Evergreen MPA faculty members Lucky Anguelov and Mike Craw attended the annual meeting of the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA), held in Chicago October 19-22.  The NASPAA conference focuses on best practices in teaching and managing in public administration programs across the globe.  Participants in the conference have the opportunity to learn from each other about developing curriculum for MPA programs, recruiting and supporting public administration students, implementing equitable practices in the classroom, and engaging the community effectively through the work of public administration faculty and students, among other topics.

At this year’s conference, Lucky convened a panel titled “Learning from the Students: What Our Practitioner Students Teach us About the Relevance of Classroom Content in the Field.” In this session, Lucky and faculty from the University of New Haven, University of Central Florida, and University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth discussed the real-world impact of MPA capstone projects, internships, and service learning projects.  Mike Craw served on a roundtable titled “
We Need a Community: ‘The Only Gay in the Village’ Syndrome LGBTQIA+ Faculty Face in College Towns.” The roundtable focused on the challenges MPA programs face in supporting faculty, staff, and students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer, and shared best practices in providing supportive environments. In addition, both Mike and Lucky participated in workshops and seminar discussions on recruiting students of color and first generation college students to MPA programs; strategies for enhancing the impact of MPA programs on the communities they serve; and methods for promoting greater diversity, equity, and inclusion in MPA program administration.  You can learn more about NASPAA and its role in supporting MPA programs at their website: https://www.naspaa.org/