PPA Newsletter

Reasonable people may disagree about how to vote in the upcoming gubernatorial recall election. But we trust there’s no disagreement about one thing: for policy/political types, the contest is as good a reason as any to throw a party. So we hope you’ll consider joining us for an election night (October 7) pizza bash at Mountain Mike’s beginning at 7:00 p.m., sponsored by the PPA Alumni Chapter. The restaurant is located at 7660 La Rivera Drive, very near campus. Don’t drown your sorrows/exult in your triumph alone– do so with PPA colleagues and friends!

If you have any questions about this event, you can contact the PPA Alumni Chapter President Jose Henriquez at:
work: 530-666-8058
home: 916-351-5724 (please no calls after 9 pm)
e-mail: j_henriquez@comcast.net

PRESIDENTIAL MANAGEMENT INTERNSHIPS
Recently I was contacted by someone who currently holds a Presidential Management Internship, and wants to encourage our students to apply. The PMI program is designed to groom outstanding recent graduates of master's and doctoral level programs for careers in the federal service. This rigorous and prestigious two-year paid program includes 80 hours of training each year, challenging rotations, accelerated promotions, and opportunities to network between federal agencies. PMI assignments include domestic and international issues, technology, science, criminal justice, health and many other fields in support of public service programs. The application deadline for the 2004 PMI program is October 15, 2003. Visit www.pmi.opm.gov for details on how to apply; note that applications will need to be made electronically.

Also, the person who contacted me will be visiting our campus in the late afternoon on Thursday, October 9, and would be glad to answer any questions. Please watch the list serve for more details.

HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM
In collaboration with the Institute for Higher Education Policy and Leadership, we have scheduled a series of three forums on higher education. Students will be the primary audience for these events. The fall forum is scheduled for Wednesday, November 5 from 3-6 p.m. in the Auburn Room, University Union, and will focus on the purpose of and funding for higher education. We hope you will be able to attend. Note that subsequent forums will be held in the spring of next year.

WRITING PROFICIENCY EXAM & ADVANCEMENT TO CANDIDACY, AGAIN
Happily, students seem to be heeding our message about taking care of the writing proficiency exam (WPE) requirement and advancing to candidacy as quickly as possible. I’ve signed a lot of advancement forms in the past few months, and many of them are from students who will not graduate for a year or more. That’s a good thing, as there’s no reason to put this off until the semester you begin writing your thesis, especially given the new department policy of allowing people to take PPA 500 prior to completing core classes.

However, I have noted that people sometimes need to be a bit more careful in completing WPE waiver requests. For example, in two recent cases students requested exemption based on completing a lengthy English composition paper, when in fact it seemed very questionable that their specific work would qualify under that criterion. Fortunately in both cases the students also had received undergraduate honors, and clearly were deserving of an exemption under that criterion, although neither student appeared to notice this. The bottom line is that we’ll try to help you get a waiver if appropriate, but you need to make it as easy for us as possible.

AVAILABILITY OF DON GERTH AND BETTY MOULDS
Most but perhaps not all of you know that Dr. Don Gerth and Dr. Betty Moulds have joined our faculty after many very distinguished years of service as CSUS President and Vice President, respectively. While they have a number of obligations in the fall, they are available to meet with students. I would especially urge those of you with interest in higher education issues to consider drawing on their extensive knowledge of the CSU system.

Ted Lascher
PPA Department Chair

COMMUNICATOR