Volume 1, Issue 1

St. Cloud State University / MPA INSIGHTS

MPA Insights

Volume 1, Issue 1

St. Cloud State University / MPA INSIGHTS 2

The faculty and graduate

student assistants are

pleased to present Volume 1,

Issue 1 of SCSU MPA

Insights. We’ve included all

the elements that make our

new program strong and

unique to Minnesota. For

example, background essays

on our faculty, graduate

students, and first class of

MPA students.

Also, a glimpse of our Town

and Gown initiatives and a

link to follow some of the

exciting applied research our

faculty conducts. One of

our program’s foundational

principles is the value of

democratic governance as a

public organization that

exists within the American

democratic regime.

Therefore, we decided to

call this section of the

newsletter a Collaborative

Corner, instead of Director’s

Corner, because everything

we do is a shared,

democratic enterprise.

SCSU LAUNCHES NEW MPA PROGRAM

I n s i d e t h i s

e d i t i o n

Collaborative

Corner

2

MPA Faculty 3

First MPA Class 3

MPA Graduate

Assistants

3

MPA Spring

Courses 2016

4

Get to Know

Your Professor

4

Faculty News 4

Town and Gown

Initiatives

5

NASPAA 5

Upcoming 6

COLLABORATIVE CORNER

Visit Us Online:

www.stcloudstate.edu

/graduate/mpa

St. Cloud State University’s Master of Public Administration Newsletter

The Master of Public Administration (MPA) Degree is the professional degree for students

seeking a career in public service or nonprofit management and will prepare you as a leader

or manager in the public or nonprofit sectors. The program is designed to achieve

accreditation by the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration

(NASPAA).

You will develop skills and techniques used by public and nonprofit managers to

implement policies, projects, and programs that address important problems within your

organization or community. You will study a common set of core courses and choose

elective courses in your concentration of interest.

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

Concentrations are offered in City and County Government Leadership and Management,

Nonprofit Organization Leadership and Management, International Development

Leadership and Management, and Health Care Administration Leadership and

Management.

Courses are taught by St. Cloud State faculty along with adjunct faculty with practical

experience working in education, government, and nonprofits.

The MPA Program emphasizes public service values such as justice, effectiveness, liberty,

efficiency, equality, and equity.

MPA Insights

Volume 1, Issue 1

St. Cloud State University / MPA INSIGHTS 3

FIRST MPA CLASS

GRADUATE ASSISTANTS

MPA FACULTY

DARLA HAMANN

comes to us from the

University of Texas-

Arlington. Her Ph.D. is

from the University of

Minnesota. She teaches

core and nonprofit

concentration courses.

SHAWN SCHOOLEY

comes to us from Auburn

University. His Ph.D. is

from Virginia Tech. He

teaches core and local

government courses.

STEVEN WAGNER

received his Ph.D. and

MPA from Northern

Illinois University. He has

taught core, local

government, and

nonprofit courses over the

years.

SHOUA YANG received

his Ph.D. from Northern

Illinois University and

MPA from Cleveland

State University. He

teaches core, local, and

international development

concentration courses.

REVA MISCHE is a local

government concentration

student. She has served the

City of Upsala, MN as the

administrator/city clerk and

held the responsibility for all

city management duties. She

is a SCSU graduate in

Community Development

and Planning.

STEPHANIE FISCHER is a local

government concentration

student. She has served several

organizations (Country Manor,

City of Worthing, SD, Sioux

Falls Schools, Advance

Services, Superior/West

Industries) in various human

resource and budgeting/

finance roles. She is a graduate

of U of M-Morris in

Management-Organizations

and Human Resources.

NATALIE RATHA is a

nonprofit organizations

concentration student. She is

Executive Director of Visual

Arts Minnesota and is

responsible for the full set of

duties required to manage a

nonprofit arts organization.

She has two degrees: one

from SCSU in Graphic

Design and a second from

the U of Wisconsin-

Milwaukee in Painting and

Drawing.

CITY AND COUNTY

LEADERSHIP AND

MANAGEMENT

Joshua Hoogland

Stephanie Fischer

Reva Mische

Jennifer Russell

INTERNATIONAL

DEVELOPMENT

LEADERSHIP AND

MANAGEMENT

Akin Simon

Dinishika Sumunduni

Vinthanage

HEALTH CARE

LEADERSHIP

AND MANAGEMENT

James Schloegl

NONPROFIT

ORGANIZATION

LEADERSHIP AND

MANAGEMENT

Natalie Ratha

Volume 1, Issue 1

St. Cloud State University / MPA INSIGHTS 4

MPA SPRING COURSES 2016

Professor Hamann had a work published this past summer entitled

“The 3 Strikes Against Older Job Hunters.”

Please visit the following sites to check it out: http://www.forbes.com/sites/

nextavenue/2015/08/05/the-3-strikes-against-older-job-hunters/ http://

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150616131615.htm

nonprofit organizations. She also

worked as a research analyst at the

Minnesota Department of

Health. After receiving her Ph.D.,

she accepted a position with the

University of Texas where she was

a faculty member in an accredited

MPA program for six years. Dr.

Hamann was looking for an

opportunity to move back to her

home state and, with SCSU

starting their new MPA, this

seemed like the perfect

opportunity. A main goal for the

MPA program, according to Dr.

Hamann, will be recruiting quality

students to grow and create a

successful MPA program at SCSU.

She will also be connecting with

organizations, especially nonprofits,

regarding the program. Dr. Hamann

also wants to continue to publish

studies in pubic administration and

related fields (she has published 14

articles currently) and use her

research to help students. She will

also be on the real estate market

searching for a new home! Some fun

facts regarding Professor Hamann

are that she loves to dance, read, and

has always wanted to make a

difference in the world. Welcome

back to SCSU Professor Hamann.

We have missed you!

Professor Darla Hamann originally

grew up in Richmond, MN but

really views SCSU as home. She

was only 16 when she started

attending SCSU as a PSEO student

and then continued on to receive a

Bachelor’s degree in Economics

and a minor in Social Science. She

then went on to the University of

Iowa as a graduate assistant

teaching statistics, while

completing her Ph.D. at the

University of Minnesota's Carlson

School of Management. Prior to

obtaining her Ph.D., she spent four

years working as a financial security

adviser and four years as a career

development facilitator in

GET TO KNOW PROFESSOR HAMANN

FACULTY NEWS

MPA 603 Public and Nonprofit Resource Management

(Required Core) Dr. Hamann, on-line

MPA 606 Strategic Management in Public and Nonprofit Organizations

(Required Core) Dr. Hamann

MPA 624 Managing Public Safety in Local Government (Elective)

Dr. Schooley

MPA 640 Topics in Public and Nonprofit Management and Leadership:

Ethics (Required Core; Replaces MPA 605 Topics) Dr. Schooley

MPA 651 Development Administration (Required for International

Development Concentration) Dr. Yang

On-line and hybrid courses will be offered in addition to on-site

offerings; stay tuned to see which courses will be available in this format.

Volume 1, Issue 1

St. Cloud State University / MPA INSIGHTS 5

Free Book Discussion Group:

PLATO’S REPUBLIC What is justice? Does it differ for individuals and

groups? Why are education and philosophy

important? What is the public interest? How does

one find happiness? How do we attain true

freedom? Is democracy the best form of

government? Join us for a lively 10-week discussion

of these important questions as addressed by

Socrates via Plato. These discussion groups are led

by Dr. Shawn Schooley and are free and open to

the public!

Wednesdays from 9/16/15 through 11/18/15

5:30–6:30 p.m.

Central Perk Coffee Shop: 906 W. St. Germain, St.

Cloud, MN

TOWN AND GOWN INITIATIVES

Free Lifelong Learning

Community Sessions:

PRIVATE INVESTIGATION:

TIPS & TRICKS The MPA Program will be offering these four free

sessions facilitated by Dr. Shawn Schooley open to

the public covering topics such as surveillance,

criminal defense, public database searches, spy gear

gadgets, and more!

Offered September 16th, 23rd, 30th, and October

7th: 3-4 p.m. at the Whitney Senior Center located at

1527 Northway Drive, St. Cloud, MN 56303

For more information: sschooley@stcloudstate.edu

Department of Political Science

Building 51

720 4th Ave S.

St. Cloud, MN 56301

Phone: 320-308-2162

Email:publicadministration@stcloudstate.edu

ACCREDITATION The Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA) is the accrediting body of MPA degree programs. SCSU’s MPA Program is designed to obtain accreditation. Professors Schooley and Yang, along with Dean Banaian of the School of Public Affairs, will attend NASPAA's annual Accreditation Institute next month in Brooklyn, New York.

Volume 1, Issue 1

St. Cloud State University / MPA INSIGHTS 6

2015 101st National ICMA

Conference Dr. Shawn Schooley will be attending the 2015

National ICMA Conference September 27th-30th

in Seattle, Washington. The ICMA Annual

Conference is the largest annual event in the world

for local government managers and staff.

Each year, through its highly praised Annual

Conference, ICMA offers an abundance of

educational, information-sharing, and networking

tools to help you manage your community in

today's complex environment. Especially in

challenging times such as these, the tools, tips,

information, and resources you pick up at the

conference - in addition to the opportunities for

professional and personal renewal and networking -

are more important than ever.

UPCOMING CONFERENCES

NASPAA Annual Conference and

NASPAA Accreditation Institute

Dean Banaian, Dr. Yang, and Dr. Schooley will be

attending the NASPAA Annual Conference and the

concomitant NASPAA Accreditation Institute October

14th-16th in Brooklyn, New York.

Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and

Administration, or NASPAA, is the global standard in

public service education. It is the membership

organization of graduate education programs in public

policy, public affairs, public administration, and public

& nonprofit management. Its nearly 300 members -

located across the U.S. and in 14 countries around the

globe - award MPA, MPP, MPAff, and similar degrees.

NASPAA is the recognized global accreditor of master's

degree programs in these fields.

NASPAA's two-fold mission is to ensure excellence in

education and training for public service and to

promote the ideal of public service.

Minnesota Council of Nonprofits Conference Dr. Darla Hamann will be attending the 2015 Minnesota Council of Nonprofits

annual conference October 1st-2nd at the Saint Paul RiverCentre.

The Annual Conference is designed for nonprofit volunteers, staff, and board

members who serve in any role within their organization in the Twin Cities,

across Greater Minnesota, and around the nation. This conference is also

appropriate for representatives from foundations, businesses, educational, and

governmental institutions and other nonprofit allies. The MCN has over 2,000

nonprofit members.