Introduction & All Things MPA

Introduction: 

Hello! My name is Sydney, and this is my first blog post as the MPA Graduate Assistant! As the graduate assistant for the Political Science, Criminal Justice, and Organizational Leadership department (where the MPA program is housed), I will be updating the student blog, assisting professors in different research projects, taking lead of the Public Administration Student Society (PASS), and so much more. Throughout the academic year I will be updating this blog with things I have learned as a graduate student, things I am doing to have some fun, interviews from individuals in the field, and more. You won’t want to miss it! 

Now that you know what I will be doing, I can share with you some “fun facts” about myself. I got my BA in Criminal Justice from NKU this past spring. Since my plan was to go right back to school, I spent the summer moving into a new apartment by myself (😮) and working at a local golf course. In between working and moving, I spent time at a few different country concerts (I’m a concert junkie and I got to see some of my bucket list artists this summer –super thrilled!), and on the family boat (my family loves to go boating, we even convinced our friends to get a boat so more people could go with us 😀). Summer went by way to fast, but I am ready to buckle down and rock this semester! 

Tips, Tricks, & All Things MPA:

  

• Network! Network! Network! The MPA program has diverse courses with individuals from all types of career fields and in different positions in life. During my first semester my courses were filled with firemen, police officers, water & sewage professionals, city administers, library directors, communication relations, those in the nonprofit sector, and much, much more. You’ll never know who you will meet in class, as a member of PASS, or at an MPA dinner!

• Keep all graded papers! In your last semester you will need to submit a capstone, part of this is developing and submitting a portfolio. You will need to include some graded papers/assignments in the portfolio. Save all your graded assignments because you never know what you'll want during that time!

• Know your deadlines! Either have an agenda or put it in your phone's calendar. Nothing is worse than missing a deadline for an assignment or having to rush through a paper because you forgot about an assignment.

• If you have questions, don't hesitate to reach out to your professor or to anyone in the MPA department. Everyone is here to help you complete your degree; if they don't know the answer to your questions, they probably can point you in the direction of someone who does. 

• Before graduation, make sure to apply for Graduate Certificates and Microcredentials!! Many courses and requirements can overlap. If you have done all the work for a certificate and/or Microcredential then you deserve to be awarded for it!

• Maintain a 3.0 or higher GPA! This is a program requirement and a very important one. If you do not maintain this requirement you will be removed from the program. Things happen in life, and sometimes grades will slip. You can repeat a class, and have the ability to be placed on probation to be given time to raise your GPA. BUT! Long story short, we all work hard enough as it is so don't make yourself work harder than necessary. Keep that GPA above a 3.0!

If you have read this far, I appreciate you staying determined! I hope you are looking forward to have a great semester, just like I am! 😃Norse Up!