Reflection on How Master of Science in Public Administration Influenced My Opinions

After completing the learning assessments for each of the classes I chose to meet National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration’s (NASPAA) five core competencies, I feel as though I have a much more complete vision of what the MPA program is set out to accomplish for me in my academic and professional lives. The various assignments included in this portfolio were included because I feel they best represent my best work in the MPA program. NAASPA’s core competencies, I believe, are the living heartbeat of the MPA program. They include the ability to lead and manage in public governance, the ability to participate in and contribute to the policy process, to analyze, synthesize, think critically, solve problems, and make decisions, the ability to articulate and apply a public service perspective, and the ability to communicate and interact productively with a diverse and changing workforce and citizenry. All five of these competencies are crucial to thinking and planning strategically, manage services, understanding the complexities in, managing, and applying effective administration in all aspects of government.

My Introductory to Public Administration class has taught me the range that can come with public administration. Public administrators are employed in all levels of government, across various fields including social welfare, financial administration, and human resources (Denhardt, 2014, p. 1). Despite the various type of public administration jobs that exist, the one thing all public administrators are required to do is to maintain a commitment to public service (Denhardt, 2014, p. 1). In order to better understand how public administrators are responsive to public interests, I was assigned the task of interviewing a professional in public administration. I chose to interview Jeanell Emond, program manager for Central Valley Prevention Program (CVPP) and Mental Health Systems (MHS), because of my future in social work and my interest in developing and managing programs that benefit the community. Through the interview I was able to gain valuable insight on the agency and Mrs. Emond’s role as a public administrator. More importantly, I was able to learn how interorganizational partnerships, financial management, ethics, and leadership and management skills in public administration can help develop stronger communities.

A lawsuit was filed on March 21, 2016 by Fresno Police Sergeant Cervantes who is suing Fresno Police Department and three other detectives. He states workplace harassment and discrimination due to his Hispanic ethnicity. Further details state, “Sgt. Paul Cervantes accuses Sgt. Tim Tietjen and Detectives Brad Alcorn and Cary Phelps of smearing his reputation with false accusations and spreading rumors that he’s a dirty cop. Tietjen, Alcorn and Phelps are white.”(Lopez, para.2) Such accusations can lead to further tensions, costly legal battles, and government investigations. Sergeant Cervantes seeks unspecified damages, attorney fees for discrimination, retaliation, defamation and malicious prosecution. He also states he has been subjected to such discrimination and harassment since January 2008 to the present. Furthermore, it is not the first time Fresno Police Department has been sued for similar incidences. There is an ongoing problem in the department that needs to be resolve.

The management of an organization plays an integral part in determining the direction and performance of the organization. The manner in which the management of an organization is handled has a profound effect on the organization. The success of an organization is dependent upon a flexible and skilled management and workforce. The management of an organization is responsible for shaping up the organizational behavior and ultimately the culture within the organization. Public management faces a multiple of challenges and opportunities, how the management deals with these issues translates to efficiency in management. The personal judgments and skills of public managers can make a significant impact in public management. If

Executives today operating in large corporations know just how tough it is to get away from network tools like Yammer, SharePoint, etc. Such instruments are currently used in a regular base to cooperate communication, entertain groups, and trace gatherings. Found in an article, social media entrepreneur and political organizer Jeremy Heimans said, “ Social media helps all institutions become transparent and engage in a more participatory dialogue with the stakeholders. Social media and technology have helped political organizations, providing a more democratic mechanism to get people involved” (429Magazine).

The increased of industrialization in American cities brought a new social demand to public officials who were unprepared to target the existing issues of society. Administrative officers started to gaining power to conduct intervention programs or institutions. However, people started to distrust public administrators and institutions for their inefficiency and incapacity they gave to the treatment of social issues. The author

Bell, a city of 35,000 people, has remained to be the greatest scandal in California. For a long time, the manager of Bell City Robert Rizzo and the people he was working with exploited the governance systems and the finances of the city (McGrath 122). They used vast sums of money to pay their salaries. They also transformed the development agency of the town into a piggy bank, from where they borrowed funds in an improper way, deposited money in retirement accounts that was illegal, purchased property without accounting in and documents, approved fees and taxes that were illegal and found out a way of exempting themselves from state law. Court documents provide evidence to show that indeed, those people committed the crime of corruption.

a. Public service culture is a human need. Unfortunately, these days that means where the money is, employees will go. People use to be satisfied with helping the public, but now without appropriate compensation it is hard to keep some employees. Healy’s assumptions are that people will do no wrong and what is best for their community, I think, but I do not agree that is always true. People, especially in the political world, usually have ulterior motives if they are not going to

I'm not too familiar with this field of public administration. However, I'm curious to read any research that you might currently have and perhaps even your class project if it relates to this subject.

Publicness or public quality of public service, the recent transition toward a market driven mode

Politics/administration dichotomy- when viewing this opposition, it should be seen as politicians writing and making rules while bureaucrats implement and put in place the policies and programs for the public to utilize. Administration and politics are seen as two separate components where they should not interface with one another. Even with them being a separate field of study, they have no choice but to integrate. As Woodrow Wilson looked at how politics and administration were forming, he felt the importance of government employees conduct themselves in a professional business manner while ensuring their accountability of providing proper services to the people and not partake in political philosophies. Politics are aligned with elected officials who write and pass the policies to be implemented by government agencies which are then applied by civil servants. By achieving this responsibility, public sector employees are required to embrace the values and principles to ensure efficiency, legitimacy, and

To become a public administrator, you must have the ability to work with different people from different background, different age groups, and various economy classes. A Public administrator cannot be biased towards one group of people and turn around and be favorable towards the other. As an administrator, you have to be transparent to everybody that you encounter, even people that you will be working with, and people that you are working for. According to the publication, “Ethical Dilemmas in the Public Service,” by the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management, describes that the ethical issue that government officials face in any organization is nepotism and bias. The reason why this event occurs is that some of the individuals in the public administrative positions are not transparent in the workplace and are also influenced by personal gain.

Former Senator from Illinois, Paul Douglas said that” Instead, most men want a life of integrity and goodwill in which public officials are stewards rather than masters and treat their jobs as a means of helping people rather than dominating them.” Furthermore, he states the fact that our lives are directly affected, and that our government

The crisis in recruiting and retaining talented personnel has multiple fronts. Public service has become increasingly less attractive to college graduates, more and more long term employees are seeking early retirement, and retaining mid level employees from enticing positions in the private sector are major reasons the government has severe shortages in qualified and talented management. In his testimony before the House Committee on Government Reform, Steven Kellman, a professor of Public Management at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, points out disturbing trends in the hiring rate of college graduates from institutions specializing in public management and administration. “Twenty years ago, about three quarters of the graduates from our two year master’s program took their first job with government. Now that figure is down to about one-third. These figures are similar to those of other major graduate programs in public policy around the