By Robyn Jay Bage How could this happen? Who would want to hurt little children? Why aren’t kids safe in school? Is this school safe? What if one of us had a gun? What would happen if a stranger came in with one? Who can protect us? In February 2013 I wrote about the heart… Read More Eighteen Months and Seventy-Four School Shootings
By Jason Bowns During an Associated Press banquet at the Waldorf-Astoria, Mark Twain once quipped, “No public interest is anything other or nobler than a massed accumulation of private interests.” Today, public servants are universally bound to protect this broad public interest. Those officials include elected leaders, career civil service members and political appointees, among… Read More Drawing A Line In The Public Interest
By Jason Bowns Performance measurement is key in public administration. The purpose of performance measurement is to make things better and to exceed the bar, rather than merely meeting it. Yet the unfolding firestorm at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) illuminates a looming danger, when the numbers become more important than larger questions… Read More How Justice Can Prevail in Public Administration
By Robyn Jay Bage Whether you are a seasoned manager or someone relatively new to the joys and trials of management, you’ve probably been exposed to the Urgent/Important Matrix to help you prioritize, manage your time, or increase your productivity. It is often credited to Stephen Covey. It is also sometimes called the Eisenhower Matrix,… Read More Important….But Not Urgent
By Robyn Jay Bage I am a teacher. For the past six years I’ve taught at a community college. As a nonprofit manager too, I’ve been teaching, in one way or another, for over 20 years. You name the demographic; I’ve taught groups that are in it. Sometimes, teaching is a breeze. The audience is… Read More I Am A Teacher!
By Robyn-Jay Bage I was driving home from work last night and had an unfortunate epiphany: Christmas is next week. At other periods in my life, I might have been excited at this revelation. I love the spirit of the season. But this year, it all seems rather anticlimactic—we’ve been celebrating this holiday since October.… Read More Happy Thanksmas!
By Ferd H. Mitchell and Cheryl C. Mitchell Federal and state administrative strategies to cope with the implementation problems of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are beginning to become more transparent to outside viewers. The federal Health Exchange (at http://www.HealthCare.gov ) is mired in technical problems. The response has been to appeal to enhanced “fix-it”… Read More Learning From ACA Implementation Problems
By Robyn Jay Bage A room filled with a half-dozen rambunctious children. A turkey—named Harry—so large he has to be wedged in the pan. My brother’s plate stacked like Mount Kilimanjaro. My sister, ‘testing’ the eggnog (homemade), over and over, for no particular reason. Stuffing. (Need I say more?) And yes, Mom cheating at Scrabble.… Read More Holiday Reflection and Action
Although grant writing is a year-round activity, things tend to pick up substantially between January and May. Without a grant writer or development person, grant-writing season is an “all hands on deck”, time at my nonprofit. For larger opportunities or new programs, my CFO and I take the lead. For routine reapplications and smaller opportunities,… Read More The Value of Leadership and Other Unnecessary Overhead Costs
By Sarah Blanchard Yes, These Words Belong in the Same Sentence If you work in a public sector organization and are thinking that you may need some marketing skills don’t feel depraved. Marketing is not a profit-driving force aimed at manipulating the populace. For the purposes of our work as public administrators, marketing is no… Read More Public Administration and Marketing
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