Lachezar “Lucky” Anguelov, PhD, a Member of the Faculty for The Evergreen State College Masters of Public Administration (MPA) program, presented his research: “Contract Oversight Choices and Cost of Government: The Impact of Different Control Mechanisms Used in Outsourced Public Service Provision” at the Midwest Political Science Association Annual Conference in Chicago, Illinois. This research  explained how  different oversight mechanisms in outsourced public service delivery affect the cost of government by drawing on transaction costs economics and inter-organizational control literatures. Additionally, he served as a panel chair of the panel of “Public Sector Job Satisfaction Under Intense Accountability.”

The Midwest Political Science Association Annual Conference was held in Chicago, Illinois in 2017 and is headquartered in Bloomington, Indiana. MPSA conference sessions are organized by topic in more than 80 sections based on different subfields or areas of study. Many of these are interdisciplinary and provide participants with a new perspective on the research. The MPSA conference was held under one roof at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago, and included multiple receptions, formal networking events, organized mentoring opportunities, and access to our extensive exhibit hall. Additionally, MPSA offered a variety of conference-related scholarships for working parents and graduate students, as well as a fee waiver scholarship for those from the developing world and outside of the discipline.

http://www.mpsanet.org/

https://convention2.allacademic.com/one/mpsa/mpsa17/

Students gathered across the world, to several sites for a competition challenging student in Public Policy and Management. These global sites were Maastricht, New York City, Washington D.C. area, Indianapolis, Bogotá, Tempe, Seattle, and Beijing. NASPAA is a global public service membership association network for graduate schools offering programs in Public Affairs, Administration, Policy and the like.  The annual competition offers students an opportunity to interact as global leaders, the web based module creates a ‘game-like’ experience to position students in a series of world events, participants react and strategize to steer their country through particular regional challenges. Hunger security was the theme for this year, UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 2 to end world hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture by 2030 was the basis for this competition.

We worked in teams trying to lead our region to better health, economic opportunity, developed infrastructure and crop diversification. In our roles we evaluated the information provided, which came in the form of complex categorized numerical data stats, with a lot of room for interpretation and application.

Developing strategies and filling these various roles was a unique experience that taught me some of the factors involved in establishing and working towards complex world goals, as well as the global and regional compounding threats and how they impact populations and systems. The experience was beneficial and challenged me to weigh confounding factors, compete on a variety of scales and gain new understanding for work done by organizations like the UN.

I loved meeting students from different programs and professions, the networking event hosted by UW really enhanced my understanding of the variety of programs and specializations available. I appreciated this opportunity to meet and learn from a diverse range of students from across the Pacific North West.

The MPA student participants from TESC pictured from left to right include Ulysses Martin, Ryan Keith, Jamie Milletary, and Nicole Vukonich

MPA faculty member, T. S. (Steve) Marshall, PhD, just published his second leadership book: Leadership Nonnegotiables (ISBN 978-1-5246-7545-5). This book is a companion book to Steve’s earlier work titled Competent Leadership. Leadership competence revolves around one’s personal style, one’s relationships, and how one communicates, motivates, resolves conflict, and makes decisions. What went unsaid in Competent Leadership is the foundation for this book. The focus of Leadership Nonnegotiables is what we consider the very core of leading – personal character, leadership talent, and management skill. One does not lead in isolation. Leadership occurs among and with others, and those others expect leaders to be of character and imbued with talent and skill.

Alicia LeDuc, an MPA/MES grad from 2011 will be participating in an upcoming national delegation to Guatemala to interview survivors and attorneys from the precedent-setting Sepu Zarco Trial (2016). The case is historic as the first time sexual slavery was prosecuted as a war crime in a national court anywhere in the world and was the first case of gender violence from Guatemala’s conflict era (1980s).The verdict is a human rights victory world-wide.

Alicia was selected for this delegation to write a law review article which will be published in the Willamette Journal of International Law and Dispute Resolution to disseminate the case’s litigation strategies with attorneys in the United State. She is writing the paper as her 3^rd year writing requirement for law school. This important work covers a historic case of gender justice, and she will be the first legal scholar to publish on the topic.

Here is a short video (5 min) about the project.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/190282061/sepur-zarco-guatemalan-women-win-case-against-the

The Evergreen State College Member of the Faculty Eric S Trevan PhD presented as an invited panelist at the Reservation Economic Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hosted by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development (NCAIED) this event is the largest national gathering focused on Native American economic development. Eric also serves as Chairman of his Tribes economic development corporation, Gun Lake Investments, and is a Tribal citizen of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians.

Speaking on Economic Growth Planning, Eric facilitated a discussion about reaching out to constituents, knowledge accumulation, and providing economic data to stakeholders for better prediction of economic outcomes for Tribal nations.

“Ensuring all stakeholders  have improved economic information progresses from just educating others on successful planning techniques to the accumulation of economic knowledge for all Tribal stakeholders.”

Other participants in this impactful presentation were Jason Lambert (Eastern Band Cherokee), President of 12 Clans Development, Jamie Fullmer (Yavapai Apache), President of Bluestone Strategies, Annette Hamilton (Kickapoo Tribe), Chief Operating Officer of Ho-Chunk Inc and Kip Ritchie (Forest County Potawatomi) President of Greenfire Construction and Treasurer of NCAIED.

http://www.sciencediplomacy.org/article/2017/toward-knowledge-based-society

Teresa Mosqueda, a graduate of The Evergreen State College Masters of Public Administration program, is a candidate for position 8, a city wide open seat for Seattle City Council.

Teresa currently is the political-campaign director at the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO. Additionally, she has served on the state’s Exchange Board and assisted in the development of last year’s initiative to raise the state minimum wage.

Mosqueda’s priorities include Seattle’s affordable-housing shortage, labor rights, economic inequality and uneven health outcomes. She has currently received endorsements from elected officials, including Lt. Gov. Cyrus Habib, Senate Minority Leader Sharon Nelson and House Speaker Frank Chopp.

Photo and information courtesy of the Seattle Times

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/labor-leader-teresa-mosqueda-announces-run-for-seattle-city-council/

Check this out for more information:  http://www.evergreen.edu/mpa/tacoma

Following on the heels of the January Leadership Summit for 1^st Year MPA Core learning communities, MPA Director Doreen Swetkis will be attending a Women in Education Leadership at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in early March.  Doreen expects to enhance her leadership skills as she and the MPA Program staff prepare to launch an MPA Tacoma cohort, as well as bring what she learned to the classroom for Ethics and Leadership in Public Service, Spring 2017.

This professional development opportunity made possible by Faculty Professional Travel and Provost’s Special Projects Fund.