Friday, December 5, 2008

PM and citizens?????

I recently came across an interesting article about the dissociation between school work and work experience. Well I am not too excited about it. The article gives an example of an ASU alumni and his dissatisfaction with the school's curriculum. Well I am not an education expert nor an expert in PM. However I know one thing that when you apply for fellowship that particularly deals with "How to become a good city manager", you learn how to become a good city manager. You can not expect to learn how to become a good policy analyst or evaluation expert. When you seek for being an evaluation expert you seek a school that makes you one.

I totally agree with the importance of PM in public sector. I find this field very interesting and so as an RA with AFI I have chosen my area of interest to be PM and value. This gives me an opportunity to read, know and see different approaches in PM. This is just a beginning. As I will progress in my professional area, I am sure I will be learning a lot more.

ASU has fellowship devoted for students who are interested in issues of PM. I know students who work with this fellowship because they are interested in the area of PM.
Secondly, I feel SPA is perhaps one of the few schools where you can even walk into the Director's office and discuss you concerns about program. As I understand school offers a reading and conference class if a student wishes to learn a particular subject that interests a students but is not offered as a class. Well in SPA you can definitely ask for an advice about anything and you get it.

My point is in SPA we have urban management focus, which I think goes hand in hand with being in city of Phoenix. I would personally love to see some course in PM or a module in PM. But it does not mean I can not learn it right now if I want to. After all graduate school is what you make of it.

I feel it's not very apprecitative to go on honking bad news about your Alma Mater when you land up in a position through your Alma Mater. Well to each his own. But I am confident that in SPA not a single concern goes unanswered when you know how to express it.

1 comment:

Barbara said...

Rhucha, thank you for your comments. This alum was placed in internships and jobs through the School of Public Affairs. I propose there are several professors and faculty associates who probably know something about this subject. Did the alum avail himself of their expertise? Did he ask for references to books and articles?
Public whining is not a sign of maturity or gratitude. Bravo for pointing that out.