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A PUBLICATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT’S MPA PROGRAM SPRING 2012-2013

MASTER OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Preparing Innovative

Leaders for the Public Sector

The Journey To AccrediTATion

MPA News . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

On Internships . . . . . . . . . .3

Student Update . . . . . . . . .4

Faculty Profile . . . . . . . . . .5

Student Perspective . . . . .7

INSIDE Vol. X, No. 1

Dear ReaderLetter from MPA Director Chris Koliba

Drake TurnerMPA ‘13

Brad Patnaude

MPA ‘13

Erin Flynn on her clarity gained from her internship and

Maura Collins uses her MPA degree in the classroom and the state

Beyond The Green

www.uvm.edu/mpaMaster of Public Administration103 Morrill HallBurlington, VT 05405mpa@uvm .edu | 802 .656 .0009

Accreditation is defined as “the act of granting credit or competency, especially with respect to an educational institution that maintains exceptionally high standards.”

This recognition of excellence is a great honor for any program; but for the Master of Public Administration (MPA) program at UVM, which received NASPAA Accreditation this fall, it is a milestone achievement for a long period of dedication and hard work.

“The journey of the MPA program within the University demonstrates the resilience of the program,” the program’s original co-founder and MPA faculty member, Robert B. Lawson, said.

“There were many challenges encountered from the very beginning of the program. … The MPA program was moved across many colleges several times within UVM. … Once we got our footing in a new home, the program was moved so that we were constantly starting over again and again.” As a consequence, Lawson said, “we were a program without a sustained supportive academic home, so we could not grow and develop the MPA program as we wanted.”

It wasn’t until 2002 when the MPA program moved to the UVM Department of Community Development and Applied Economics (CDAE) that the program found a sustained environment. “The success of the MPA program is definitely a result of moving within CDAE,” said long-time MPA Professor Thomas Patterson. “CDAE provided an atmosphere that encouraged forward progress, we never even thought of Accreditation prior.”

In the ten years since the move to CDAE, the MPA program has gained sustained momentum to propel the program to the forefront of professional Public Administration institutions in the country. “If you want something that is important to your community, be prepared to work long and hard,” Lawson said.

“We knew it would take years to build up the MPA program, but through this dedication

came the results, and that is why this accreditation is such an achievement for all of those who are part of the present program and the distinguished foundational history of the MPA program,” he said.

The accreditation of the MPA program has great benefits for both students and alumni. NASPAA accreditation provides a reliable and trustworthy indication of value and quality to potential students, assuring the student that the institution meets a benchmark of commitment to excellence. The accreditation also signifies to potential employers that graduates of the program have achieved established learning objectives, adequate for high-level public service employment.

“As a current student, it is important to me to feel like I am working towards a degree that has a high standard of quality,” said second year student Drake Turner. “The MPA program really takes the input of students into consideration, and strives to afford us the most useful and enriching educational experience possible. When the program was going through the accreditation process last year we were continually asked for our input and insight. When we were approved it felt like something I had actively participated in, which was definitely a source of pride,” she said.

Lawson believes that the Accreditation of the MPA program at UVM will put it on the map as an “established and distinguished Master of Public Administration program for potential students,” he explained. “The MPA has grown from having primarily a regional draw for potential students to now attracting students from all over the country.”

In fact, Lawson said, “we have seen a spike in international students’ interest for our program, and we only expect that to increase”.

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Letter from the Director

CHRIS KOLIBA, DIRECTOR

OUR MISSION

MPA News

Technological innovation and globalization enable and challenge sustainable practices of modern organizations.

Psychology and Systems at Work — written by University of Vermont MPA professors E. Doris Anderson, Robert B. Lawson, and UVM Psychology professor Lawrence Rudiger — explores contemporary leadership and management.

Published in 2013, this book unites 21st century empirical data to diverse organizational experiences. “Collaboration with Doris and Larry afforded the opportunity to match principles and practicum from multiple disciplines, including psychology, sociology, business, and public sector organizations,” Lawson said.

“Our MPA student feedback helped to shape the content of the book,” Lawson said. “Many of the students that Doris and I teach are already employed by organizations and bring forth rich insights from problems faced in the public and private sectors”.

Psychology and Systems at Work emphasizes that organizations learn by facing challenges, just as individuals do. “Each of us possesses personal bias that must be managed to avoid conflict,” Anderson said. “Key elements for retaining resilience are to be honest with ourselves and others, to be accountable, to be respectful of differing perspectives, and to learn from our mistakes for continuous improvement.”

Balancing opposing interests builds confidence in collective decision-making, and willingness to capitalize on evolving opportunities. “A learning culture values change as a good thing,” Lawson said. “Today’s good habits facilitate tomorrow’s quality production.”

uVM Professors collAborATe To Publish

MulTi-disciPlinAry book

Authors Robert B. Lawson & E. Doris Anderson

Welcome to this edition of Beyond the Green. As you can read in our lead article, the UVM-MPA Program achieved an important milestone when it received word that it had been accredited by the National Society of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA). This feat was accomplished because of the hard work and due diligence of MPA faculty, alumni, and students, and ongoing support from the UVM administration. Special thanks go to Jane Kolodinsky, Thomas Vogelmann, Rachel Johnson, and John Bramley, all of whom have lent their support to the program over the years, without whose support, we would have never accomplished our goal.

We as an MPA community are now setting our sights forward, looking to envision where this next phase in the development of the program will take us. MPA faculty, alumni and UVM administration are working on plans for the development of new certificates, the development of online offerings, and the collaboration with other units on campus. We will be looking for input as you move forward with these plans, so please stay tuned.

In other MPA-related news, we remain ranked as one of the best MPA Programs in the country, appearing at number 102 out of 280 programs listed in the U.S. News and World Report. Not bad for a small program like ours. And we continue to see our students, graduates and faculty making an impact on the welfare of Vermont’s communities and natural environment. In the pages of this edition of Beyond the Green, you will read about the outstanding work in the areas of health care reform (student Erin Flynn), food systems (student Drake Turner), housing (faculty member and MPA grad. Maura Collins), consumer assistance (students Sara Chestbrough and Ali Zipparo, and faculty Jason Duquette-Hoffman), ROTC (student Brad Patnuade), and government accountability and performance (faculty members Asim Zia and Chris Koliba). These stories are only the proverbial tip of the iceberg, as we could have

easily shared additional stories of our common work around the environment and water quality, sustainable transportation systems, global climate change, agricultural resiliency, the gross national happiness, and many other areas.

I also want moment to mention the development of the MPA Alumni Advisory Board, which was created last year to provide the MPA faculty with advice on important program matters. If you are interested in participating in the MPA Alumni Board, please contact chair Alice Christain (MPA ’07) at: alicechri@gmail.com.

Lastly, please spread the word about our program, recommend it to friends and family, and have them reach out to us for more information about the program. Leslie Barchard, our student services coordinator, absolutely loves to hear from interested applicants.

Christopher Koliba, Ph.D.MPA Director

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neTworks To chAnge socieTykolibA And ZiA AiM To collAborATe wiTh The goVernMenT

OUR MISSIONThe Master of Public Administration at the University of Vermont is a professional interdisciplinary degree that prepares pre and in-service leaders, managers and policy analysts by combining the theoretical and practical foundations of public administration focusing on the complexity of governance systems and the democratic, collaborative traditions that are a hallmark of Vermont communities.

ProgrAM UPdAtes

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By looking at second-year MPA graduate student and Peace Corps Fellow Erin Flynn’s bio, it’s safe to say she isn’t afraid of change. From law and finance to working with the Peace Corps and her current position as research intern at the Joint Fiscal Office (JFO), Flynn has seen it all.

After graduating from Ithaca College in 2003, Flynn chose to work in law as a legal assistant at an environmental law firm in Washington D.C., and later as a case manager in the white-collar crime

division in New York City. She then transferred her career

to finance, working in the strategic management sector at the New York City branch of the French bank, BNP Paribas.

Right before arriving at UVM, Flynn had turned to volunteerism. Being TEFL certified (Teaching English as a Foreign Language Instructor) Flynn worked with the Peace Corps in Moldova and taught English at a primary school outside Bangkok, Thailand; but that wasn’t enough.

Flynn quickly realized she wasn’t satisfied with the jobs she held before her work abroad. With that, she decided to return to school to consider the possibilities beyond the corporate world.

“After having such an amazing experience [in the Peace Corps], I just couldn’t take a step back and continue doing a job that I didn’t love,” she said. “My time with MPA has taught me that I

should never settle for less than a path I am passionate about and completely devoted to.”

Starting on a new path, Flynn’s current position as research intern at the JFO has introduced her to the health care policy sector. She staffs the House Committee on Health Care, House Committee on Human Services, and Senate Committee on Health and Welfare. Flynn is responsible for providing the Representatives and Senators assigned to these committees with information and analysis of the fiscal implications of the different policy choices they face.

Nolan Langweil, Health Care Fiscal Analyst at JFO, and Flynn’s boss, said that the office decided to take on an intern to foster a stronger relationship with the UVM and grow the office’s numbers.

“There’s a lot of things happening in Vermont health care and health care reform and we wanted to grow that workforce,” he

Internship Highlight - Erin Flynn ‘13

ERIN FLYNN ‘13

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Internship, Page 7

Networks, Page 6

CDAE professors Chris Koliba and Asim Zia have a future in government. No, they won’t be leaving the mountains of Vermont for the pavement of Washington, D.C., but they are embarking on a long journey of governmental collaboration to bring about change to the Vermont community and beyond.

Zia and Koliba have been using governmental data to research how governance networks can be used to positively change certain sectors in our society. According to Koliba, governance is the means by which an activity or a group of activities is controlled, directed or steered.

Koliba started studying governance networks nine years ago, and has been working with Zia on this research for five years.

“When I came here we immediately realized our research interests had strong overlap and that’s how we got started on collaboration,” Zia said. “Since my first semesters here, we have been working on many projects ranging from transportation to watershed and energy.”

The data they used in their research comes from the United States Governmental Accountability Office (GAO), and in the past their relationship with the office was just a passive one.

That relationship changed when they were invited to present in a series of talks held at the GAO this fall. The professors, who are also fellows with the Vermont Complex Systems Center and the James M. Jeffords Policy Research Center both located at UVM, hoped their talks would lead to future

collaboration with the government.

“We received very positive feedback,” Koliba said. “We had 60 or 70 people in the room and had lunch with a number of the senior officials and they were very affirming in what we are doing.”

According to Zia, the presentation generated a lot of interest, especially from people who are looking at performance management and accountability in both

Asim Zia, PhD

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stUdeNt HigHligHt

MPA grad student Drake Turner won this year’s UVM Student Scholars Poster Competition for the Social Sciences, Education and Business category. UVM President E. Thomas Sullivan recognized her work and her winning poster — “The State of Food Systems Planning, Governance, and Network Connectivity in North America” — at his October 5th Inaugural Ceremony.

The poster competition finalists attended the ceremony, which included speeches and inauguration traditions. In addition to Turner, there were two other finalists from CDAE: Meagan Pharis, MS ‘13, and Laural Valchuis, MS ‘13.

“We presented our posters, and we all got to meet the new President which was a really cool experience,” she said. “We got to hear former President Mondale speak, Bernie Sanders…It was awesome with a lot of traditions and cool things to do.”

The poster competition was open to all UVM undergraduate, graduate,

and medical students and was created to showcase the excellence of student work in scholarship, creative effort, research, and innovation across campus.

Turner’s two-part research project assesses the state of food systems planning across the nation and some parts of Canada, and also analyzes Vermont’s own food system plan, Farm to Plate, at work.

MPA Director Chris Koliba, worked with Turner on this two-part research project as both her academic and graduate assistantship advisor. He felt Turner showed that she evolved and was able to present her ideas that govern a lot of interest.

“This research not only exemplifies how UVM is employing cutting edge research tools to study important policy issues like the food system but also highlights how Vermont is a leader in food system planning in the country,” Koliba said.

SPOTLIGHT ON: Drake Turner, MPA ‘13

2012-2013MPA Faculty

doris Anderson (‘04)richArd cATe

JAson duqueTTe - hoffMAn

JoshuA fArley

gAry floMenhofT

sTeVe kAPPel (‘03)chrisToPher kolibA

JAne kolodinsky

roberT lAwson

ned McMAhon

glenn McrAe

Meg o’donnell

ThoMAs PATTerson

rhondA PhilliPs

JAne VAn buren

MAurA collins Versluys (‘08)richArd wATTs

cATherine finley woodruff (‘07)AsiM ZiA

Read more about these faculty members and practitioner lecturers at www .uvm .edu/mpa .

Drake Turner, MPA ‘13

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In the midst of human-induced global climate change, powerful industrialized nations and rapidly industrial-izing nations are still heavily dependent on fossil fuels. Even if we arrive at a Hubbert’s peak for oil extraction in the 21st century, the availability of technologically recoverable coal and natural gas will mean that fossil fuels continue to be burned for many years to come, and our civilization will have to deal with the consequences far into the future. Climate change will not discriminate between rich and poor nations, and yet the UN-driven process of negotiating a global climate governance regime has hit serious roadblocks. Post-Kyoto Climate Governance takes a trans-disciplinary perspective to identify the causes of failure in developing an international climate policy regime and lays out a roadmap for developing a post-Kyoto (post-2012) climate governance regime in the light of lessons learned from the Kyoto phase.

Follow us on Facebook! Search for “Master of Public Administration at UVM” to join. We will be giving updates about visiting scholars, MPA events, achievements by students and faculty, and other MPA news!

New Book by Asim Zia — “Post-Kyoto Climate Governance”

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PA 206 inTroducTion To Public AffAirs

Catherine Finley-Woodruff

PA 302 orgAniZATionAl Theory & behAVior - Thomas Patterson

PA 306 Policy sysTeMs - Curt Ventriss

PA 311 Policy AnAlysis And ProMgrAM eVAluATions - Asim Zia

PA 317 sysTeMs AnAlysis And sTrATegic MAnAgeMenT - Christopher Koliba

PA 323 nonProfiT AdMinisTrATion Jane Van Buren

PA 380 inTernshiP Jason Duquette-Hoffman

PA 391 MAsTer’s Thesis reseArch Christopher Koliba

PA 395 inTergoVernMenTAl relATions

Richard Cate

PA 395 housing Policy - Maura Collins

PA 395 cAPsTone ProJecT - Glenn McRae

PA 397 reAdings And reseArch

Christopher Koliba

MAurA collins: froM sTudenT To exPerT,

An innoVATe ProMoTer for AffordAble housingMaura Collins is a pioneer

practitioner in the field of affordable housing that spans from the UVM classroom to the facilitation of effective change for the state of Vermont. A 2008 MPA graduate, Collins is now an adjunct professor teaching a course on housing policy for the department and also works as a Policy and Planning Manager for Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA). “When I took my classes, I knew that I wanted to stay in my field for the foreseeable future,” Collins said. “While housing may seem like a singular topic when assessing a community’s or household’s needs, it is actually an extremely complicated web of fields including finance, construction, community engagement, lending, low-income advocacy, politics, social work and much more. That’s why I think I was able to find a housing-related project or paper in just about every assignment in the MPA program.” Collins’ found her time as an MPA student to be so beneficial because her coursework could be tailored to fit her needs. “In every class I was able to provide some kind of work product that would be of help to my employer. That is why I enjoyed the program so much,” she said.

Outside of her classroom practicum, Maura Collins is a Policy and Planning Manager for Vermont Housing Finance Agency, an organization that helps to finance and promote affordable housing opportunities for low and moderate income Vermonters. “While I’ve been at the same company for 10 years, my job has changed so much it’s hardly the same at all,” she said. “Over time my job has continued to change and now I oversee a research department that can be hired to do analysis for other organizations, which helps expand the reach of what we can offer,” said Collins.Her outstanding efforts have also come with great recognition, as she was recently awarded the Vermont Business Magazine Rising Star Award in November of 2012. The award recognizes 40 of Vermont’s most accomplished young leaders, all whom are younger than 40 years old. “The Rising Star award was very humbling since it’s a statewide award for younger professionals judged by people who are great leaders,” Collins said. “I was proud to be included considering my professional background is for a mission driven non-profit. I hope that other younger Vermonters will see that a career in

the non-profit sector can be one with advancement and opportunity just like the private sector and that one doesn’t have to sacrifice their personal advancement because they also want to be of service,” said Collins. Collins says that she loves her job at VHFA because it “provides me both a way to meet my own career goals, while also knowing that I’m helping to serve a greater good,” she added.

Her currently responsibilities include coordinating risk management activities, board initiatives, and overseeing the agency’s strategic plan.

FAcUlty sPotligHt

Spring 2013 MPA Courses

Maura Collins, MPA

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Networks to Change Society (from page 3)

coMMUNity coNNectioN Ali Zipparo and Sara Chesbrough

are public administration practitioners making serious improvements to legislation in Vermont.

As full-time MPA students, Zipparo and Chesbrough have been working to shape legislation concerning social and consumer injustice issues in assistantship positions with the Vermont Attorney General’s office.

By researching consumer data of Vermonters and analyzing current policy enforcement actions, Chesbrough and Zipparo are able to address underlying issues facing individuals and communities on a statewide level.

“It’s such a positive feeling to see our efforts actually making a difference and address real problems,” Chesbrough said. “Through direct communication with people that have been victims

of consumer fraud, I form a personal connection with the work that I do.”

Chesborough helps to shape legislation through researching data on consumer automobile injustices, especially for low-income Vermonters.

“My prior experience was primarily social work and community advocacy,” she said. “Automobile issues was definitely a new direction of work, but it has helped to shed a new light and (helped me) see the need for consumer protection.

“The budgetary, research methods, and foundations classes of the department have had the most direct beneficial impacts for my work at the Attorney General’s office. I can also see my assistantship experience transfer back into the classroom practicum. It’s been a great learning process.”

Zipparo added: “The course content

of the MPA department is extremely relevant to the outside work that I do in this assistantship.My classes have taught me applied skills of how to think critically and how to research effectively and efficiently.”

Jason Duquette-Hoffman, internship coordinator for the MPA department, has helped to facilitate the relationship between the Vermont Attorney General’s office and the University of Vermont.

“This is the 32nd year that the department has worked with the Attorney General’s office,” Hoffman said. “It’s great to see students transition into an assistantship that is mutually beneficial for both their experience and the organization.

“Sara and Ali have already had such a substantial impact.”

public and private sectors. Koliba said [the GAO staff] were excited

to see that the data is being used in different ways. “One researcher said that ‘this is the first time they’ve seen our data come back to us in tangible findings’,” he said.

Their presentations were part of the professional development seminar for the GAO, where they discussed the tools and techniques currently being used to model and evaluate interagency network performance and accountability.

In Koliba’s talk, he presented how governance informatics can play in building the capacities of programs, organizations and networks of organizations to learn and ultimately, perform.

Zia’s presentation provided an in-depth technical and analytical review of computer simulation models of governance networks that have been recently developed for

simulating intergovernmental transportation infrastructure project planning and watershed management processes.

GAO has yet to develop their own computer simulation models of government agencies. Whenever newer methodologies or approaches occur, it usually happens in academic settings and slowly diffuses into the public sector in part because they take time and different skill sets, Koliba said.

“GAO is somewhat constrained in their ability to do the kind of research that we do,” he said. “They’re interested, but they have a ways to go until they’re ready. So this is sort of setting the table for something that’s down the road hopefully.”

Because GAO clients are congress and government agencies, to a certain extent, they don’t know what’s possible using complex approaches. It may be another 10 years before this kind of work appears on their radar screens, Koliba said.

The GAO is interested in collaborating with Koliba and Zia in two specific areas.

“One of them is about developing computational models that uses the data and information that is collected by the GAO for different government programs,” Zia said. “Secondly, they want to work with the so-called new field of big data and data analytics, where you have these large scale data bases.”

Zia describes “big data” as data that is

so large that it is in hundreds of terabytes, and there are computational approaches and data mining approaches that can help understand this data. The work that Zia and Koliba are involved in aligns with this goal of understanding.

“One of the biggest projects that we reported on at the GAO was watershed management,” Koliba said. “We’re studying how the system works and where critical decisions are made and how they affect the lake.”

Through their EPSCoR watershed project, Koliba and Zia have purchased a computer mainframe to help with the speed of the model development.

“The most important [part of the research] for me, is really the public service, protecting the public interest and also helping the vulnerable populations,” Zia said.

He describes vulnerable populations as those who are not direct beneficiaries from those market-society arrangements where government has to step in and protect the people.

“The question is how do we evaluate smart-grid programs or energy programs and how we do make sure that government is providing public service in serving the needs of these vulnerable populations in most the effective matter,” he said.

“The most important [part of the research] for me, is really the public service, protecting the public interest and also helping the vulnerable populations”

- Asim Zia

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said.Because it’s an exciting time for health

care reform, Flynn feels she has found a front row seat to all the action, she said.

“There isn’t a person in this country that isn’t touched by the health care system, and no matter what your politics are it’s clear that the current rate of growth in health care is not sustainable,” she said.

Flynn says that her ability to intern at the JFO would not be possible without the education she’s had for the past year and a half. She believes her education also gives her the tools needed to make sense of and present data and information in a cohesive and comprehensive way.

“Everything from my writing and rhetorical skills to my general thought and decision making process have really been refined to a level I would have never previously been capable of,” she said.

Although Flynn credits all her MPA courses as the reason she has the tools she needs to succeed in her internship, she emphasizes one course — ‘The Ecology of Leadership and Advocacy’ — taught by State Representative Ann Pugh.

The class offers a two-week intensive look into Vermont state government and provides students with the opportunity to meet “everyone who is anyone in Vermont politics from the Governor and speaker

of the house to groups of lobbyists and advocates” and more, she said.

“Funny enough, I am now staffing the committee that Representative Pugh chairs,” Flynn said. “It is because of these courses that I’ve learned to become not only a better writer, but also a more

analytical thinker.”The office has her looking at existing

healthcare revenue sources, meeting with people in the industry, and putting a lot of useful products that both the legislature and public find valuable, Langweil said.

“One of the things about Erin that’s good is that she’s a sponge,” he said. “We’re throwing a lot of complicated information and issues at her and she’s

absorbing them and asking a lot of good questions which shows me that she’s getting it.”

It gives her satisfaction knowing that she is doing work that is going to have a positive effect on Vermonters and get’s to work with a State Government that she is proud of.

“For all its ups and downs, government doesn’t always get the best reputation, but I have learned that Vermont is really different,” she said. “It seems to me, in my limited experience, that Vermont is an example of what government is capable of doing when you throw politics out the window, a lesson that I’m sure many across the country and in DC could stand to learn.”

She believes Vermont is on a very ambitious and bold path towards a vision of a health care system but understands it’s also important to not get her own head stuck in the clouds and get caught up in the excitement of change.

“There is a lot of work to be done, and if it’s not done in a thoughtful, rigorous, and comprehensive fashion than we are going to end up with a house of cards instead of a system that is grounded in a solid foundation and built to last for many years to come,” Flynn said.

Internship Highlight (from page 3)

BRAD PATNAUDE MPA ‘13

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stUdeNt PersPectiveHailing from Charlotte, Vermont,

a mere 15-minute drive away, current MPA candidate Brad Patnaude was drawn to the MPA program for it’s commitment to public service; the kind of service he’s already been involved in for years. Not only is he a full-time student, Patnuade also works full-time for the Vermont National Guard at the ROTC program on campus, as well as being an Infantry Platoon Leader for 20 soldiers in a Heavy Weapons Company.

Patnuade believes the classes that are offered in the MPA program teach the core competencies needed for public service. One of his favorite classes is PA 307, an Administrative Ethics class.

“You get bombarded with ethical decision scenarios and I really liked it,” he said. “I was actually able to apply it to a lot of what I do and I kind of go through those processes when I’m in some of those situations.”

Through an extension of a policy systems course, Patnuade was able to develop his own MPA internship at the ROTC building on campus.

“For policy systems, you have to do a policy definition, come up with alternatives, and choose an alternative,” Patnuade said.

After looking into the policy definitions concerning veteran incentives on campus, Patnuade pitched his alternative ideas to UVM executives just to get their perspectives.

The executives liked it so much they wanted to implement it so Patnuade turned this work into an internship and began going through the policy implementation process.

“Last October, it was actually implemented, and I got to go through the whole process, see how it works, and see the results of it,” he said.

The policy was turned into service grants for the ROTC cadets and Vermont National Guard members and is an extension of the room and board waiver for those on scholarships.

“It’s great for cadets, great for the University, and the Vermont National Guard,” Patnuade said. “A little effort from one person can actually make a difference is what I found.”

“It seems to me, in my limited experience, that Vermont is an example of what government is capable of doing when you throw politics out the window, a lesson that I’m sure many across the country and in DC could stand to learn.”

-Erin Flynn

Master of Public Administration at UVM

The MPA program at UVM offers a flexible curriculum, with a course of study individually designed for each students. Our concentrations offered are in state and local government, non-profit organizations, sustainable community development, healthcare, agriculture, and the environment. Classroom studies are enhanced by transdisciplinary learning resources throughout the University and a wide range of internship opportunities.

Located near sparkling Lake Champlain and the foothills of the Green Mountains, the UVM campus offers easy access to boating, hiking, skiing, and biking. Research, internships, and networking are faciliatated by the short drive to major local and state government offices and Vermont’s high concentration of non-profit organizations.

Find all the latest MPA news and events at www.uvm.edu/mpa.

Representative Honors, Publications, and BooksPublications

Beckage, B., Kauffman, S. Zia, A., Koliba, C., Gross, L.J. (accepted for publication). Book chapter: More Complex Complexity: Exploring the Nature of Computational Irreducibility Across Physical, Biological, and Human Social Systems. Zenil, H. editor. Exploring Wolfram’s Legacy.

Lawson, E., Anderson, D., Rudiger, L.P. 2013. Psychology and Systems at Work. Pearson. New Jersey: Pearson Publications.

Koliba, C. and Zia, A. (accepted for publication). Book chapter: Governance Informatics: Using Computer Simulation Models to Deepen Situational Awareness and Governance Design Considerations. DeSouza, K. and Johnston, E. editors. Policy Informatics Handbook. MIT Press.

Koliba, C., and Zia, A. (in press). Complex Systems Modeling in Public Administration and Policy Studies: Challenges and Opportunities for a Meta-Theoretical Research Program. Emergence: Complexity & Organization.

Zia, A., Metcalf, S., Koliba, C. and Widner, M. (in press). Agent Based Models of Cross-Jurisdictional Governance Networks: Simulating the

Emergence of Project Prioritization Patterns Under Alternate Policy Theoretical Frameworks and Network Structures. Emergence: Complexity & Organization.

Zia, A. 2013. Post-Kyoto Climate Governance: Confronting the Politics of Scale, Ideology and Knowledge. London: Routledge Publications.

Presentations:

McRae, G. 2012. The Titanic and the Parking Lot. Keynote Speaker. MPA Student Association Annual Forum. Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH.

Koliba, C. 2012. The Role of Governance Informatics in Promoting Accountability and Performance: A Broad Review of Examples from the Field and Opportunities for Collaboration. U.S. General Accountability Office, Washington, DC.

Zia, A. 2012. Computer Simulation Models of Governance Networks: A technical Talk about Applications in Transportation Infrastructure Planning and Watershed Management. U.S. General Accountability Office, Washington, DC.

Appointments/Honors

2012. Marshall Dimock Award for Best Lead Article in the Public Administration Review. Accountability within Governance Networks: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina - Christopher Koliba and Asim Zia

Alumni Updates

Russ Mills, MPA ’07, faculty at Bowling Green• Ph.D. in Political Science, Kent

State University, May 2011• B.A. in Political Science,

Westminster College, May 2005, Summa Cum Laude

Dan Bromberg, MPA ’06 faculty at UNH • B.A., State University of New

York at Albany, 2001• M.P.A., University of Vermont,

2006• Ph.D., Rutgers University, 2009

Adrienne Cohen, MPA ‘06• Assistant Professor of Sociology,

Georgia Southern University• B.A., University of

Massachusetts, 1986• M.P.A., University of Vermont-

Burlington, 2006• Ph.D., Miami University-Oxford,

2010. (2011)