沃伊诺维奇学校 student shares applied learning experience in the MPA program

Many 沃伊诺维奇学校 students are attracted to the School due to its focus on applied research, 公共管理硕士(MPA)二年级学生, 玛吉•克拉克, 也不例外. 然而, 克拉克在学院的经历当然是非同寻常的, leading her in directions and affording her opportunities that she would not have anticipated.

玛吉•克拉克 earned her undergraduate degree at newbb电子平台 in communication studies with a focus on political communications in 2014. 克拉克起初不确定下一步该做什么, but was interested in finding a master of public administration program to continue her education. 她调查了全国各地的项目. 然而, 她把注意力转移到了雅典这里的机会上, she discovered that the right program had been under her nose all along.

“I read a little bit more about the 沃伊诺维奇学校 通过 newbb电子平台 website, 我真的很喜欢其中的newbb电子学习元素,克拉克说. “I thought the program would be a really interesting way to learn more about government while also getting that applied learning experience.”

在学校的第一年, Clark served as the Vice President of Legislative Affairs executive on Graduate Student Senate and began work with the 沃伊诺维奇学校’s Planning, 教育, 评估和研究(PEER)小组, 专注于数据分析.

“It was really great to be a first-year student learning more about public management and administration and also serve on the Student Senate at the same time,克拉克说. “I enjoyed being able to connect with students outside of the 沃伊诺维奇学校 and talk to them about different issues on campus, 以及与我们在沃伊诺维奇学校的工作相关的东西.”

克拉克的参议员任期结束，她的第一年即将结束, she began work with the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) in Washington, D.C. 通过 杰弗瑞一个. 芬克尔newbb电子平台经济发展实习. The internship offers undergraduate and graduate students affiliated with the 沃伊诺维奇学校 the opportunity to intern at the IEDC and gain practical, 对当地经济发展问题和趋势有实际经验.

“I was a little bit nervous about it at first because I didn’t really have a strong background in economic development,克拉克说. “I’d been more in the communication and management side of the MPA program.”

然而，克拉克说，她学得很快. 利用沃伊诺维奇学校的资源, she was able to gain a fairly good understanding of economic development before beginning her internship, 但工作中的学习机会最终才是最有价值的.

“Taking advantage of all the knowledge resources the IEDC has was a really amazing part of it,克拉克说.

自从回到雅典, Clark has continued her work with data analysis and program evaluation on the PEER team. She has spent a large part of this year working on an evaluation of an Ohio initiative called Law and Leadership, 一项旨在激励和培养学生的四年计划, 尤其是那些来自城市公立学校的学生, 对于法律职业来说.

Clark is helping to evaluate the population that the program serves as well as what students are taking away from the program, assessing whether students have become more interested in careers in law and if they have improved their skills in writing, 口语与专业.

“我真的很喜欢在这些项目的数据方面工作, and it’s interesting to see the stories that data can tell us about these learning experiences for high schoolers,克拉克说.

追求她对数据的兴趣, Clark is currently working on a project with three of her peers as an independent study in data visualization.

“We have gathered 200 years of data regarding economic and educational trends in Appalachia, and we are creating maps to show the changes in these variables over time. Our hope is to show how data can be used to tell powerful stories about a region,克拉克说.

The project also hopes to shed light on the ways in which public administrators can use free and open-source software to create data visualizations for their administrative work.

Clark has applied her learning experience at the 沃伊诺维奇学校 to her current internship with the Appalachian 合作伙伴hip for Economic Growth (APEG), 这有助于俄亥俄州阿巴拉契亚地区的经济发展. Clark is involved in multiple projects at APEG that allow her to use her skills in data and information gathering and analysis, 她还参与了联系当地合作伙伴的倡议. 除了培养她的数据分析能力, Clark said her experiences at the 沃伊诺维奇学校 have allowed her to network with many leaders in the region and develop an understanding of Appalachia, 所有这些都对她的APEG工作有帮助.

娜塔莉·威尔逊, 沃伊诺维奇学院的研究员, has been a valuable mentor for Clark during her time at the 沃伊诺维奇学校.

“她知识渊博，”克拉克说. “She’s not only able to tell me why we’re doing certain things but she also provides me with resources that I can look at if I want a deeper understanding. I think that really demonstrates applied learning 通过 沃伊诺维奇学校 in its best form.”

威尔逊也积极地评价了克拉克和她的工作.

“玛吉在可视化数据的能力方面取得了很大的进步, work with different software and produce data summaries that are useful to a variety of audiences,威尔逊说. “Maggie has asked me a number of data-related questions about projects she is involved in outside of her GA, so I’m confident she is applying what she has learned at the 沃伊诺维奇学校.”

2016年春季毕业后, Clark plans to continue her exploration of public sector communications and economic development.