Policy and Administration Graduate Council Blog

First PAGC Meeting of the Semester!

2010-02-02T20:09:00.000-08:00

Public Administration Graduate Council (PAGC) Meeting

Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 5:45 pm in the Mainzer Room (4th Floor, Thompson)

02/11/10 Agenda

Full Meeting

New directions for PAGC

Ways to collect and work on suggestions from students in CPPA
More ways to reach out to incoming new students
Other new ideas?

Presentation Ideas

World Wildlife Fund Presenters – Taylor Ricketts or Emily McKenzie
National Priorities Project Presenter - Christopher Hellman
Student Presentation Series
Other ideas for speakers?

Community Service project ideas

Fundraising ideas

Anything else?

Committees

Social/Community Service -

Plan some fun stuff!
Ice-skating
Movie Night
Bowling
Mini-golf
End of semester barbeque
Sporting event of some kind
Plan some community stuff!

Events -

Student Presentation Series
World Wildlife Fund Potential Speakers

Fundraising -

Process for seeking grant funding from Graduate Student Senate (GSS)
Fundraiser ideas
Reusable shopping bags
Raffle tickets at a sporting event

CPPA Slammers play hard, falter in end

2009-11-20T05:21:00.000-08:00

The Slammers battled through their first (and only) play-off game this past Wednesday. Matched with the most organized opponent yet, the Slammers gave it their all. There were some amazing saves and excellent teamwork. A great game to end the amazing season! Congratulations on a great season, Slammers!

CPPA Slammers Victorious!

2009-11-12T19:03:00.000-08:00

Tonight, the CPPA-PAGC Intramural Volleyball team (affectionately known as the Slammers) catapulted themselves to a 3 in 1 record and a spot in the playoffs. This evening's match was the most exciting yet. Three hard matches with amazing saves, crushing serves, and positive attitudes galore! Way to go Slammers!

Puja published!

2009-09-27T08:23:00.001-07:00

I'm excited to announce that our very own Puja Jain was published this summer in AngloFiles, a publication of the Danish Association of Teachers of English. The article is entitled, "The Girl Child- Reclaiming the Future and Seeking Education, Out of Child Labour - the India Case." Congrats Puja!

Summer pics!

2009-09-19T15:38:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures people took during their adventures this summer!

From Puja:

These pics are from a field visit for a project on Child Domestic Work in India--we visited the areas which acted as the primary source areas for the female child domestic workers, who are often trafficked into cities with promises of a good pay, clothes, food and salary but are beaten, poorly fed, sexually harassed/abused and often trafficked into prostitution---they also go missing as most of these children are too young to remember their village name and which district they are from (there are billions of small hamlets/villages and it is difficult to know the name of a village/hamlet and locate it geographically) and go missing coz they lose touch with their parents (and at times, traffickers ensure that they lose touch)...These are some of the rescued/repatriated children who were brought back from to their homes by Save the Children and its partners, some villagers who are working voluntarily on educating these children in a coaching centre run by Save the Children and its partner KJKS in that particluar village.

And of course...the engagement pictures

Minako:

These are the pictures of Middle East Peace Initiative Meeting, which Anna and I attended on August 5 and 6. Peace Development Fund invited us to Monmouth University, NJ and we made a presentation of the policy analysis that we did in John's class. The meeting was great, and it was also good to spend some time in Woodrow Wilson's summer house (Monmouth Univ owns it now).

Elena:

Josh:

In a line-up at the San Francisco Hall of Justice.

On the green roof at the California Academy of Sciences.

View of the city from Angel Island.

Tricia, Shantel and Anna at the 4th of July in D.C.:

Welcome class of 2011! Upcoming Fall Events!

2009-08-04T09:25:00.000-07:00

As we wrap up our summer internships, all of us at PAGC are looking forward to a new year at CPPA and to meeting the new incoming students! In addition to the regular CPPA activities, PAGC will be hosting some fun social events in September so that we can welcome the new students in true UMass-syle.

Mark your calendar for the following:

Saturday, September 12th - PAGC Welcome BBQ to be held in downtown Amherst (location and time to be disclosed privately to CPPA students)

Thursday September 17th - PAGC dinner in Northampton at The Brewery (the oldest operating Brewpub in New England!)

Saturday September 19th - PAGC Hike (location and time TBA)

Tuesday September 22nd - PAGC Trivia Night at the Harp (9pm). Come early to help secure tables!

Looking forward to seeing the 2nd years and meeting the 1st years!

End of Year BBQ success!

2009-07-07T09:00:00.001-07:00

Happy Summer!

CPPA students, faculty and family had a 6 hour long BBQ extravaganza at Look Park in Northampton on May 16th as a fun end to the academic year. After the graduating second years had successfully presented their capstones on May 13th and 14th, everyone was excited to relax.

Ryan and John were our Master Grillers, and a few fun games of volleyball, frisbee and competitive hula-hooping were followed by a miraculous tree-balloon rescue. Thanks to everyone who came - it was a great time!

T-shirts and more are on their way!!!

2009-05-09T14:01:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who participated in the PAGC logo and design competition for the fundraiser. We have two amazing designs to grace the front and back of our t-shirts, long-sleeved shirts, and sweatshirts. We've also ordered ballcaps (thanks to CPPA for their contribution!). Everything should be ready for pick-up by May 20th, just in time for graduation!!! Thanks for your orders, and your support of PAGC's first fundraiser!

End-of-year BBQ set!!!!

2009-05-09T13:58:00.000-07:00

PAGC is thrilled to hold its first annual End-of-Year BBQ on May 16 beginning at 2 PM!!!!!!! Faculty, students, and staff are invited to spend a lovely afternoon at Look Park in Northampton. It's a great park with ample toys for children and plenty of space for cooking and recreation. If you have any questions, please contact Megan, Anna, or Patricia. Hope to see you there!

Good turnout for GSS BBQ and soccer game

2009-05-09T13:56:00.000-07:00

PAGC had several representatives at the GSS BBQ throughout the day. We enjoyed the break from homework to meet GSS representatives and other graduate students. It was quite warm that day - almost perfect BBQ weather. The burgers and dogs weren't too bad either!

Etiquette Dinner a Hit!

2009-05-09T13:53:00.001-07:00

We had a pretty strong showing at the Etiquette Dinner. The meal was fabulous. Five courses full of challenging food to really train us in business etiquette! We had ample opportunity to ask questions and thought the coordinator was great. Afterward, two of the PAGC officers approached the coordinator to propose a PAGC International Etiquette Dinner for next year. We will pursue negotiations late in the summer and keep you posted!

Soccer season ends with best game of season!

2009-05-09T13:50:00.000-07:00

Who could ask for more? We had a great last game on April 29. Beautiful weather and a welcome respite from end-of-year craziness. With no subs, we were all very tired by the end but LOVED how well we played together.

Recent events successful

2009-04-24T17:30:00.000-07:00

From April 15-23, PAGC worked with Tapestry Health to sign Massachusetts residents up for MassHealth and in a letter-writing campaign. On April 22, soccer was canceled due to rain, so we got a tie for the game. The end-of-year fundraiser is underway. Order forms are due April 29 by 5 PM and items will arrive in time for graduation!! Please see Josh or Patricia if you have any questions. PAGC Officers will be attending the GSS BBQ this Saturday April 25 and several CPPA students will be attending next week's Etiquette Dinner. We're all looking forward to the Capstone presentations and to congratulating each other on another year well done. Stay tuned!

PAGC Soccer Team Goes to Sudden Death!!!!

2009-04-16T12:52:00.000-07:00

This Wednesday's soccer game was a nail-biter!!! A 1-1 tie had to be broken in Sudden Death Overtime. All was well until the other team sent in a fresh batch of players. The exhausted PAGC-CPPA players tried valiantly but were ultimately topped. Many cheers to our hardworking CPPA-PAGC team, both on and off the field!

Meeting minutes 4/13

2009-04-13T09:19:00.000-07:00

Scheduling

May 22, 11am: planning for next semester's events
Excel workshop not going to happen before the end of the semester; OIT doesn't hold them
Potential idea: excel "roundtable": several different "stations" that show a specific skill for 10 minutes etc.
Student speaker series:
didn't get off the ground soon enough to become institutionalized this semester
could possibly invite a 1st year if they're interested and have interesting experience

Fall

potential speakers:
Mt. Holyoke prof: MPP grad, was at the State Dept. at Bosnia desk when genocide was happening
Tom Webler of SERI in Greenfield, possible panel with experts in community development and environmental policy
be a good idea to do summer meeting about this; schedule on May 22
get Puja's speakers nailed down
have to take into account expense of honoraria, price of hotel and travel; one advantage of local speakers
Volunteering getting moved to fall planning mtg (5/22)

Tapestry:

Tapestry Health--volunteering to register people for MassHealth: Saturday 9-1, Wednesday 7-9
Afterward, hike
Tabling for Tapestry on the concourse: raising awareness about their funding cut;
Oxana will get materials, we will reserve a table--TWTh next week 11-2
Tues- Josh (11-1)
Wed- Puja and Tricia
Thurs- Anna, Megan (12:3o-2)
They would like a one-page, memo-style policy analysis about their funding

BBQ: Puja will make surveymonkey with following dates:

14th after capstones
15th 1-5
16th 1-5

Fundraising: T-shirt logo

might need a run-off for front pocket design; back pocket was difinitive
Tricia will draw up an order form

Puja

speaker: Dr. Arnab Basu
tabled because he lives in Virginia, not Vermont
will set up a meeting with Lee about doing a publication
will collaborate with Qimti re: newsletter

Next steps:

Tricia: volunteering, fundraising (run-off, order form), hike
Anna: email about events for the rest of the semester, tabling, policy analysis interest
Puja: survey monkey for bbq

Vote for PAGC-CPPA Logo Designs!!!

2009-04-03T13:11:00.000-07:00

If you did not get the email with the link to the survey, please email Patricia and she will forward it to you.

Your votes will be much appreciated!

The winning designs will grace PAGC-CPPA T-shirts and sweatshirts. AND, they'll be ready for graduation!!!

PAGC's First Soccer Game!!!

2009-04-02T14:43:00.000-07:00

We played hard. We had fun.

It was rainy, chilly, AND mushy.

We didn't win, but that's okay.

We're excited for next week's game and hope the weather is as sunny as we are.

CPPA Students Learn Presentation Skills

2009-03-26T12:56:00.000-07:00

On March 25, 2009, five CPPA students were pleased to attend the Presentation Skills Workshop as part of the Professional Development course at CPPA. Colleen Condon took students on a whirlwind tour of presentation skills. She provided several opportunities for students to practice their skills in a comfortable and fun setting.

First, we stood up to introduce ourselves, identify our fear of public speaking on a 1-10 scale, and convey a unique piece of information. We then went through the basics of preparing for a presentation: Define an objective (inform, persuade, entertain etc), get organized (who's your audience?, how well does the audience know your topic? what technology will be available?, etc), and develop an outline (a hook to grab attention and establish credibility, a body with 3-5 main points, and a conclusion emphasizing main points and wrapping up).

Colleen then provided some guidelines for the presentation itself. She does not suggest writing a script but does suggest a piece of paper or index card with your main points listed in large font. Practice until you are comfortable, then practice in front of another person or people. Always use your audio or visual aids when practicing.

For Power Point presentations, a good rule is 6 words per line and 6 lines per slide. Font size should be 28-32. And don't use all CAPITAL LETTERS because it's hard to read! Finally, less is more - avoid putting too much information on a single slide. Colleen suggests a rubric she learned from a colleague in medicine: 1 slide about you and your topic, 1 slide with your problem and prediction (the gist of the problem/issue and insights found), 1 slide outlining the presentation (provides predictability, which audiences like), 1-2 slides about the motivation and problem statement, 0-1 slides on related work, 1 slide on methods, 4-6 slides on results (key results and key insights, do not just present numbers - interpret them to give meaning), 1 slide summarizing the presentation, and 0-1 slides on future work.

Colleen then moved into how to connect with your audience. She emphasized storytelling as an essential strategy for connecting with your audience. Then, we each told a 2-minute story! It was fun!

Our next activity centered on body language. Communication is 55% body language, 38% quality, tone and inflection of voice, and 7% the words you use(yep, only 7%!). We practiced varying our voice and using body language to convey a simple point, such as saying the ABC's persuasively, excitedly, or bored. This was also quite fun.

The final segment of the workshop centered on building our confidence further. We reviewed the common traits of good public speakers. They are confident, speak clearly and at a comfortable pace, use humor and personal anecdotes, use peoples' names when they address a smaller group, don't overload the audience with facts and figures, understand the balance between entertaining and providing information, are genuine, and allow their personalities to come through. Our final exercise allowed us to practice everything we had learned. We all did great!

Many thanks to Colleen Condon for her assistance and exhuberance. These notes are summarized from the Power Point she presented.

Navigating the NSF: Grant Writing

2009-03-26T12:36:00.000-07:00

On March 25, 2009, Dr. Stu Shulman (Political Science and CPPA Faculty) presented "A Hitchhiker's Guide to Getting NSF Funding". Stu highlighted several principles that have been key to his success. First, you must believe in science! Second, read and highlight the NSF's strategic plan. Get to know the culture of NSF. Third, read and highlight the grant proposal guide - everything through Section II, p. 228. Fourth, build trust at the NSF. Get to know the program manager and ask (yes, ask!) what he or she thinks of a proposal. Fifth, the one-page description of the proposal is very important. It must be a very very unique self-contained description of the proposal. Sixth, the budget is crucial. Many reviewers look at the budget first (and the one-pager second). Sixth, spend space talking about the organization of your project. This shows you have thought through your plan.

Other tips include: Look for key phrases in the grant's description. Use them as subheadings. Tell the NSF about the weaknesses of your proposal. This shows them you have thought through your proposal and it will garner respect. Plan! It takes 6-9 months to write a good grant proposal. If you've never had an NSF grant, try to partner with someone who has. This will really help.

These are some of the points Dr. Shulman covered. We hope this is helpful!

Meeting minutes 3/9/09

2009-03-09T09:15:00.000-07:00

Announcements:

internship panel
planning another professional development workshop
Coleen Condon from alumni situation—utilizing online resources provided by UMass to find jobs and internships
working on CPPA alumni mentoring program with Satu—create a structure with set expectations; creating a database
Start of intramural soccer: Monday March 30; aiming for Monday and Wednesday games

T-shirt design contest

sending out email reminder

Constitutional amendment specifying officer election procedures

term limits
getting PAGC involved in orientation, important to promote it to newcomers
will be advertised on website
change to amendment: students who are planning to graduate the semester following the fall election are ineligible to run for office
passed by unanimous vote

Carrie: diversity committee

used to be one, would like to have one again
plans to hold a brainstorming session the week after spring break
background: existed for a 2 or 3 years previous to this one; worked for diversity/social justice education, student diversity
concern about appearing confrontational
faculty has been receptive in the past
scheduling meeting for Tuesday the 24th from 1-1:20 in dungeon conference room

Motion to table Committee items until later in the week

4pm thursday in Mainzer

Oxana: Tapestry Health

financing issues: might have to close half of their sites
want us to help with lobbying effort--draw attention to problem
waiting for response
Megan will coordinate w/Oxana to meet with Tapestry staff member; Megan has some contacts w/Planned Parenthood

Wrap up: Thanks to Puja, Carrie and Oxana for presenting!

Pictures from last semester!

2009-02-09T08:51:00.000-08:00

We've finally posted pictures from some of the events from last semester. Enjoy!

PAGC Events, Fall 2008

Meeting Minutes 2/5/09

2009-02-05T09:38:00.000-08:00

Agenda Preview

Meeting date subsequent months

March 9, April 13 @ 12 in Mainzer
tabled proposals until March 9 meeting (*put on agenda*)

Transition of Power

possibly have election at the end of November
Megan will draft an ammendment to the constitution

PAGC-sponsored Further Learning Workshop

either Presentation skills, Excel skills, or something else
we'll do one that Professional Development doesn't do

Committees

optional but unnecessary to have committee chairs
Megan will look into creating synched google calendar with CPPA
Community Service Committee
- abandoning idea of weekly commitment
- instead, having people suggest one-time opportunities (e.g. Hot Chocolate Run)
- possibility for Spring Break service (Habitat for Humanity perhaps, or Greenbuild)?
Student Speaker Series
- starting February
- Puja and Phoebe first presenters
- Sorin in March, could get a second presenter
- Dawa and Franz also interested in presenting in March
- Sorin will talk to Kathy about getting 620; importance to get faculty member for feedback
Social Committee
- try to trivia next week: EVERYONE has to get there at 8 who's planning on going, possibly someone getting there earlier
- Possibly getting together this weekend, will be discussed over email
- possible cook-out after Spring Break--either PAGC buying food and BYOB, or potluck
- possible kayaking or canoing after Spring Break
- Northampton Bowling Thursdays: all-you-can-bowl, all-you-can-eat for $12

Bulletin Board- Cheryl in charge of it, leaving a space for upcoming events

Alumni Mentoring

PAGC will step into void that currently exists
previously students didn't stick with it and it reflected badly on everyone, so it's important to get people to commit

Intramurals

Co-rec soccer: registration due by March 2
Women's softball: registration due by March 2
Dodgeball: registration by March 25
Wallyball: 2-a-side registration by March 2
pick-up soccer Saturdays 12-2
$80 off gym memberships a year through health insurance; can be used to get UMass gym membership; otherwise, there's a fee to sign up for intramural

PAGC Logo

needed for letters flyers etc to be distinctive and professional
logo design competition: due 2/27 in PAGC mailbox
will be used for fundraiser: selling sweatshirts (both zip and non-zip) and coffee mugs

GSS

next meeting: 2/18 in Campus Center 903 from 3-4p
April 25: GSS barbeque and soccer tournement for member organizations and their families
we should be represented to strengthen association with them

Saint Valentine's Day

encouraging people to give valentines to their friends (e.g. Little Mermaid)
Qimti will make the flyer

Professional Etiquette Dinner

April 30
business casual

Meeting minutes from Dec 4 2008

2008-12-05T21:47:00.000-08:00

· Community service committee

o Hot Chocolate Run

§ meeting in front of Josh’s house @ 9:15, Anna will be driving through Amherst

§ Wearing “Masters in Relevance” t-shirts

o Idea: associate ourselves with a community org and build a relationship, possibly every Saturday but

§ Possibilities: Amherst Nursing Home, Center for New Americans

§ Plan: Send out email describing orgs

§ Important to keep ears open for more suggestions

o Possible spring break service trips: Habitat for Humanity?

· PAGC is an official group!

o Have a bank account

o Creating a PAGC space on bulletin board

· Social Committee

o Friday at roller skating

o Ice skating for next year?

· Blog: unblocked, everyone will be using full names

· Event committee

o Marco Fantini: went great, CPPA covered all expenses

o Idea is that people will get excited about certain issues, will engage them to come and speak

o Contingency grants available from GSS to bring speakers here

o Tricia wants to bring in someone to talk about the repression of science in the Bush Administration; has contacts at National Renewable Energy Lab

o Minako suggests we invite Amherst town manager; he has a policy degree from SUNY Albany

· Fundraising Committee

o Interest in coffee cups and sweatshirts

o Promulgate design ideas (using a forum?) with a set deadline (possibly at the end of winter break?), decide via SurveyMonkey

o Megan prefers to spend fundraising money immediately and not have a standing budget

· Treasurer Report (Megan)

o Will be setting up bank account

o Idea: put a box on swag order form to allow people to donate extra to PAGC

· Professional Development and Networking Committee

o CPPA student presentation series in the spring: Megan would like to take the lead

§ Should try to make sure that at least one faculty member is present, preferably those who have substantive knowledge of the subject, then ask for feedback for speaker via a form

§ Opportunity to use as a growth experience; engaging communication graduate student to possibly do an independent study and come give feedback?

§ Anna: would love weekend seminar about presentations

§ Planning on sending out email during January term asking for speakers, then following up with individual emails

§ Hopefully try to arrange first presentation for February

o Student/Alum mentoring

§ Has been difficult in the past

§ Tricia will meet with Satu to discuss organizational details; intention is to use Satu as a resource/facilitator to help link up current and former students

§ Possibly establish evaluative mechanism or form so that it can be counted as credit towards our professional development class

· New Secretary election

o Anna nominates: Josh Geyer (Tricia seconds)

o Confirmed by acclimation

· GSS

o Officers will share GSS delegate responsibilities amongst themselves

Welcome!

2008-11-14T07:23:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Policy and Administration Graduate Council Blog! We hope that this blog will serve as a vehicle for sharing information about the organization and events of PAGC.

On Monday, November 10, 2008 we ratified our constitution, and on November 20th it will be going before the Graduate Student Senate for Approval.

We also elected our first crop of officers for November 2008- May 2009.

President: Anna Tomaskovic-Devey
Vice President: Patricia Tillmann
Treasurer: Megan Nagel
Secretary: Josh Geyer

Announcements coming soon!