Hope Against Hopelessness

http://myfootpath.com

In higher education, December is a rush of end-of-the-semester activities: reading papers, proctoring and grading final exams, and helping students manage their overwhelming end-of-the-semester wishes and regrets. In the nonprofit sector, the months of November and December are frenzies of a different sort: Giving Trees, Adopt-a-Family programs, food baskets, toy collections, increased client crises, and helping staff manage their own holiday stressors.  Consequently, as a professor AND a nonprofit administrator, maintaining the “holiday spirit” is always struggle. Looking at the sea of disoriented expressions on the faces of those around me, I can see that I am not alone this year.

It’s no wonder. The past two months have had all the makings of a horror movie. An October storm ravaged the east coast, taking lives and devastating survivors. A December storm has pummeled the midwest and is unleashing destruction on the south. Senseless shootings in New York, Pennsylvania and Newton, Connecticut rocked our nation.  And we are standing on the edge of a cliff that threatens our economic survival.

A cursory glance at trending news articles might lead you to believe that the most important loss of the season is in retail growth. As an indicator of the mood of the nation, it is certainly significant. However, I am worried about a more enduring loss—the loss of hope.

When we are without hope, we feel powerless. We are loath to take action because we believe it won’t matter anyway. Not taking action contributes to the feeling of powerlessness, which exacerbates feelings of hopelessness. It becomes, in essence, a self-fulfilling prophecy because in our despair we forget that there is a salve for hopelessness right at our fingertips:

Do something.

Even in this time of great uncertainty and despondency the solution to hopelessness is action. Write or call your legislators so that your voice is heard. Make a budget for 2013—a Plan A and a Plan B. Commit a random act of kindness, or two. Or 27. Hug your kids more.  Let them hug you, too. Just do something.

I wish you peace, love, health, and happiness throughout this holiday season. May hope motivate all of us through despair and toward action.

A New Era of Education – Global Online Classrooms

Emma Collins, Guest Blogger

A number of recent ASPA National Weblog posts have focused on the state of technology startups in this country, and today’s article continues that important discussion. Emma Collins looks at ways in which new educational ventures are changing the way students learn, mostly for the better. Emma writes a lot about online education, and just completed a review of the top online MBA programs of 2012.

How Entrepreneurs Are Meeting the Global Education Need Head On

http://www.guangxiedu.ne

Within the last two decades, the field of online learning has evolved from a novelty into a major sector of public education. Education-based startups – led by tech-savvy “edupreneurs” – have been at the forefront of this movement, and their contributions have helped shape the way young people are taught in the digital age.

As early as the 1980s, many companies utilized computer-based programs to train their workers. However, these programs remained widely unused until the mid-1990s, when the World Wide Web was first introduced. In 1994, CALCampus became the first Internet-based educational resource; when the company proved successful with the web-using public, more institutions began to emerge. In the years that followed, chat functions, webcams and other technological advents were incorporated into the field of online education. Online programs for students of all ages – from kindergarten to college – have also become increasingly popular within the last decade. Between the 2004-05 and 2009-10 academic years, the National Center for Education Statistics estimates that enrollment in online-based K-12 programs rose 300 percent; meanwhile, US News & World Report notes that enrollment in web-based college courses has risen for nine consecutive years.

Despite the popularity of web-based learning institutions, many critics have expressed concern about the online education movement. Miami Teacher’s Union President Karen Aronowitz recently told The New York Times that online education is widely employed as a means of saving money – not because of any proven benefits for students. Criticism has also been leveled at college-level online learning due to perceived inferiority to traditional, brick-and-mortar academics, but many say the biggest worry concerns web-based, for-profit institutions like University of Phoenix (currently the largest university in the United States with more than 300,000 students enrolled). Though these institutions bill themselves as legitimate learning centers, Eric Kelderman of Houston Chronicle recently noted the “bad reputation” shared by many for-profit schools – namely, that they are scamming students out of thousands of dollars and awarding them with bogus degrees. The U.S. Department of Education recently issued tough new regulations to prevent online universities from taking advantage of students, while Congress has pressured accreditation agencies to strip some of the main offenders of their degree-granting capabilities.

technologyinschools.org

Unlike web-based K-12 and college programs, which represent an alternative (however controversial) to the traditional educational system, most educational startups provide tools or resources that assist school districts and/or supplement classroom studies. Those that award degrees to students use innovative new platforms to appeal to today’s students. As noted by Time contributor Anna Murphy Paul, most edupreneurs hope to “disrupt” the existing educational dynamic by changing the way people learn for the better, while disassociating themselves from the notoriously unscrupulous practices of for-profit colleges. “These entrepreneurs are often running a one-man operation out of a garage or spare bedroom,” she wrote. “They include former (and current) teachers, tutors, school administrators and parents — people whose interest in education goes much deeper than making a buck.”

In a June 2012 article titled “Online education startups: a field guide,” GigaOM writer Ki Mae Heussner noted some of today’s most significant edupreneurial projects. One is UniversityNow, a Bay Area-based venture that allows students to enroll in as many college-level courses as they wish for a flat rate of $199 per month. UniversityNow CEO and Co-founder Gene Wade told GigaOM that rapidly rising tuition rates have prevented many young people from earning a college degree, and his company seeks to provide them with a much-needed alternative. But affordability is merely one aspect of UniversityNow’s appeal; students who enroll in one or more of the company’s courses are able to defer their student loan payments incurred at other universities, and many also receive tax credits. Since its foundation, UniversityNow has raised $17.3 million in venture capital, in addition to a $300,000 grant awarded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

bls.gov

Other edupreneurial companies target niche areas of education. One example is Codecademy, a New York-based venture that offers computer language training programs to web users free of charge. Each course module teaches students how to write code in Javascript, Ruby, Python and other computational languages that are widely used in today’s technology sector. Codecademy has proven hugely popular with the public; the site recorded over 1 billion registered users just five months after launching, while investors have funneled more than $10 million into the company. “We’re doing something that involves real people building real skills,” Co-founder Zach Sims told CBS News. “The big priority for us, beyond raising capital, is to become the place for people to learn programming.”

The success of companies like UniversityNow and Codecademy with investors has ensured their long-term market viability, while user-friendly interfaces and relatively low costs have sealed their popularity with the general public. For these reasons, edupreneurs stand to greatly “disrupt” the traditional educational framework in the coming years.

 

 

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Emma Collins works as a freelance writer and researcher in the South Pugest Sound area (Tacoma, specifically) and us an avid traveler. Recently graduated with her undergrad degree, she is currently considering a Masters Program in Business Analytics, but may get an MBA. When she is not writing, she loves to rock climb and read Sci-fi. 

Teaching “Developmental” Students

 A high percentage of community college students entering secondary education require remediation in the critical areas of math, reading and writing. Reports such as one in Florida’s Office of Program Policy Analysis and Governmental Accountability (Report No. 07-31 2007) put the figure at over 50%.  Other sources are more moderate, such as the National Center for Education Statistics with its estimate of 28%. Although I will refrain here from commenting on how this reflects upon our educational system (these students graduated high school), as an instructor in higher education I will proudly say these are many of my students. Students who want to learn, who are eager to increase their knowledge and skills.

Some believe that students should first get through all of their required developmental classes. That seems a rational requirement. However, for some students that means four or more courses that don’t reflect the course of study they are excited to pursue! Imagine: You have your heart set on a business degree, but you have to endure two (or more!) semesters without setting foot in a business course. I’ve seen many of my new advisees,  first semester students, completely despondent and discouraged because of this predicament. Within a few minutes in my office, a transformation takes place as I guide them to register for at least one class in their major: They start to smile, their energy picks up. They become excited once again at having made the decision to continue their education.

The challenge, of course, is to aid them in this quest while not compromising on the quality of education they–or their colleagues–receive. One of the courses I teach has no prerequisite, so a mix of students is common in my classes.  I take my responsibilities as an educator seriously, so I do not compromise high standards. Each student is expected to work hard and to achieve specific learning outcomes. However, I balance lecture with conversation, reading with practice, theory with practical information, and tests that are comprehensive yet diverse enough in format to give all students an opportunity to demonstrate what they’ve learned. I give feedback regarding things like grammar and punctuation when I can, but I do not penalize students for mistakes if it is clear they have given it their very best effort. I teach them studying and note taking strategies, foster critical thinking, and support them as they develop a style that works for them.

On an institutional level, great strides are being made in developing systems to support developmental students. Learning communities seem to be effective, as is skillful academic advising. Institutionally we have recognized the need to better serve this large segment of our student population. For instructors however, make no mistake: It is not easy to organize a college level course in which there are high performers and students in the midst of remedial work. But it is worth it.

Robyn-Jay Bage, M.P.A.

Ms. Bage is a nonprofit CEO and Assistant Community College Professor

Deficits

One of the tasks facing those of us who teach public policy is getting students to recognize that there are issues that people of good will see differently—that even when people agree upon ends, they may have good-faith debates over means.

For example, a majority of Americans think of themselves as fiscal conservatives, but that doesn’t mean they necessarily agree about which policies are fiscally responsible. Depending upon their understanding of economics, some people will argue that now is the time to cut back spending to concentrate on deficit reduction; others will insist that cuts now would just delay economic recovery and reduce tax receipts–that we should spend to stimulate the economy and create jobs, because more jobs will both reduce government expenditures and generate more tax revenues with which to pay down the deficit. Both groups want to reduce the deficit; it’s an honest disagreement over the best way to do so.

Other disagreements are harder to understand—and much harder to explain to students.

The Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act would pay health care costs for 9/11 first responders who were sickened by toxic fumes and debris when the Twin Towers fell.  I don’t use the word “hero” very often, but that’s what these firefighters, police officers and medics were. They braved the inferno in order to rescue those inside, and they are now suffering from injuries and illnesses caused by that desperate effort. It passed the House with 90% of Republicans opposed. Then Senate Republicans refused to allow a vote on it, because “it would add to the deficit.”

Why in the world would Republicans oppose this bill? Concern for the deficit would be more believable had GOP Senators not been holding this and other measures hostage to their insistence that the richest 2% of Americans retain the favorable tax rates they received from George W. Bush.

Extending those rates would cost many billions more than providing much-needed medical care for first responders. Marginal rates are at historic lows: in 1945, the rate was 91% of every dollar earned over 200,000; in 1982, 50% of everything over 106,000; in 1993, 39.6% of earnings over 250,000.  It is now 35% of everything over 357,700. If the Bush tax cuts expire, rates will revert to 1993 levels. Those levels would remain very low by historical standards, but even so, expiration would generate billions to reduce the deficit.

Republicans argue that low taxes on the wealthy spur job creation. The evidence for that assertion is mixed, to put it mildly. If we really want to encourage job creation, we’d be better served giving businesses tax credits for new jobs.

The income gap between rich and poor in this country is wider than it has been since the gilded age. Joblessness is at its highest point since the Depression. These indicators are warning signs, not just for our economic health, but for our civic well-being.

Denying first responders desperately needed medical treatment so that millionaires won’t have to endure a 4.6% marginal tax rate increase cannot be excused as a good-faith policy dispute, and it can’t be explained to students in those terms. Whatever the actual motive, it is, quite simply, disgraceful.

Perhaps what we need to tell our students is that Americans are facing two kinds of deficits right now: monetary and moral. Ultimately, our fiscal problems—difficult as they seem—may be easier to resolve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

e-Governance and public administration system approach

By Rajesh Kumar Shakya, Ph.D. Student (DPA)

The debate on e-government for public administration mostly revolves around focusing on its functions of service delivery, information management, and use of technology.  But public administration extends far beyond that. Public administrators need a broader public administration system approach towards e-government that surpasses the technocratic emphasis, and blend seamlessly for the full benefits of e-government in all areas of public administration. Public administration system approach helps the governments to escape from the technology dilemma that currently dominates e-government. E-government is a necessity for the countries aiming for better governance. Governance extends beyond government enclave, to civil society and the private enterprises. It applies to all entities from individual family to the state. So the e-governance should embrace the potential of exercising political, social, economic, and administrative processes and govern the whole matters.

E-government should be used in both the functionaries and governance aspects of the public administration transforming into cross-cutting e-Administration, which broadens the values of public administration. We should enrich public administration through e-government exploiting the immense possibilities it offers. Also, if we stick the use of e-government only for the information management, it will challenge the fundamental essence of public administration. Under the public administration system approach, e-government requires public agencies to harmonize their vision, resources and infrastructure, to integrate governance processes and interoperate in sync for the operation of government machinery, and providing services to its beneficiaries.  

In particular, the integration potential offered by the e-government allows the possibility to transform government machinery, operation processes and improve the quality of government services – improve the managerial effectiveness, promotion of democratic mechanisms, and operational efficiency of public services. It helps to transform the traditional siloed operation, and processes to interconnected, interoperable, participative, and synchronized governance processes. Embracing the e-government paradigm by the governments is possible only if it treats the e-government as a holistic government transformation, not a technical adaptation; and challenges the traditional legacy, perceptions, and values.

[Rajesh  Kumar Shakya is the practitioner e-Government and e-Government Procurement Consultant for different governments in Asia, Europe, and Africa. More issues, aspects, and  practices in e-government around the world will be discussed in his future posts.]

Our Hidden Students

As an assistant professor in a community college, my primary objectives are the education and success of my students. As both instructor AND academic advisor, I have the privilege of getting to know students on multiple levels.  College life is filled with opportunities and explorations, as well as obstacles and trepidations.  Unfortunately, the challenges of the college years are often exacerbated for sexual minority youth. One need only read the stories of Tyler Clementi, Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado, and Raymond Chase to know just how difficult it can be for these students.

According to a 2003 assessment conducted by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, more than one-third of GLBT undergraduate students have experienced harassment. Fifty-one percent of GLBT respondents conceal their sexual orientation or gender identity to avoid this harassment and other forms of intimidation. More than 40% of respondents to the survey reported their campus to be homophobic. Perhaps the most frightening aspect of this survey is that the 15 colleges participating in the survey are among the very few who have GLBT student centers. What does this say about the safety and well-being of sexual minority youth in the other 5000 colleges around the country?

If we are true to our commitment to offer equal access to higher education, we must make our campuses safer and more accepting of our sexual minority students—gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, questioning and intersexed youth and young adults.  A number of resources, such as the Task Force, GLSEN (Gay and Lesbian Student Education Network), and PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbian and Gays) offer suggestions if you are interested in more information.  Here are a few ideas:

Our institutions can help by recruiting LGBT faculty and staff, and faculty and staff who are allies to their LGBT colleagues. They should also have documented policy against harassment and other hate crimes against sexual minority students and employees. Moreover, there should be a mechanism in place for reporting such behaviors.

As faculty, we can help by integrating LGBT content into our curriculum. We should stand as allies to our sexual minority students, identifying ourselves as Safe Persons and our classes and offices as Safe Spaces. We should  use inclusive language, avoiding gendered pronouns and using words like “partner” instead of girlfriend/boyfriend. We should make no assumptions:You do not know who is gay or straight in your classroom! And most importantly, we should not tolerate anti-gay/lesbian comments or behaviors. Address hateful acts and comments immediately by creating a teachable moment. We are, afterall, educators.

Robyn-Jay Bage, M.P.A. is a nonprofit CEO and community college Assistant Professor

Qualitative versus Quantitative Research in the Politics in Public Administration

It’s a debate that’s over 130 years old in American politics.  It might be old but it’s still new.

Mark Spicer wrote a text entitled, In Defense of Politics in Public Administration:  A Value Pluralist Perspective.  Published by the University of Alabama Press, the publisher wrote on the jacket:

Scholars of public administration have historically often shunned the presence of politics in the field, viewing partisan interests as opportunities for corruption, mismanagement, and skewed priorities.  Supporters of this anti-political stance have become even more strident in recent years with many scholars advancing scientific models for the study and practice of public administration.  Michael W. Spicer argues that politics deserves to be defended as a vital facet of public administration on the grounds that it can promote moral conduct in government and public administration, principally by bringing to the foreground the role of values in administrative practice.  Politics can facilitate the resolution of conflicts that naturally arise from competing values, or conceptions of the good, while minimizing the use of force or violence. 

Spicer bolsters the moral and qualitative aspects of public administration in the US.  He disagrees with Wilson’s seminal article on the subject, to a point.  It’s also clear that he doesn’t completely agree with Waldo and others who support the blending of the two topics.

There is an ongoing debate that PAR is too quantitative.  The journal does not provide enough information for the practitioner.  PA Times provides the practitioner the information as a result of these concerns.  But do we, as ASPA members, rely too much on numbers to convince our constituents of the “right thing to do” rather than relying upon the common values that exist throughout a community, a state, or a nation?  Are we relying upon “numbers” to protect ourselves from the political fight that often draws us into the fray?    Do these numbers convey values?

There are many questions that Spicer’s very good book brings to our attention.  I look forward to discussing them with you all.

Sincerely,

Dwight Vick

What’s a Pracademic?

It’s been years since I first heard the term “pracademic” and I’m still no closer to understanding the term.  Is it someone who works, or has worked, in academia and government?  Is it someone who works in government and occasionally teaches as an adjunct?  Is it a professor who also consults for, or serves on, the board of a nonprofit organization?  None of the above?

Multiple members and leaders of ASPA have suggested that ASPA consider specific programming for this segment of our membership. But before we do, it’s important to identify who we are talking about. For that matter, is it a demographic classification or an area of interest?

If you are a self-styled pracademic, please take a moment and let us know what type of programming and services appeal to you.  Is it something we are already doing, not doing at all, or need to be doing better? 

Please respond to this post, or if you prefer, contact me directly at mrankin@aspanet.org.

Best,

Matt Rankin
ASPA Deputy Director

Saving Detroit’s Legacy as the Gateway to Canada

Cross Border Management & Administration in the Detroit-Windsor Region

When you think about the city of Detroit, several images might come to mind.  You may think of the American automobile industry, or even the famous soul stirring music of Motown Records that made the city a music capital.  Whatever your image of Detroit might be, it probably does not include the reality that the city is indeed an international metropolis.  Detroit has always been the gateway city to Canada, and it is likely the only place in America where Canada is the neighbor to the south.  The shared water border with Windsor, Ontario is one of the most distinctive attributes of the city and the region, yet it is often a second or third thought. 

Due to its geographic location along the Detroit River, the cities of Detroit and Windsor have always maintained a close relationship and unique partnership.  Moreover, the surrounding communities, as well as the state of Michigan and the province of Ontario have strongly benefited from the goods, services, labor, capital and tourism that flow through the U.S./Canada Border.  Canada and the U.S. are each other’s largest trading partners, and share the longest non-militarized border in the world.  Subsequently, the Detroit-Windsor crossing is the busiest commercial crossing in North America, handling a quarter of all U.S./Canada trade equating to approximately $130 billion.  Border management crosses economical, political, and social lines; furthermore, the Detroit-Windsor crossing provides a unique opportunity to innovate the way in which all border crossings are managed.

While there is much promise to further enhance this border crossing and redefine the Detroit-Windsor region, significant projects are in holding patterns and at risk of moving forward.  The Detroit-Windsor crossing currently entails an underwater tunnel as well as the famous Ambassador Bridge.  The bridge, which is privately owned by Manuel Moroun and managed by the Detroit International Bridge Company, carries most of the commercial and recreational traffic.  The problem with the status quo is that the structure is 80 years old, very outdated, and not equipped to facilitate the amount of traffic that crosses the border each day.  As a result, wait times are always long, which can affect businesses and even the casual traveler.  This has resulted in the governments of both Canada and the U.S. calling for a new bridge.

The two proposals currently on the table involve another private bridge and a publicly owned bridge.  The former, would be a twin span right next to the Ambassador Bridge and owned by Mr. Moroun.  The latter, is a project called the Detroit River International Crossing, which would create a public bridge jointly owned by both nations, with new customs plazas and new highway connections on both sides of the border.  The projects are somewhat opposed to each other, and it is very unlikely that both will be built. 

Mr. Moroun’s plan to build a second bridge, has recently hit a roadblock on two accounts.  The first is that it is caught up in litigation with the City of Detroit and the State of Michigan, regarding land disputes and travel routes around the bridge that were previously agreed upon.  The second is that last week the U.S. Coast Guard terminated the twin span plan due to these disputes.  Mr. Moroun is battling on both fronts to keep this project alive.

The Detroit River International Crossing project faces its share of opposition from Mr. Moroun and his allies in the Michigan Legislature.  While the project has made significant advancement, coordinating the efforts of the Canadian and U.S. federal governments, as well as the State of Michigan, and the Province of Ontario, there is still a long way to go.  Canada is further ahead than the U.S. in securing land and rights to build the new bridge, but Michigan must still decide if it is going to pay for further work on the project.  State officials must make a decision by June.  Even with an official go ahead, this project could still be several years from completion, and a new bridge would not be opened until the latter part of the decade.

The bridge war in the Detroit-Windsor region not only represents a classic case of political and economic interests, but takes a different spin on how the border is and should be managed.  International relations are often thought of from purely the federal or even supranational levels of government.  However, the actual facilitation of a border is largely a practice of intergovernmental relations.  Border management not only affects the bilateral relationship between Canada and the United States, but improvements and enhancements at a specific crossing, like Detroit-Windsor, require intricate communication, coordination, and cooperation among state and provincial governments, county governments, municipal governments, and other local entities. Thus international relations among nations actually become intergovernmental relations at the ground level.

These types of projects not only require collaboration between governments, agencies, and private enterprise, but it also calls the public managers involved to have an interdisciplinary understanding of the various project components.  This is one area of public administration where training in state and local management, politics, planning and land use, transportation and international affairs all intersect.  This is not the first or last time that such a project will be embarked upon; however, in future endeavors it is incumbent upon governments to create mechanisms that allow efficient cross-border administration between various levels of government. 

Few would argue against the fact that this issue is one of significant importance to the national and local economies on both sides of the river.  From an academic and historical standpoint, this scenario presents a very interesting case study and future projects will be determined and measured by what happens at the Detroit-Windsor crossing.  As a public administrator I am intrigued by the intergovernmental relations at play.  However as a resident and concerned citizen, I simply want to see all the parties working together to get a new bridge built.   Yet another Detroit legacy is at risk.  The city, the state, the nation, and the continent cannot afford to let this issue fall by the wayside.

Marlon I. Brown, M.P.A.

Motivations of the Public: Will the same old incentives still work?

Much has been written about how we can incentivize our public service workers.  What has motivated or encouraged a Baby Boomer will not be the same tactic that will work with a Generation Xer or a Millennial.  While we ponder the impact on our workforce, we would do well to think about the same kinds of issues as applied to the public we serve.

Implementing public policy is about bringing about some kind of change in behavior or actions in the public.  In the past, we have used taxes, penalties and other consequences that create a negative environment.  If you do wrong and engage in the unwanted behaviors, you pay in some way.  There is a cost to continuing that action.  But will this same negative system of disincentives work for coming generations of the public?  How can we best motivate the public to change in coming years?

There are a number of ways we need to consider our encouragement of positive changes in future generations.  First and perhaps foremost, we need to consider the communications styles that appeal to generations coming of age in a time when technology has always been a part of their lives.  For Millennials, a more casual communications approach must still embrace a direct style.  Implication and nuance may not be as effective as straightforward messages.  Social networking as a means to both spread the desired message and track performance may be a very appropriate means of change in society.

Homelanders, the generation still in development today, will likely be use to being tracked carefully by their techie parents and may in fact be much more protected as a result.  While their parents appreciate public praise and are very close to familial or quasi-family social networks, this upcoming group may well respond to more personal incentives for future change and therefore may need to understand more about what is in it for them.  Highly competitive Millennials are proving to be civic-minded and open to positive change; their children may likewise be models of public participation and service.

These generations that will drive future societal adjustments through their acceptance or denial of change will be the people that we as public administrators will be attempting to influence through our policy implementation.  If we select the wrong incentives, change will not occur as we would hope.  Taking the possible tax on sugared sodas as a current example, some Millennials have already raised a cry against this as a punishment for something that people should have a right to buy.  How is this different from existing cigarette or alcohol taxes?  It is not, but the people who are most impacted by it, the people whose behavior and actions we wish to change, are!

By Yvonne J. Kochanowski, DPA, MBA, yvonne.kochanowski@capella.edu