MPA News Oakland University

October 2014

IN THIS ISSUE

New Student Organizations

Promote Professional Development and

Career Advancement

Students in the MPA program at OU have collaborated over the last 2 years to create 3 new campus organizations that connect students to professionals working in specific areas of public administration: Local Government, Economic Development, Healthcare, and most recently, Nonprofit Management. If you are interested in joining, OU’s rules allow 20% of membership to be alumni. It could be a great mix of students and professionals working together.

The Association of Nonprofit Professionals, a newly formed campus student organization, is also a member of the Michigan Nonprofit Association. The MNA offers many opportunities for students including a jobs board.

Student Alliance of Healthcare Leaders is affiliated with the Midwest Chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives or MCACHE. This professional organization provides year-long programming for students of healthcare administration.

Pure Michigan Talent Connect is a State of Michigan Department of Economic Development effort to encourage our young talent to stay in Michigan. Local government management students annually recruit for the Michigan Local Government Manager’s Association’s NextGen group and winter conference that provides students with ample opportunities to meet and learn from local government professionals from around the state of Michigan.

New Student Organizations…....1

MPA Director’s Message………...2

New Doc on the Block…………...2

Alumni Spotlight………………....3

Student & Alumni News ………..4

IMPORTANT DATES November 4th —

Last day official withdrawal

November 26th — December 1st Thanksgiving Recess

December 7th — Fall classes end, 10pm

December 8th-13th — Final Exams

December 13th —

Commencement for August 2014 and

December 2014 graduates

MAKING LEADERS. MAKING DECISIONS. MAKING A DIFFERENCE.

MPA NEWS OAKLAND UNIVERSITY | October 2014 Issue 2

Dr. Marina Saitgalina

A Message from Our Director

MPA - Siberian Academy for Public Administration, Russia Ph.D.- Public Administration and Management University of North Texas

Dr. Marina Saitgalina has joined us as Assistant Professor of Political Science. She teaches quantitative methods at the graduate and undergraduate levels as well as graduate courses in the MPA program.

Her research interests include local government and public management, nonprofit organizations and management, public-private partnerships, nonprofit and government collaborations, and volunteerism.

She has several publications on topics of nonprofit collaborations and institutional theories along with emergency management.

Dr. Saitgalina also volunteered her

expertise in nonprofits to assist as

faculty advisor for our new student

organization: the Association of

Nonprofit Professionals. We are

grateful to have her here helping us

fulfill our mission to deliver

outstanding service to our students.

Welcome Back!

Another academic year is well underway here at Oakland University.

Change is all around us: we have a new president, a new engineering building, a new set of upper sports fields, a new dormitory facility, a new entrance to campus – and towering above it all, a new bell tower, visibly omnipresent from a wide radius, on campus and off – almost certainly an icon in the making. Buzz about the university is palpable.

Also, please welcome Dr. Marina Saitgalina to the MPA faculty. She is a promising scholar and a lovely person. We are happy to have her aboard.

The MPA program remains robust. Our most recent numbers put us at 10 students more than this time last year and only four shy of our peak enrollment. I would like to think we continue to do so well because we have made communication a daily priority and you – students and alumni – have responded enthusiastically. I hope we can continue to build community in this way. Speaking of, we just hosted an enjoyable alumni event at the Red Ox Tavern in September. Hope you can make the next one!

This year is all about reaccreditation. We submitted our self-study this past August and will host a site visit in the Winter term. Students and alumni play a central role in the process, i.e., communicating the good, the bad, and the otherwise to our accreditors. Please consider participating. This is an important exercise in quality control and we are a better program because of it.

Happy Fall!

Dr. J. Patrick Piskulich

MPA Director

New Doc on the Block

MPA NEWS OAKLAND UNIVERSITY | October 2014 Issue 3

Reverend Dr. Mary D. Bruce completed her

MPA degree from Oakland University in 1990 and added a PhD in Political Science from Wayne State. After 20 years of public service in local government and state legislative relations, Dr. Bruce joined the Wayne State University faculty where she continues to teach. We are proud to include her among our alumni.

Genna Piscopo (‘14)

Genna started as an intern at Automation Alley in 2009, moved up through the ranks to Member Relations Supervisor and started a new position as Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Alumni Relations Manager at Wayne State University - one month after finishing her MPA degree.

Katie left Michigan in 2009 for an internship in Washington, DC with Senator Carl Levin's office that launched her successful career in public service. Today, Katie is the Government Affairs Representative for the Federal Managers Association (FMA), in Washington, DC. She works with members of Congress advocating on behalf of managers throughout the federal government on issues ranging from reforming the General Schedule, federal benefits, and sequestration.

Jamie Moore, known to us as Jamie Freeman, was recently promoted to Interim Township Manager for Oakland Township. Jamie’s career has steadily advanced since she began her first local government job working part-time for the City of Sterling Heights while still in high school. On the personal side, she married Ryan Moore and they have a young daughter, Anna, keeping things lively at home.

Reverend Dr. Mary Bruce (’90) Katie Maddocks (’11)

Alumni Spotlight

Jamie (Freeman) Moore (’07) with husband, Ryan and Anna

MPA NEWS OAKLAND UNIVERSITY | October 2014 Issue 4

Congratulations to Mary Salazar Pennington (‘14) on the birth of her handsome baby boy, Mateo, (left) on May 19, 2014.

Rachael Willams Welch (’14) (right), and her

spouse Grayson Welch brought precious baby Nora (right) into this world this past June 2014. Rachael is also currently in the process of completing her project with the Community Housing Network.

Recent MPA Graduate and founder of the Oakland Chapter of Student Alliance of Healthcare Leaders (SAHL) Erika Arndt (’14) was recently selected as an administrative fellow (2014 – 2015) for Beaumont Hospital - Troy. She is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), along with their Midwest Chapter, MCACHE. Congratulations to Erika on her engagement to Raymond Yeow (left) this August 2014.

Andy Hohner (right), current MPA student, obtained a position at the Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency. Andy works as an AmeriCorps VISTA alongside their Asset Building programs.

Mariana Martinez (’14) was sorry to leave her MPA friends, Marian Reich and Paul Merriott, at the International Visitors Council of Metro Detroit to accept a new position as Assistant to the Chief Strategy Officer/Deputy to the President at the Kresge Foundation.

Congratulations to Jacqueline Magdelano (‘14) on her marriage to Ethan Ruhland this August 2014. She obtained a position as an Academic Enrollment Specialist at Olivet College in Olivet, Michigan.

John McCarter (’14), former President of the OU Chapter of Pure Michigan Talent Connect (PMTC), won the “2014

Student Activities and Leadership Award” this past April for Outstanding President of a New Student Organization. He currently holds a position with the City of Sugar Land, Texas, as the Management Assistant in the Office of Strategic Initiatives.

Kelly Kozlowski, current MPA student, was promoted to Senior Director of Public Affairs after two years of hard work at Automation Alley. Kelly was a manager for the Business INCubator at Oakland University and OU-Macomb and we are proud to say that she continues to teach journalism at OU.

Michael Toth (‘06) is now the Director of Community & Economic Development in the Village of North Aurora, Illinois.

Congratulations to Mandeep (Mandy) Kaur (’12) on her recent engagement. She is also one of the new account managers for GloStream Inc., a software company working with electronic medical records.

Jennifer Greig (’15) Oakland University MPA 2013-2014

Academic Achievement Award Winner

Christopher Goeth (’09) New OU Assistant Registrar

Student & Alumni News

MPA NEWS OAKLAND UNIVERSITY | October 2014 Issue 5

MISSION STATEMENT

The Master of Public Administration Program at Oakland University advances excellence in public and non-governmental management through strengthening the

leadership capacity, problem-solving skills, public service values, and community engagement of current and aspiring public and non-governmental executives. The

program is designed to deliver outstanding service to our students, the university community, and the public at large.