Public Affairs Program at Maxwell School of Syracuse University

As a member of Americorps, I am working at the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas in Austin. They have a nutrition education program and they work with soup kitchens, churches, rehab centers etc., teaching classes on nutrition and cooking. Before a series of classes begin, pre tests are given to the clients and after the last class, they are given post tests. Part of my job entails putting together reports to be sent out to the state after a class is finished. So basically I do exactly what we had to do in PAF 315. I wanted to let you know that 315 was extremely helpful, because I would not know how to do this if it wasn't for the class, as much of a pain as it could be at times! So you can let your students know that it is very helpful.

I'm Kevin Brady, I graduated last May as a Policy Studies and Spanish major, and I'm now a Peace Corps volunteer in Mongolia. I live in the Gobi Desert, in a tent called a "ger."

Anyway, a lot of your policy classes prepared me for the work I'm doing now in my village (small community development projects), and without those classes I'm sure I would have a completely different perspective on a lot of things. If any of your students have questions regarding Peace Corps service, they can email me any time. It certainly is tough, but it changes your entire life in countless ways. It's a cliché, but it's true.

Your 101 course was easily the most influential course of my college career. Not only for the material and concepts learned, but because of the overarching theme of the class, that doing good is really a requirement of being a responsible citizen, and the course really got my head out of the sand regarding the world around me, and regarding the kinds of societal problems that any country faces.

Another extremely important course was 410, if I remember the number correctly, where a student is assigned to a nonprofit or public organization and works on a set project that must be completed by the end of the semester. The class was beneficial for the work itself, but also for the obvious fact that it gives students a chance to work closely in the real world. To me, for a class to be successful, it must have real-world applications. The lessons I learned from 410 (time management, how to comport yourself in a professional environment, multi-tasking, etc..) are invaluable to me now in the Peace Corps.

I live in a village in the Gobi Desert of about 400-500 people. My job description is TEFL Instruction and Community Development. So throughout the school year, I teach English in a small school, but I'm also required to initiate projects in the community outside of teaching.

I recently wrote a grant with the local school director to design a literacy program for young adults living in the countryside who never went to school as children. We were awarded $2500 out of USDA Wheat Funds, and for 5 weeks, 6 days a week for 8 hours per day, the students learned how to read and write their language, and they also learned basic math skills, as well as history and a few other subjects. They were housed and fed as well. I did not teach, but my job was to oversee the whole thing.

So the 101 course was what really helped me realize my life's goal, which is to do international as well as national work, with organizations like USAID and the Red Cross. All of the Major courses were valuable to me, but 410 particularly sticks out.

Kenneth Turner '04 - Finance and Policy Studies--Peace Corp

Hi this is Kenneth Turner. I hope all is well with you and everyone else within the Syracuse community. I finally had the opportunity to visit the updated PAF website and read a few of the testimonials posted by other alums. I have also taken a moment to write a testimonial which hopefully can be added to the others:

After graduating in 2004, I have been working for over a year as a Peace Corps volunteer in Bolivia. As a Micro-Enterprise Development Volunteer I work for an international NGO (Proyecto de Desarollo de Area- World Vision) in a rural town of about 3,000 people called Arani. In general, I am responsible for working with the organization and community members to develop sustainable economic generating activities. Specifically, this involves managing a micro-credit loan program whereby people in Arani (who otherwise would not be able to receive bank loans) can receive loans to finance and support their small businesses (producing and selling honey, pigs, fruit, and fish). The other area of my job involves working directly with these small-businessmen and businesswomen in identifying methods to improve profitability and giving classes in basic accounting, leadership, production, and marketing.

Looking back on my college career I am glad that I chose to combine my major in Finance with a major in Policy Studies. Concepts such as problem-solving, benchmarking, and data analysis learned and practiced in PAF classes have proven to be very useful to me in the work that I am now doing.

I have come to understand that it is only when you are forced to step outside of the classroom and apply what you have learned that you truly understand the significance of your education. In this way the Policy Studies major differs from others by incorporating real-world experience in many of its classes. Most importantly, my experience as a Policy Studies student and now as a Peace Corps Volunteer has only strengthened my view that everyone can do their part in creating a positive impact on society no matter how they choose to contribute.

[top]

Kathleen Malliarakis '03 - works for WAVE (non-profit)

Work, Achievement, Values, Education, Inc. (WAVE) is a nonprofit that works with schools and community organizations to establish education, job training, and youth development programs to engage and motivate young people. As a program development specialist, I am a lead grant writer and program developer. I am responsible for developing relationships with individual, foundation, corporate, and government partners (as well as coordinating interns). I also direct and support projects related to fundraising, public relations, government relations, and marketing strategies. It is a challenging and dynamic job, on a different level than other employment experiences I have had since graduation. I am truly grateful for my policy studies background because the coursework and internships have made the launch of my career successful. I am confident engaging in new projects and tasks because I had a variety of relationships with nonprofits as a Syracuse undergrad. My education and internship experience have been invaluable, and have made me marketable to a variety of employers.

[top]

My name is Sara View and I graduated in May 2000 with a dual degree in Public Affairs and Women's studies. After working at a non-profit for two years doing government relations and using skills learned in PAF, I decided to enter the field of direct service. I worked for another two years as a case manager for a domestic violence shelter in northern Virginia. I was still not completely satisfied with my career, though, and wanted to combine my interest in public policy and my passion for working on issues related to violence against women. After several months of investigation, I decided to go back to school to pursue my masters in Social Work. Most people believe social work is about handing out welfare checks and working with child protective services. It is actually much more. The program in which I am enrolled at Catholic University has a social work policy concentration. I refer to my PAF 101 textbook all the time for my Social Work policy classes. The skills and attention to detail that Prof. Coplin emphasizes have given me an edge over the other students in my graduate program. In the spring semester when I started the first social work policy class, I found I was very well prepared. I felt that I had a "leg up" on the other students because I had a strong policy background. It made writing my final policy analysis paper significantly easier. I already understood how to think critically about polices! When I graduate, I will have enhanced the skills that I stared developing as an undergraduate at Syracuse in the Public Affairs Program, and apply them to social policy regarding violence against women.

When I took PAF 101 as a freshman at SU, I knew nothing about the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa. I was a wide-eyed, domestically focused “dogooder”. I managed to temper my idealism with a public policy “toolkit” assembled in 101 through modules demanding critical thinking and keen, if not neurotic, attention to detail. I expanded this toolkit as a Policy Studies major – navigating through core courses and my selection as a Harry S. Truman Scholar, Remembrance Scholar, and Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) Fellow.

After my first semester at MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning, I shifted focus from urban policy to international development planning. In the two years leading to graduate school, I became immersed in advocacy around a “dogooder” issue that flickered dimly on the world radar screen: millions of Africans dying of AIDS and millions of children orphaned. I now run one of the largest, African American, faith-based, organizations supporting orphans and vulnerable children in Africa. Since 2001, we have directly assisted over 350 programs in Africa serving AIDS orphans. I work with people on the ground in Africa and interface with policymakers, practitioners and development experts. I am frequently the youngest of my colleagues.

I find myself swimming in an enormous problem that would appear to defy all the basic principles of policy analysis. But I have dipped into my “toolkit” at every turn; from my graduate research fieldwork in Africa to representing my organization at international policy and advocacy forums. Passion (or compassion) is simply not enough to “solve” a world problem of epic proportions such HIV/AIDS. But conviction matched with concrete skills may lead to a seat at the decision making table or an opportunity, however daunting, to become a true change agent.

www.saveafricaschildren.org

Stephanie Pasquale '93 Former Senior Executive and Now Consulting to A Non-Profit Organization

In reacting to an article Coplin wrote entitled "A College Degree and a Dollar Will Get Your Four Quarters," Stephanie wrote: