Classes in local government were first offered at the University of Kansas in the late 1940s, when city management was becoming professionalized in reaction to corruption, says Marilu Goodyear, chairwoman of its department of public administration. Students today — including civil engineers, firefighters and police officers seeking to advance to leadership positions — are often interested in careers in city management or finance. Internships are part of most M.P.A. programs. Kansas’ are distinctive: students intern full time in city government their second year. With campuses near Fort Leavenworth, the university also attracts military personnel involved in nation building and reconciliation in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Maj. Robin W. Montgomery, aide to Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, graduated last summer.)

Kansas tops the U.S. News & World Report rankings for city management and urban policy.

My friend and classmate Rob (Robin) got a huge mention!  Way to go, Rob!

Public administration is an incredible field, but it often gets confused.  You tell someone you work in government, and they assume you are a politician.  Public administration is typically about the professional government worker (nonpartisan during working hours and unbiased) implementing policies handed down from politicians.

I would recommend an MPA for anyone looking to start, or further, a career in professional government.  If you are starting out, I would recommend attending a program that has very good connections to internships.  Or, find a job in a government and later go back and get an MPA.  Either way, the important part of the degree is the application of real-life experience to MPA classes.

And with all this talk of MPA degrees, I have to brag about the one I just received!:

I’ve finished the Edwin O. Stene Master’s Program in Public Administration (MPA degree) at the University of Kansas, and I recently was hooded.

Here are a couple of pictures from the graduation banquet:

I started this program 2 years ago, having never been to campus before I accepted and having never lived outside of the State of Georgia.  I applied on the recommendation of a mentor and professor at the University of Georgia, and I was accepted to the program (just barely).

I’ve moved to Kansas, been to Richmond and Montreal for ICMA conferences, made many new friends (who I already miss), worked in new places (the Unified Government and Jefferson County), found a job in and moved to Colorado, and become engaged (and getting married in a month).  These have been a grueling, but refreshing, two years for this fresh-out-of-undergrad guy from Georgia.  And I can’t believe it is already over (but really, the journey has just begun).

It still seems like just yesterday when I was sitting in that classroom in Blake Hall, listening to Professor John Nalbandian (pictured above, hooding me) as the tornado sirens went off outside on that first day.  Wow.

Other updates will be forthcoming (I have a job!).

Many aspects of the [city or county] manager’s job remain the same: keeping the council informed, providing continuity and stability, telling the council what it does not necessarily want to hear, and balancing short-run interests against a long-run, “greater good” perspective. The difference between now and ten years ago is in the emphasis on the facilitative role of the manager.

This is my chosen and learned profession, and I’m excited.

Fellows must be recently graduated from an MPA program.  The Fellows acquire a position with an affiliated local government to work and get a real world introduction to local government management.  Just like my MPA program at the University of Kansas.

The University of Georgia has one participant in the Fellowship (KU has none, which isn’t surprising because of its own internship program).  5 Fellows (of 13) were placed with Georgia local governments.  I’m proud that my home state is taking so many of these local government students; this bodes well for management and government in Georgia.

And, the Fellowship program even has a blog.

It was a little sad to leave this afternoon.  I’ve worked with my boss and coworkers for nearly a year, and made a certain bond with them.  You know people are dedicated when they are sitting at a budget work session after midnight (here’s the tweet to prove it), after arriving at work at 8am that morning.  A close bond forms at times like those.

I’ve also learned the Unified Government (and it’s funds and departments) inside and out.  And I’ve met so many people that serve the citizens of Wyandotte County and Kansas City every day.

And I’ve bugged all of these wonderful public servants.  From learning to do accounts payable and trying to understand the fund structure, to surveying busy people for school projects, I know a lot of people have helped me without complaint.  Thank you all.

I have learned so much from my boss, my coworkers, and everyone else.  It is my hope that I contributed just as much in my time with the Budget Office.  I’m going to keep this post short, but I have many more thoughts about learning at the Unified Government and my experiences, most of which made it into a Moleskine or two.

As a side note, there were lots of events that took place at work.  Of note are seeing the Thunderbirds practice over Kansas City and witnessing a massive wreck on the way to work (and how social media got pictures of the wreck on the evening news).

Thank you, Unified Government.

I will be going to Denver in May for a new job.  Well, not just me – Emily will be joining me!  Emily and I will be moving out to somewhere in west Denver shortly after she graduates from UGA in May.

I’ve accepted a position with the government of Jefferson County, Colorado.  I will be working a full-time internship to complete my the requirements for my degree from the University of Kansas.

Jefferson County is immediately west of Denver.  The county seat is the City of Golden, the home of the Coors Brewing Company (and the mountain stream from the commercials).  JeffCo is known as the Gateway to the Rocky Mountains, and the beauty shows it.  When I was interviewing for the job, I could look out the office windows and see the Rockies.

I’m really excited about working for Jefferson County.  They are very innovative and were featured last July in ICMA’s Public Management magazine for their method of prioritizing county services.

And they have a county blog (here) that’s advertised prominently on their homepage.  How unique is that?!  The very first post on Conversations with JeffCo was from the County Administrator.  He even responded to concerned citizens in the comments.

So the next few months will be hectic.  But I will update everyone after Emily and I get settled in.

PS – I cross-posted this to Facebook.

I’m finished with finals now! Fall semester at KU is finished, and I’m heading home for Christmas in the morning.