• How did you select your graduate school and how did it prepare you for your career?
• Work or internship experience during graduate school
• What was the most important or useful course you took in the MPA/MPP?
• Were you a Presidential Management Intern?
• What has been your career path since graduating? What do you want to be doing in 5 years?
• What is the most exciting and/or interesting aspect of your current job?
• Do you feel your MPA/MPP is helping you to “make a difference?” How?
• What advice, if any, would you give to an undergraduate thinking about going for an MPA/MPP?

How did you select your graduate school and how did it prepare you for your career?

> I selected CU-GSPA because of their willingness to offer an off-campus, non-traditional student program (classes were conducted at the Mesa State College campus in Grand Junction, CO). The program also had a focus on practical application and gave me a good base from which to apply both my experience and my interest in public administration. I believe the program helped to broaden my perspective, which is critical for today’s public administrator.

Any work or internship experience during graduate school?

> My capstone project was an analysis of the risk management function in local government. It looked at what risk management is and how it can be applied in public administration to make government operations more effective. In addition, I also did an independent study project on building an effective fleet management program for a large Colorado county (which I actually implemented). I was also employed in county government during my tenure in the MPA program.

What was the most important or useful course you took in the MPA/MPP?

> I would be hard pressed to pick just one class that I would place above the rest. I must honestly say that what I benefited most from was the classroom discussions between the many practitioners that were enrolled in the program and the instructors. Those opportunities to ask why and how things worked when the various public administration techniques were applied in real life have proved to be most valuable to me in my current position as a city manager. However, my capstone projects (practical applications of public administration theory and techniques) proved extremely important in my later job experiences.

Were you a Presidential Management Intern?

> I wasn’t a Presidential Management Intern, but was fortunate enough to be selected for the CU-GSPA’s MPA Executive Program, which required a significant level of past public administration experience and a high level of academic performance at the undergraduate level.

What has been your career path since graduating? What do you want to be doing in 5 years?

> After obtaining my MPA program, I moved from Grand Junction, Colorado to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1992 to serve as their Risk Manager (a division head position). I did this job for 2 ½ years. 

I was then selected to fill the position of Assistant to the City Manager and served in this key Executive Team position for one year. It was during this time that Oklahoma City experienced the bombing of the A.P. Murrah Federal Building. I served as one of the city’s representatives to the Multi-Agency Coordination Center during the 17-day response and recovery.

In February 1996, I was selected as the first Town Administrator for Parker, Colorado, a position I continue to hold today.

What is the most exciting and/or interesting aspect of your current job?

> Parker was just beginning its transition from a small semi-rural community to a full-fledged metro city when I arrived. The most exciting part of my job has been playing a part in developing the standards necessary to create a high quality of life in the face of extremely rapid growth. Also the chance to be involved in bringing a variety of state-of-the-art public facilities and infrastructure on line such as roads and bridges, recreation centers, swimming pools, ball fields and a town hall. Additionally, I’ve had the opportunity to continue Parker’s effort to develop one of the finest public trail systems in Colorado, and to be involved in preserving several hundred acres of open space for the enjoyment of Parker’s residents far into the future.

One of the more interesting aspects of my current job is seeing the fruits of our strategic organizational planning activities that are necessary to develop an organizational structure that’s capable of carrying out the Town’s goals and objectives. These plans are put to the test when the tactical implementation of them is carried out. Parker, along with many other Front Range communities in Colorado has been experiencing extremely rapid growth. Given that, Parker has seen organizational changes made in very short timeframes where in a similar community, that’s only growing at two or three percent a year, those changes might take years to be needed. Keeping up with the needed organizational changes (structure and staffing) has been a primary challenge for us.

Do you feel your MPA/MPP is helping you to “make a difference?” How?

> My MPA opened doors to me that would likely have remained closed without it. I always knew I could do the job but needed the “key” to get a chance to demonstrate it.

The MPA “experience” gave me two elements I think one must have to be a successful public administrator. First, I learned to work harder at seeing all perspectives, besides my own. In public administration, “perception is reality.” This is true for the elected officials who are your bosses, the employees who work for you, and the public you serve. If you can’t at least understand a part of their perception of a given situation, you will fail.

Secondly, the MPA program help teach me the importance of communication (both oral and written). Communication is the “fatal flaw” in any plan or operation. For anyone to succeed in public administration, they must learn to communicate well. The professors in the MPA program challenged me to do that. The group discussions and projects offered me an opportunity to practice and develop my communication skills.

What advice, if any, would you give to an undergraduate thinking about going for an MPA/MPP?

> As I discovered, the advanced degree will many times get you a seat at the interview table. Completing an MPA or MPP demonstrates to those looking at you for a job that you have a commitment to improving yourself and the determination to carry that commitment out.

I believe that in the future, a master’s degree will become the “price of admission” for all top executive public administration positions (city managers, police chiefs, finance directors, etc.).

I found that my “MPA experience” helped prepare me in several ways to compete for the executive public administration position I currently hold. I would suggest an MPA or MPP to anyone looking to make a career for him or herself in public service. I believe these degrees are critically important for jobs in local governments across the U.S.