News: MPA

La Follette School students Patrick Landers and Vanessa Studer along with Casey Hutchison (MIPA ’18) and Danny Benson (MPA ’17) advanced as finalists in the highly competitive Presidential Management Fellowship (PMF) program. 

On one of my first days in the program, a faculty member told our cohort, “If you’re interested in making money, you’re in the wrong program. We’re in the business of making the world a better place.” From that moment, I knew I made the right choice.

Walking across the country seemed like a romantic idea at the time.

On a near daily basis, I am in meetings that relate to a real-world version of grad school group work. Whether it is assisting in development of a new citywide housing policy, compiling information on digital innovations, or coming up with ideas for #cityhallselfie day, much of the work I’m engaged in involves a deep level of communication and collaboration.

Graduate school has been incredible in helping me find new areas of interest and connecting me with professionals and peers who have been instrumental in setting me on a path that I am confident about.

At the La Follette School, I learned how to work with and manage large data sets and manipulate them with statistics. I use those skills every day.

Before entering the La Follette School, Emily Frank served as a legal advocate for people facing issues with their food stamps and public assistance in New York City.

UW–Madison Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Laurent Heller appointed Jennifer Klippel (MPA ’06) as interim budget director following the retirement of Tim Norris, who served in that role since 2004.

The Health Behavior and Policy Review has published a paper by Joseph Bates (MPA/MPH ’17), Key Stakeholder Responses to Impaired Server Ordinances in Selected Wisconsin Municipalities.

The most rewarding aspect of my current position is constituent casework. ... In my opinion, assisting constituents with these issues defines what it means to be a public servant and to work in public affairs.