Lynn Malerba, a 2008 MPA Program graduate, has been elected chairwoman of the Mohegan Tribe. Malerba, the first woman to lead the tribe, was elected by the nine-member Mohegan Tribal Council. She comes from a long line of women who have been active in the tribe, including her mother, great aunt, and her great aunt’s daughters. Malerba previously held the position of vice chairwoman of the tribe and she is excited to continue working with the members of the Tribal Council.

Malerba is looking forward to the challenge of leading the tribe during such tough economic times. As the tribe keeps a close eye on its financial situation, it has been looking into introducing table games at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs if the Pennsylvania state legislature approves the expansion of gambling. The tribe has also been watching what is happening in Palmer, MA, where casinos may be legalized.

Katie Rock was awarded the 2009 Pam & Charles Cornell Summer Undergraduate Research Fund (SURF) Grant. She is collaborating with professors Bill Simonsen and Mark Robbins on two surveys. Her first survey focuses on the types of citizen participation techniques used by local governments in England and Wales. Her second survey deals with municipal bond disclosure. Katie is enrolled in the MPA fast-track program where she takes MPA classes as an undergraduate to reduce her time to complete the MPA degree.

Katie is researching local governments in England and Wales because anecdotal evidence suggests that their efforts in citizen participation are more advanced than those in the United States. She is particularly interested in learning more about citizens’ panels. These panels are usually chosen to statistically represent the population. Governments can consult the panel on a wide variety of important issues. The purpose of Katie’s second survey is to learn about the value and timeliness of the disclosure information analysts receive about the municipal bond issues they evaluate.

The SURF grant provided Katie with the opportunity to learn first-hand about survey design, implementation, and analysis.

The annual Faculty and Student Meet and Greet was held September 24, 2009 at Grant’s Restaurant in West Hartford. The event was sponsored by UConn’s chapter of Pi Alpha Alpha, the MPA National Honor Society. Students socialized with faculty and alumni at the Meet and Greet. Many first-year MPA students attended and they enjoyed getting to know the faculty in a relaxed setting outside of the classroom.

“It is great to be able to talk with alumni and faculty in a much more casual and informal setting than in the classroom” commented, first-year MPA student Sarah Geary. “I was happy to be able to talk one-on-one with them.”

This is the third year that Pi Alpha Alpha has sponsored the event. Candace Fitzpatrick, PAA president said, “The Pi Alpha Board is very pleased to be able to sponsor such an event for the program -particularly in the first month of the new school year when folks may not know each other well yet! Each year more and more students, faculty and alumni tell me how wonderful the evening is! It’s a very positive evening where many laughs are shared.”

Students, faculty, staff, and alumni celebrated the end of a successful year at the fifth annual Department of Public Policy Awards Banquet. This year’s event was held on May 1, 2009 at the Adam’s Mill Restaurant in Manchester, CT. Current students, alumni, and faculty were honored by the Department for their achievements.

On the thirty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the MPA program, the Department of Public Policy hosted a luncheon on November 10, 2008 for Professor Mort Tenzer with faculty, staff, and a handful of students. Dr. Tenzer shared some wonderful history about UConn and how the MPA program came to be.

The Department of Public Policy sponsored "Think Green," the second event of this year's Speaker Series. Gina McCarthy, Connecticut's Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner, spoke to students about various environmental policy issues in the state.

The Department of Public Policy hosted "The Morning After" forum on November 5, 2008. The forum will be held yearly on the day after elections, said Kenneth Dautrich, associate professor of DPP and moderator, who asked panelists for their assessment of the election just hours after the polls closed.

The 2008 Myles Martel Lecturer was Margot Morrell, author of the international bestseller, Shackleton’s Way, the story of the great explorer, Sir Ernest Shackleton, who saved the lives of the 27 men stranded with him in the Antarctic for almost two years.

The Myles Martel Lecture in Leadership and Public Opinion, a biennial endowed lecture in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, brings to the UConn campus distinguished public speakers and provides an opportunity for students, faculty, and business and community leaders to better understand the crucial relationship between communications and leadership.

MPA Student Sarah Guggino was featured in the Hartford Courant and The Daily Campus for her upcoming trip to Ghana.

Chaz Plungis, a student in the Department's MPA program, has been selected to serve on the Board of the Connecticut chapter of the American Society for Public Administration (CT-ASPA).

MPA and M.A. Economics dual-degree student Manisha Srivastava participated in the Poverty and Prosperity Seminar hosted by the Institute for Humane Studies. The week-long seminar was held in Atlanta in July at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

DPP Professor Bill Simonsen has been selected to receive the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration's (NASPAA) Leslie A. Whittington Excellence in Teaching Award for 2008. The award will be presented at the NASPAA Annual Conference in Charleston, S.C.

The purpose of the award is to recognize faculty members at NASPAA institutions who make outstanding contributions to education for the public service through excellence in teaching.

Barbara Rua, a University of Connecticut, Master of Public Administration (MPA) recent graduate, is the recipient of the 2008 National Pi Alpha Alpha Masters Student Manuscript Award. She was given this award for her MPA capstone research project, which she completed this past spring.

The University Of Connecticut Department Of Public Policy is excited to announce the arrival of new faculty member, Deneen Hatmaker. Deneen brings a wide variety of academic and professional experience to the Department. This fall, Deneen will be teaching Human Resource Management (PP 5365), part of the MPA core curriculum. Next spring, she will be teaching both Theory of Public Organizations (PP5361) and Organizations and Management (PP 5362).

Department of Public Policy students, faculty, and alumni gathered on August 29th at New Britain stadium to watch the New Britain Rock Cats take on the Binghamton Mets. The event was co-sponsored by the MPA Alumni Council and Pi Alpha Alpha MPA National Honor Society. The event was DPP’s first social of the year and was a huge success.

This year’s winner for the best practicum project was the Sheff Movement Survey Study conducted by Alexis Browne, Lauren Friedman, and Sean Harrington. Under the supervision of Ken Dautrich, students conducted all phases of a working project, from project design and working with clients, to data analysis and presentation.

DPP Professor Mark Robbins spent time over the past year as a Visiting Fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC). The PPIC is an independent nonpartisan “think tank” that conducts independent scholarly research on public policy topics of importance for California. Professor Robbins worked in the public finance area conducting a study into the implications of California and other state government’s borrowing programs.

MPA student Barbara Rua was awarded the 2008 Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) Daniel B. Goldberg Scholarship. The Goldberg Scholarship recognizes outstanding performance of graduate students preparing for a career in state and local finance. The award carries a $10,000 prize. Barbara will receive her award at the annual GFOA conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in June, 2008.

For the second straight year, UConn DPP students traveled to New Orleans to help rebuild parts of the city devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The trip, which lasted from May 12th to May 20th, was sponsored and planned by the G.A.P.P.S. student organization.

Shane Van Hoesen, a 2008 MPA Graduate, was recently selected as a finalist for the Presidential Management Fellows Program and subsequently offered a position with the Drug Enforcement Administration in Washington, DC. Shane will be working as a Program Analyst within the DEA’s Office of Resource Management beginning in August.

The MPA program and the Economics Department are teaming up to offer a dual MPA and M.A. in Economics that can be completed in two calendar years of full time study. The dual degree is of particular interest to students with an undergraduate background in economics, strong mathematical abilities, and a desire to work in the public policy arena with government; “think tanks;” or policy/program evaluation organizations.

The Department of Public Policy kicked off the Spring 2008 semester with a visit from Joan McDonald, Commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD). Commissioner McDonald shared her strategic plan for the future of Connecticut’s economy.

Noelle Denny-Brown, a University of Connecticut, Master of Public Administration (MPA) recent graduate, is the recipient of the 2006 National Pi Alpha Alpha Best Paper Award. She was given this award for her MPA capstone research project, which she completed this past spring.

Amy Donahue and Bill Simonsen presented their homeland security research as the initial installment of the 2007-08 Department of Public Policy speaker series. Specifically, Donahue Simonsen, and Robbins research focused on the participants trust in government, perception of risk, identification of citizen preparedness levels, support for proposed technologies and willingness to pay for those technologies. The data were derived from a series of focus groups and citizen surveys. The study was funded by the National Science Foundation.

Dr. Stephen Lipscomb presented his recent research on fiscal initiatives for special education at the Department of Public Policy’s Speaker Series. Dr. Lipscomb and his partner Dr. Elizabeth Dhuey’s research provides evidence that recent reduction in special education enrollment rates for both non-severe and severe disability cohorts are at least partially related to fiscal initiatives associated with special education finance reforms.

Professor Sean Concoran presented his research on voter demand for school choice at the Department of Public Policy’s speaker series. Professor Concoran’s research uses school choice ballot initiatives or referenda in Washington State to understand voter support for charter schools.

The Department of Public Policy welcomed a panel of state and local economic development officials to discuss using tax subsidies to encourage local development. Panelist included: Mark McGovern, Director of Development Service for the City of Hartford, Ron Van Winkle, Director of Community Services for the Town of West Hartford, John Rappa, Office of Legislative Research, and Stan McMillen, Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development.