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First Annual MPA Golf
Outing
On Sunday, August 3, 2008 MPA faculty, students, alumni, and friends assembled on
Paxon Hills Golf Course for the first annual MPA Golf Outing. Four foursomes
competed in the outing, which was a “scramble” format. "The golf outing
was a chance for faculty, alumni, students and family to come together away from
the pressures of the semester and get to know each other on a more personal
level. The crowd was enthusiastic and it showed on the golf course," said the
event's organizer, Jamie Orose (MPA - December '08). Look for announcements about the second annual event!
Ethics in Public
Service: A Workshop for Municipal Officials
On April
5, 2008, elected and appointed municipal officials in Pennsylvania convened on
Villanova’s campus for a workshop on ethics in public service. The
particular focus was on how the common good can be fostered in an environment
complicated by partisan and political pressures. The workshop was
co-sponsored by the Master of Public Administration (MPA) Program, the Ethics
Program, the School of Law, and the Matthew J. Ryan Project.
Participants were from many local municipalities including: Hatfield Township,
Springfield Township, the Borough of Chalfont, Lower Gwynedd Township, Upper
Merion Township, the Borough of Perkasie, Warminster Township, Haverford
Township, Upper Moreland Township, the Borough of Lansdale, Plymouth Township,
Middletown Township, and the Borough of West Chester.
The workshop was
facilitated by Villanova faculty – Mark Doorley, Christine Kelleher, Penelope
Pether, Craig Wheeland, and Catherine Wilson. VU alum (J.D. and M.P.A. May
2007) Sarah Stevenson, the Assistant Policy Director at the Committee of
Seventy, also participated. The
workshop began with a panel presentation and discussion on practical approaches to ethical decision-making by
Doorley, Wheeland, Pether, and Stevenson. The second session was a
break-out in which attendees discussed ethical dilemmas portrayed in three case
studies. The workshop concluded with an address by Amy L. Kurland,
Esquire (the Inspector General of the City of Philadelphia), who discussed
initiatives of the Nutter administration regarding ethical practices and
behaviors.
“Kurland’s talk was a fitting conclusion to a productive
morning of discussions regarding ethics, the common good, and public service,”
said Christine Kelleher, VU faculty member and MPA Director. “As we know
from reading the newspaper and watching the evening news every day, those who
have chosen a life dedicated to the public service are often faced with a
multitude of ethical dilemmas. Yet, for all of the egregious examples of
ethical fall-outs, there are also countless other examples of dedicated public
servants who have faced ethical challenges with great courage and integrity. A
goal of our workshop was to focus on such positive exemplars and candidly
discuss some of the challenges that localities face in striving to develop
ethical organizations and practices.”
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