropolitan Areas, 1997-2007: Evidence from the American Housing Survey.

Jane Kolodinsky, Ph.D., Will Sawyer (‘09), Thomas DeSisto, Erin Roche, and David Propen. Mobility and Livability: Seasonal and Built Environment Impacts.

Lance Jennings (‘12), Chen Zhang, Ph.D., Lisa Aultman-Hall, Ph.D. Towards More Robust Spatial Sampling Strategies for NonMotorized Traffic.

FIND OUT MORE: http://www.uvm.edu/%7Etransctr/?Page=expo2010

Faculty Profile The MPA Program at the University of Vermont has been on what Professor of Psychology Robert B. Lawson terms “an odyssey.” Through no less than three relocations within UVM in the span of three decades, Professor Lawson has been the navigator for the Program, always helping it to find its way. Even with his imminent retirement from UVM, Professor Lawson intends to remain a contributing and important figure in the MPA Program.

Lawson, a research psychologist by training, came to the field of public administration by finding himself an academic administrator. In 1980, about the time that the MPA Program came to be at UVM, Lawson was then UVM Associate Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate College. With a group of faculty members throughout UVM, notably Frank Bryan, Robert Carlson, Len Tashman, and Louck Parke, the MPA Program got off the ground.

“Accreditation of the MPA Program is timely as we have matured as a program.

We survived and are now flourishing. We have patched all of the potholes that have prohibited us in the past to pursue this.”

- Robert Lawson

“The appetite for public administration was strong in Vermont,” remembers Lawson. He considered it an obvious fit for the state and for the region and enrollment and growth of the Program reflected that.

6

Photo: Michael George

SPOTLIGHT ON: Robert Lawson Founding and active member of MPA Program

ROBERT LAWSON There have been many “big names” associated with the Program over the years, including Marshall Dimock, who became a friend of the Program after his retirement to Vermont. Lawson first invited Dimock to give a colloquium and to meet with faculty and students, which Professor Dimock seemed to enjoy very much. “Here was a giant in the field of public administration right in our neighborhood,” remembers Lawson. “He was a fascinating man.”

However, ‘Lawson’ emerges as the one big name that has and continues to be a major force in the Program.

Lawson served as director of the MPA Program from 1999-2002 and helped it through its transition into the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. For many years he taught PA 302 Public Sector Organizations, which is a course now taught by Thomas Patterson. Since 2005, Continued on page 7...

MPA Faculty Doris Anderson (‘04) Frank Bryan Richard Cate Joshua Farley Gary Flomenhoft Richard Johnson, III Steve Kappel (‘03) Christopher Koliba Jane Kolodinsky Robert Lawson Ned McMahon Glenn McRae Meg O’Donnell Thomas Patterson Rhonda Phillips Jane Van Buren Maura Collins Versluys (‘08) Catherine Finley Woodruff (‘07)

Read more about these faculty members and practitioner lecturers at www.uvm.edu/mpa.

Lawson, cont.

Lawson has co-taught elective course PA 334 Organizational Behavior and Culture with Doris Anderson, which they plan to offer in the Spring 2011 semester.

have a mid-career student challenge the theory in the classroom based on their real experience makes for an incredibly rich learning environment for everyone.”

PA 334 examines multiple influences that shape workplace culture as identified by social science theorists, contemporary literature, and renowned organizational practitioners. “One thing I love about teaching is having students at different places in their career,” says Lawson. “To

Lawson and Anderson are also working on a second edition of Lawson’s 1998 textbook “Organizational Psychology: Foundations and Applications,” due to come out sometime in 2011.

Lawson is also focusing his efforts on the accreditation of the MPA Program. He is

a prominent figure at faculty meetings, which he always attends, and also in many of the associated sub-committees. “The success of the MPA Program depends on getting all the players engaged- adjunct faculty, staff, other departments at UVM, and most importantly our students and alumni,” says Lawson, highlighting that he is not only an expert of organizational psychology, but a master practitioner as well.

Noteworthy Representative Honors, Publications, and Books Richard Johnson, III, was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to teach and research at the University of Hong Kong.

Farley, J. 2010. Conservation Through the Economics Lens. Environmental Management 45:26- 38.

Koliba, C. and Zia, A. 2009. Dispelling the Myths of Invisible Hands and Invincible Governments: An Argument for Democratically Legitimate Inter-Organizational Governance Networks.

Administrative Theory & Praxis.

Koliba, C. and Gajda, R. 2009. Communities of Practice as an Empirical Construct: Implications for Theory and Practice. International Journal of Public Administration. 32. 97-135.

Koliba, C., Meek, J., and Zia, A (July 20, 2010) Governance Networks: Public Administration and Policy in the Midst of Complexity. Taylor and Francis.

Kolodinsky, Jane and Erin Roche. 2009. Objective Measures as a Predictor of Late Payments in High Risk Borrowers. International Journal of Consumer Studies: Special Issue on Housing.

33:5: pp 591-95.

Zia, A. 2009. Comparative Analysis of PostKyoto Climate Change Policy Design: Ethical and Statistical Dilemmas in the “Fair” Allocation of Green House Gas Emission Allowances Across the Nation States. 31st Annual Research Conference of Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, Washington DC, November 2009.

Zia, A., and Glantz, M. 2010. Designating “Risk Zones”: Comparing Risk Governance in USA and South Asia. Workshop on “Disaster Resilience: Comparative Perspectives,” organized by International Comparative Policy Analysis Forum (ICPA-Forum), University of Pittsburgh, PA, April 2010.

Zia, A., Metcalf, S., and Koliba, C. 2010.

Management of Complex Governance Networks: Opportunities and Challenges for Agent Based Models of Policy Analysis. Annual Meeting of the American Society for Public Administration, San Jose CA, April 2010.

Jane Van Buren teaches in Afghanistan

By Brandy Wood (‘11)

In the fall semester of 2009, MPA Adjunct Lecturer Jane Van Buren had the unique opportunity to travel to the fragile nation of Afghanistan to teach at the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF), located in Kabul. She was invited to teach in the newly established business department at AUAF by Robert Letovsky, a professor at St. Michael’s College in Essex, VT, who was part of the team of educators that started the department. Having been to Afghanistan in 2006, Van Buren had some idea of what she would be getting herself into, and decided she was up for the challenge. She boarded a plane bound for Kabul in August 2009.

Upon arrival, Van Buren found the living conditions quite comfortable, though rather insular. The university rented guest houses near the school where most of the faculty stayed. While Van Buren’s mobility was limited, she was guarded and felt safe at home and at school. She was able to walk on some land that had been recently donated to AUAF, accompanied of course by her guards.

Van Buren taught two courses in the business department at AUAF, with a total of around 25 students per class. The students in her Introduction to Business course were mainly freshman, while her Entrepreneurship course was mostly upperclassmen. To be accepted at AUAF, students must have a certain level of English proficiency, and both classes were taught in English.

Many of her students received their primary education in India or Pakistan.

Van Buren had planned to teach for the full semester; however, her time in Afghanistan ended early. Under the guise of fear of a swine flu outbreak, the government of Afghanistan decided to close all schools in November--the same time as the election re-count. So, with a little more than a month left, Prof. Van Buren returned to the U.S. She finished teaching her courses long distance, via the internet, when schools were permitted to re-open in December.

Van Buren came back with amazing memories of her students and the teaching experience. Many of her students were employed and attending school in the evenings. Each student in entrepreneurship drafted a business plan that they were interested in pursuing, and they all held high hopes for their country.

Most were interested in pursuing an MBA in either the U.S or the U.K., and returning to Afghanistan to help build its economic future. The students’ curiosity, tenacity, and perseverance in the face of the unrest and challenge in their country put Van Buren in awe of their drive and determination in pursuit of an education.

7

Non-profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Permit #143 Burlington, VT

Master of Public Administration Community Development and Applied Economics Department 103 Morrill Hall Burlington, VT 05405 Tele: 802.656.0009 Web: www.uvm.edu/mpa Email: mpa@uvm.edu

This newsletter was printed on recycled paper.

Summer 2010 MPA Courses

PA 326 Community Economic Development Rhonda Phillips/ June 21- July 16 PA 395 Health Impact Assessment Heidi Klein/ August 2- 6

PA 395 Organizational Resources and Development Richard Johnson, III/ July 6- 22 PA 395 Women, Power, and Leadership in Organizations Jane Van Buren/ June 14- 18 Course Info: www.uvm.edu/mpa

PA 395 Energy Policy Gary Flomenhoft/ May 24- June 4

Photo: TRC

PA 307 Administrative Ethics Curtis Ventriss/ May 27- June 5

MPA Director Chris Koliba (right) along with Andrea Ellege (‘10) serve as judges at the 2010 Transportation Research Expo held on May 12.

For a list of MPA faculty and staff presenters, see page 6.

2010 Commencement 2010 MPA Graduate Reception Waterman Manor May 22, 3:30-5:00 PM

Pictures and details will be included in the special commencement edition of the CDAE departmental newsletter.

Look for it posted at http://www.uvm.edu/cdae late May.

Special Guest in PA 302 Public Sector Organizations The PA 302 Public Sector Organizations class this Spring 2010 semester had a unique coincidence the night they were studying organizational complexity. Tom Patterson, the PA 302 instructor, had a surprise visitor that week, and he brought him to class that night. Dr. Robert Woog, author of the 2002 book “Complexity thinking : a catalyst for creativity.’ Woog, a senior lecturer at the University of Western Sydney at Hawkesbury, New South Wales, Australia, has over thirty years of academic experience with systems and complexity, the very topic of the PA 302 class that evening.

Robert was introduced to the class and proceeded to explain complexity and then demonstrate it by having students get out of their seats and complete various exercises. He got the attention of every PA 302 student through his provocative Australian personality and his expertise of the complexity experience of the evening.

PA 302 students appreciated and truly gained from the coincidence of Dr. Woog’s visit that particular week of the semester.

Find all the latest MPA news and events at www.uvm.edu/mpa.

8