It is late November in an even-numbered year, and I am going through election withdrawal. The vast, vast majority of the country is happy to be rid of political advertisements for a while; it just makes me… sad. I suppose that suggests I am in the right profession.
PLEASE REGISTER DURING CASPER!
Current students: I wish to strongly urge you to sign up for classes during the regular CASPER period that ends on December 13. It will not come as a surprise to any of you that the University is facing some tough, short term fiscal challenges (the long term situation looks much brighter). What you may not realize is that since student enrollment drives funding, we may have trouble holding on to low enrolled class sections based on CASPER registration. Accordingly, it is in everyone’s interests if all students planning to take courses in spring 2007 sign up for those courses next month.
NEWS FROM THE FOREIGN SERVICE
Following is a portion of a note we received recently from recent alum Brian Salverson, who joined the new class of U.S. Foreign Service Officers earlier this year. Not only am I very happy for Brian in obtaining a position he had long sought, but I think it underscores the versatility of our MPPA degree. We are explicit about the fact that our main focus is on policy making and administration in the state and local arenas. Nevertheless, as Brian indicates the skills we provide can serve people well in other contexts.
Greetings from one of your former students. I was just reflecting on my time at CSUS and thought I would give you an update on what has happened since I finished up my degree. You may recall from our discussions that I entered the MPPA program in 2002 with the goal of becoming a Foreign Service Officer for the US State Department. Well, I passed both the written and oral portions of the FS exam last year and was invited to join the March 06 class of new Foreign Service officers…. I was sworn into the FS in April... For my first overseas assignment, I will be going to work at the consulate in Hermosillo, Mexico. In this assignment, I will be a vice consul and will be performing consular specific work, such as adjudicating visas for Mexican citizens and assisting US citizens in Mexico… I really want to thank you for the education and advice you provided me while I was a student. I really owe a great debt to the MPPA program for helping me reach my goal. It was a lot of hard work, but I can definitely say it was worth it.
Brian Salverson
Class of 2005
ARTICLE IN PA TIMES
Those who are members of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) should check out the article on our new Collaborative Governance Certificate on page 23 of the November, 2006 issue. The article explains the background and purposes of the program, featuring quotes from a variety of those who have been involved in it. There is even a picture of the members of the first class to have received the certificate. We have received no word yet on the movie rights…
Ted Lascher
PPA Department Chair
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