To Ghana and Back
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Director’s Corner 2 To Ghana and Back Annual Awards 2 In May, several faculty and most members of the international development management class Student Spotlights 3 traveled to Ghana for two weeks. The purpose of the trip was to give students an understanding of Thank You Donors 4 the reality of doing international development work “on the ground.” A total of eighteen Class of 2006 4 persons participated. The class met intensively in Alumnus of the Year 7 Provo for two weeks before the trip, covering the classroom materials regarding international Giani Receives development management. Service Award 7 Students studied topics including private, for-profit investments; types of NGOs; and the impact Faculty Spotlight 8 of currency exchange rates on Kaydee Shakespeare talks with school children in a village near Accra, Ghana. developing economies. Student groups prepared and presented Babies Galore 8 analyses of various developing or groups; advocacy versus relief; Some of the people directing the countries, and each student hands on care to individuals NGOs were expatriates from prepared and presented an versus working with organizations, the United States, but most were MPA Moms 9 individual report concerning one etc. The following is the list of Ghanaians or Africans from a NGO in Ghana. The reports gave organizations visited: nearby country. Ghanaians were background on organizations the extremely friendly and helpful, Administrator of class would visit. LDS Charities and because English is the official the Year 12 USAID language of Ghana, the group did After a very long airplane journey Reach the Children not have to cope with translation (about twenty-seven hours!), the Teshie Orphanage difficulties. Alumni News group arrived in Accra, the capital. SOS Children’s Village 14-15 The next morning they visited LDS West Africa Aids Most of the trip was spent in Charities and met with the local Foundation - WAAF Accra or in visits to nearby areas. director of the operation. Daily IFESH (education) However, the group did spend Meet the Advisory activities included trips to one or Catholic Relief Services several days, including their only Board 15 two organizations in the morning Amnesty International Sunday in Ghana, in Cape Coast, and another one in the afternoon. Ghana Society for the which is about a four-hour drive The group selected a wide variety Physically Disabled from Ghana. While there they had of organizations to understand the the opportunity to have a family LDS Employment Services differences among them: locally home evening with two local LDS UNESCO based versus internationally based; small versus large; funded Techno Serve (agriculture) See Ghana Eli and Emma (micro through government contracts Continued on Page 6 Summer 2006 versus donations from individuals enterprise) Director’s Corner Preparing New Leaders and Managers Written by Gary Cornia, Director During my distinction a BYU MPA graduate needed encounter courses designed to prepare them t went y-five was the ability to be a manager. for management in their chosen specialty. years on the faculty of The motivation to be a leader in preparing We have just completed revisions of the the Romney students to become managers in public and MPA and EMPA curriculums. The changes I n s t i t u t e non-profit organizations continues to be the adopted were designed to even better prepare of Public primary focus of the RIPM. In comparing our graduates to be leaders and managers Management, our required classes to virtually any other and to continue our distinctive niche in one of the MPA program, one will find a distinctive public management education. Every faculty most constant focus on managing complex public and non- member in the RIPM is committed to elements of profit organizations. For example, we are one preparing our students to be competitive for change has of only a few programs that devotes an entire every position throughout their professional been the course to governmental accounting. This career. We don’t go through change just for curriculum. is in addition to a course in public and non- the sake of change. We undergo changes to profit budgeting. The same can be said for increase the value that we add to the skill sets Over the years, this has resulted in a number our focus on human resources management of our graduates. of important changes in what and how we and management analysis. We are committed teach. Perhaps the most fundamental change to preparing our students to consistently But we are not done with curriculum changes. in the curriculum was instigated in the early be ready for management and leadership Over the next several semesters, the RIPM ’80s when the faculty, under the direction positions. will be part of a Marriott School initiative to of Lennis Knighton, redesigned the MPA formalize learning outcomes in each class we courses to reflect a strong management focus The same model is used in our various teach and in the entire RIPM program. The in the required courses. This redesign was areas of emphasis. Regardless of students’ faculty welcome this opportunity to sharpen partially motivated by the inclusion of the decisions to focus on city management, the focus of our classes and the skills of our RIPM in the newly formed Graduate School human resource management, managerial graduates. It is a challenge from the Marriott of Management at BYU and partially because analysis, or non-profit management, they will School Dean’s Office that we believe will the faculty believed that a very important make us a better program. v Annual Awards Faculty of the Year Awards Karl N. Snow was an early leader of the MPA First- and second-year students voted program at BYU and a former director of separately for the professor they wanted the institute as well. He also was a founder to honor as the faculty of the year. First- of the National Association of Schools of year students presented their award to Public Affairs and Administration. Bill Baker, who teaches communications courses. Second-year students honored Carl Lennis M. Knighton Award Hernandez, a dean at BYU’s law school, who Lynnett Gardner received the Lennis M. teaches state and local government law. Knighton award for the EMPA graduating student with the highest GPA. This award is also based on program GPA through the Lennis Knighton and Lynnett Gardner, Karl N. Snow Award semester beforegraduation. Gardner is from recipient of the Lennis M. Knighton Award. Rebecca Bracken received the Karl N. Orem, Utah, and currently works as an Snow award for highest GPA in the MPA English teacher at Lone Peak High School. graduating class. The award is calculated Stewart L. Grow Award on program GPA through the semester Lennis M. Knighton was the third director of Cheya Wilson received the 2006 Stewart L. before graduation. Bracken is from Layton, the institute and oversaw the development of Grow award. The recipient is named by the Utah. She emphasized in finance and is now the executive program. institute faculty as the second-year student working for Sandy City as a management who exemplifies the characteristics of Stewart analyst. See Awards Continued on Page 13 2 Student Spotlights past eight years has been spent feeding a where the only internship prospect was with Barbara Leavitt gathering of more than seven-hundred people. Purina Dog Chow, he quickly changed his “My husband and I always felt we should mind. He wanted something that would make EMPA 2008 instill in our children their responsibility him happy and excited about his future. to reach out to others,” she says She has also B a r b a r a had the opportunity to improve her teaching Following this discovery, he changed his Leavitt, a first- skills through the church as an institute and major and earned a bachelor’s degree in year EMPA seminary instructor in California. “I found elementary education, and in psychology. s t u d e n t , working with young people to be challenging Parsons spent time teaching elementary moved her but also extremely rewarding. We have school in Las Vegas and Logan, and returned family from amazing youth in the church, interested in to Utah to begin working on a master of public their home making significant positive impacts to this administration and seek his educational in Downey, world.” leadership endorsement to become a principal. C a l i f or n i a , to Provo Building on a rich life experience, her first During his time at Utah State, Parsons shortly after year in the EMPA program has provided worked part time at the local Boys & Girls her husband positive educational challenges. Leavitt is also Club, an after school and summer program passed away excited that she and her oldest daughter will for youth. Upon returning to Utah, his with cancer. Leavitt had experienced first be graduating from BYU in their respective former boss recruited him to work as the hand the gifts of service and care others programs in the same year. organization’s program director. After a provided during her husband’s difficult battle year in this position he was selected as the with cancer and the superb treatment received executive director for the Boys & Girls Clubs at City of Hope in Duarte California. One of Utah County. He has been in this position reason for choosing the EMPA program was for more than two years. that Leavitt wanted to gain the knowledge Weston Parsons and ability to assist others during extremely Parsons is passionate about serving youth, difficult times, just as she had been. Barbara EMPA 2007 especially those who need extra assistance and determined the program would provide the services.