Alumni Profiles
Laura Collins, Social Security Administration, Claims Representative for Supplemental Security Income, SSI.
SSI is a needs based program that helps disabled, blind, and older Americans along with those in financial need. My job as a Claims Representative is to take a claim and determine an applicant's financial eligibility, refer cases that meet this eligibility to a medical determination board and then adjudicate the claim. After clients are determined to be eligible, I work with them to ensure they get their benefits promptly.
After graduating from undergrad I was unsure as to what to do next. The MPA program started me on the path to what I really wanted to do in terms of my career goal to become a management official in a public organization. I love working for SSA and would probably not be with the agency if it wasn't for the MPA program. The MPA program gave me the tools needed to not only obtain my current position but also to advance in the agency. If it wasn't for the MPA program I wouldn't have the knowledge and understanding of public administration that I need to perform successfully in the public sector.
Donald Miles, University of South Carolina Aiken, Coordinator of Institutional Statistics, Office of Institutional Effectiveness.
Donald Miles recently joined the staff of USC Aiken's Institutional Effectiveness Office as a statistical and research analyst. A 2004 USC Aiken political science graduate, Miles was active in a variety of organizations and programs while a student.
After enrolling in the Masters of Public Administration program at Augusta State University in the fall of 2004, Miles served as a graduate assistant in the program, working for the director. He also completed an internship in Columbia County , Ga., working in the Commissioner's Office.
After graduating in May, Miles worked in the Advertising Department at The Augusta Chronicle as a multimedia sales executive. Miles resides in Aiken, where he is studying and training in the ministry at Mt. Moriah Baptist Church . He is actively involved in church and will conduct his first initial sermon on July 8, 2007. In addition, he is a member of the USC Aiken Alumni Council and the University's Inclusion Advisory Committee.
Each of my professors in the MPA Program at ASU has left lasting imprints on my education. Their valuable insights and knowledge have been very helpful in my efforts to find and locate a job opportunity such as this one. I continue to learn more and more everyday. I must acknowledge that it is because of the sound preparation that I received through the MPA program at ASU that I feel that I was able to make a successful transition into this career path.
Patrick Clayton, Task Force Supervisor, Drug Enforcement Agency.
Completing the Augusta State University Master's of Public Administration program has been one of the best decisions of my adult life. ASU's MPA program exposes its students to academic theory, but emphasizes practical application. As a MPA candidate you will accomplish projects that will prepare you for the real world like preparing and completing: budgets, management plans, program evaluations, personnel appraisals, survey instruments, conflict/ethical resolution, focus groups and other research studies.
I have spent 28 years in the public sector in a variety of law enforcement leadership positions. Participating in the MPA program has greatly enhanced my experience. As a person who has sat on personnel screening boards, I am more interested in what an applicant can do than what they know. ASU's MPA program will help to develop you into a can do person.
B. Todd Glover, Assistant County Administrator, Aiken County.
The MPA program at ASU has been the best career move I have ever made. Not only did I gain valuable knowledge and skills, but the degree itself has opened doors that allowed me to advance in my career and greatly increase my income.
The small class sizes allow for interaction and discussion that you won't find in larger programs. In addition, the professors know you by name and care about your success in the program. I have never regretted the time spent at ASU in the MPA program and I continue to utilize former MPA classmates as resources in their fields of expertise.
Dr. Kathryn R. Martin, Assistant Dean of the Southeast Georgia Clinical Campus of the Medical, College of Georgia School of Medicine.
Dr. Martin knows everyone in health care up and down Georgia's coast, says Dr. Linda Boyd, associate dean for regional campus coordination in the MCG School of Medicine. She is an experienced educator who has managed graduate programs, an experienced administrator who has managed large, multi-site health care programs and she helped plan the international G8 Summit in Sea Island in 2004. Perhaps most importantly, she is a dynamic person who has the ability to connect with people and has such enthusiasm for her work.
As Georgia's population increases, so does the demand for physicians and other health care professionals, says Dr. Martin. MCG School of Medicine's expansion in southeast Georgia enables that part of the state to play a greater role in meeting this important challenge. I am privileged to help. The new residential clinical campus that Dr. Martin is helping to lead is a cooperative endeavor including hospitals and physicians throughout southeast Georgia. It gives second- and third- year medical students an opportunity to work alongside experienced physicians.
Dr. Martin does not hold a medical degree, but is an outstanding example of the importance of skills learned in the Master of Public Administration program. She directed health services administration and program development for the master of public health program at Mercer Medical School, and was deputy director and clerkship coordinator for Georgia Statewide Area Health Education Centers.
LaKeisha Lowe, Community Outreach Coordinator, Helping Hands, Inc., Aiken SC.
LaKeisha Lowe completed her MPA degree in May 2007 and immediately accepted a position as community outreach coordinator with Helping Hands, Inc., in Aiken, SC,. Helping Hands is a 24-hour residential care center for child victims of abuse, abandonment, or neglect. LaKeisha is responsible for training, recruiting and placing volunteers in the Aiken community, as well as educating the community about fundraising opportunities.
It is the perfect job for me. It combines my passion of working with youth as well as my own desire to work in the nonprofit arena, she says.
As a 2003 graduate of Wesleyan College, Lakeisha wanted to combine her liberal arts background with her interest in giving to the community. The MPA program helped her realize this goal, but she credits her undergraduate studies with her successful completion of the MPA program. Wesleyan professors pushed her to develop strong writing, research and presentation skills. These skills earned her a 4.0 GPA and induction into the Pi Alpha Alpha Honor Society.
