The COVID-19 Pandemic and MPA Education: Student Perspectives on Public Service Values and Public Service Motivation

Balancing My Life During COVID-19
by Megan Bermea

The mission and values of a public servant become crystal clear amid a public health emergency.  The mundane tasks of bureaucracy suddenly transform into life-and-death projects and decisions that require competent and compassionate leadership. Not only was I in my last semester of the MPA program at Texas State University when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, I also held a full-time management position at Texas Health and Human Services (HHS) working on the front lines of the public health emergency. 

HHS swiftly mobilized to help Texans statewide as public health threats impact both clients and providers. We are responsible for implementing strategies to mitigate healthcare personnel staffing shortages; disseminating infection control basics, information for hospitals and healthcare professionals, and provider information communication; curating reliable and evidence-based public health resources; and focusing on the priority areas of primary and behavioral health services, Medicaid and CHIP services, and regulatory services. 

In addition to responding directly to the COVID-19 pandemic, HHS must also evaluate and respond to the indirect impacts on the state budget due to the economic hardship related to the pandemic. HHS is carefully and strategically balancing the increase in public health and healthcare demand with significantly reduced available resources. It is a complex, challenging, and rapidly-evolving situation that requires agility, dedication, and skilled leadership. 

Our programs have experienced significant increased demand due to the COVID-19 virus, as well as economic hardships and a sharp rise in unemployment. We are responsible for implementing federal and state policy waivers to allow many of our programs to utilize telehealth and telemedicine services and other flexibilities to continue to serve their clients, many of whom are the most vulnerable among us. We are also responsible for administering federal grant funding from the CARES Act to increase budgets in many health and social services programs due to the surge in demand. 

We have had to amend contracts, write new administrative rules, adjust budgets and funding sources, apply for grants, push out COVID communications, host COVID webinars, and still maintain regular daily operations and oversight of programs and services. Without the skills, knowledge, and applied experience of my MPA education, I would have been lost in a sea of despair and panic amidst this global pandemic. Every class such as public policy, administrative law, fiscal administration, public management, ethics, and information technology helped to inform my understanding of the role of a state agency in a pandemic, but collectively this program instilled in me the confidence needed to meet these challenges head-on, lead with empathy and agility, and focus on the true meaning of public service.

It was exceptionally challenging to attempt to balance the professional workload that resulted from the pandemic with MPA school work and home schooling two children. Not to mention, I contracted the virus and was down for the count for over three weeks. COVID-19 impacted my life in tremendous ways, yet I am stronger because of it. 

Megan Bermea currently serves as the senior advisor for women’s health and family services programs at Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) in Austin, Texas. Prior to HHSC, Ms. Bermea worked as a curriculum policy specialist and rules coordinator in the Office of Academics at the Texas Education Agency. 

She was a contributing writer to the 17th edition of Practicing Texas Politics and worked as director of volunteer operations for the literacy nonprofit organization, Education Connection. 

Ms. Bermea is a summa cum laude graduate of The University of Texas at El Paso with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and is a Merrick Graduate Fellowship recipient at The Graduate College of Texas State University. She graduated with a master’s degree in public administration in Summer 2020.

The COVID-19 Pandemic and MPA Education: Student Perspectives on Public Service Values and Public Service Motivation

 An MPA Education and Returning to Work During COVID-19

by Désirée Adair

Since March, with the onset of stay-at-home orders, each of these events  have occurred:

• My husband continued to work in-person as an essential worker despite the risk.

• I worked on my Applied Research Project (ARP) with consistent interruption.

• I became a major contributor to my children’s education by providing assistance for the online school learning curve, time management, and workflow prioritization.

• Confusion, adaptation, and general upheaval of our personal and professional lives.

Sound familiar? I know that I am not alone in taking on additional roles due to the pandemic, but my public administration studies helped prepare me to do more with less.

My experiences as a student and a mother during COVID-19 have further contextualized my understanding of the theories that I have learned studying public administration. I am a non-traditional student with past experience in government who enrolled in the MPA program at Texas State University in order to return to meaningful work in the public sector. My courses have provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to implement effective policies and public programs. My ARP focused on professionals returning to work after a career break, and how returner programs are an innovative tool for HRM (Human Resource Management). Many professional women leave their positions at some point in their careers to care for their families. A majority of these women would like to return to pursue their career but have to overcome the employment gap on their resumés.  This project raised my awareness of HR topics and gave me an opportunity to focus on women returning to work in the public sector. My research led me to discover how many women, and others,  have these career disruptions and are attempting to return to the workplace.  Returner programs allow organizations to gain access to an untapped pool of educated and experienced professionals, and candidates are provided with an opportunity to serve in higher level positions; this creates a win-win situation for both employing organizations and skilled professionals seeking positions after a career break. 

My ARP was a descriptive study of municipal human resources’ directors’ perceptions toward returner programs. While my timing was not ideal - I sent the survey in March of 2020 just as the WHO declared a pandemic – I was able to incorporate recent academic research.  The associated economic fallout from COVID-19 caused an unprecedented 14.7% unemployment level in April of 2020, thus many educated and experienced professionals found themselves searching for new positions (Chaney & Morath, 2020). Some have characterized this as a “Shecession” due to the disproportionate unemployment experienced by women who accounted for 55% of the jobs lost (Gupta, 2020). This finding provided motivation for me to contribute solutions to HRM issues including gender diversity in high-level positions. Returner programs offer one solution by filling open positions with qualified and experienced workers while reducing risk and improving organizational performance. My research benefits public sector organizations wanting to help reintegrate the workforce which is desperately needed for our economic recovery.  

COVID-19 caused my research topic to acquire new meaning and put it in a new context.  I realized that the government is always trying to do more with less and that requires innovation.  This predicament was only magnified by the pandemic and has created difficulty for HR professionals in the public sector competing for employees with the private sector. Through my courses at Texas State University, I gained a new appreciation of public servants as they face new challenges - such as work modifications, balancing risk for employees and the public, and rapidly managing change. I have a deeper understanding of how the HR world in the public sector needs to adapt. 

As I look forward to my internship during my final semester, and my children start school in a virtual learning environment, I wonder what adaptations and innovations will become normal. As I proceed back into the workforce after graduation, I know that it will require a great balancing act as a woman in the public sector labor force, yet I am motivated to look for solutions to serve my community.  

Sources

Chaney, S., & Morath, E. (2020, May 8). April Unemployment Rate Rose to a Record 14.7%; Unprecedented 20.5 Million Jobs Shed As Coronavirus Pandemic Hit The Economy. The Wall Street Journal. 

Gupta, A. (2020, May 13). Why Some Women Call This Recession a ‘Shecession’. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/09/us/unemployment- coronavirus-women.html 

Désirée Adair is a Master of Public Administration candidate at Texas State University. Previously she earned a BA in Economics and minored in Mathematics. Désirée’s current research interests include local government, human resources, and economic development. She hopes to obtain a position in local government post-graduation.

The COVID-19 Pandemic and MPA Education: Student Perspectives on Public Service Values and Public Service Motivation

This One is Different

by Melissa Bell

The coronavirus pandemic is a different kind of emergency than others I have encountered.  Just like everyone else, I am personally impacted:  suddenly working from home, adjusting my MPA study schedule, keeping up with quickly developing news, and making sure my family is safe, well, and has the provisions needed.  Even with these unexpected changes, I have no complaints.  My household has so far not been infected, and we still have our jobs, though my husband’s hours were drastically reduced at first.  Everyone I know has a stockpile of toilet paper, and I am confident disinfecting wipes will someday return to store shelves. 

Despite the minor and short-term inconveniences of the pandemic, devoting extra time to responding to it has not been possible.  Previous local disasters such as hurricanes had me working overtime at a non-profit organization, serving people who are deaf or hard of hearing and making sure those who evacuated to shelters and temporary housing had access to information and communication so they could receive the same benefits and services as everyone else.  While the motivation is still there for this emergency, I am being forced to balance.  I put in my full effort during work hours, then turn to schoolwork, family needs, and a personal project to disconnect from the stress:  revitalizing my back yard.  

When the coronavirus spread to the U.S., I wondered how public administrators were responding.  Professors at Texas State University connected me with organizations that offered electronic news feeds, and I am finding it valuable to read about the actions of government on all levels and the values they promote during the crisis:  responsibility, perseverance, transparency, innovation, compassion. 

  
  The complex nature of the pandemic has made me reflect deeply about the real-world applicability of everything I have learned during the MPA program.  How are government budgets impacted?  In what specific ways should leaders guide people through a crisis?  How should organizations implement change quickly?  What role does intergovernmental relationships play?   Now I am more mindful and aware of the roles of state and local governments in emergencies.  Critical thinking skills and evidence-based decision-making emphasized in my MPA program have helped me educate myself on my role as a government employee and private citizen during unprecedented times like these.  

My Public Policy class is reading about governments that failed to respond adequately to natural and man-made disasters throughout history.  As depressing as that topic sounds during a global pandemic, it inspires me to endeavor to get this one right and to protect the health and wellbeing of the people we serve.  For me at the state agency where I now oversee the advocacy and technology program, it means supporting specialists as they work with government entities to provide live captioning and sign language interpreters at press conferences.  It involves answering inquiries about how to communicate effectively since everyone is now wearing masks that cover their mouths, making it difficult to communicate.  I value the information and skills I’ve gained from the MPA program and am applying it in my role in state government.  Now if my phone would just pop up with an alert about those elusive disinfecting wipes!

Melissa Bell is a graduate student at Texas State University and a member of its MPA Advisory Board.  She has worked as a program specialist with Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Office of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services since 2013, passionately serving alongside the community to make the world a more equal, accessible place for this population.  Her newfound 2020 hobbies include attending Zoom meetings, touring nearby cities and countryside (without getting out of the car), and hunting for household cleaning supplies with her husband of 22 years.  @TexasStateUniversityMPA

The COVID-19 Pandemic and MPA Education: Student Perspectives on Public Service Values and Public Service Motivation

COVID & Public Impressions

by Lauren Cooper

Long before COVID-19 gripped Florida as its global epicenter, I was an aide to Florida House Representative Anna V. Eskamani. Our team was doing our best to fight in progressive arenas to expand Medicaid, to amplify worker’s rights, and to amend our state’s regressive tax structure that relies on sales tax to survive. For years, resistance was an intimate and constant presence in the workplace. However, it was a resistance of love in an effort to shake up the status quo and inject energy into a tired policy process that left many disconnected and disenfranchised. 

This pandemic has highlighted the disparities in our state, notably in our unemployment benefits system, which has been systematically neglected for many decades. However, it has also underlined the service gaps in our bureaucracies and reinforced frustrations that already existed among the general population. When furloughs took place in waves and the Florida Department of Opportunity was gridlocked with broken benefits portals, outsourced call centers, and recurring excuses, people turned to representatives in the Legislative Branch to be a lifeline, or at least a life vest, while the waters kept rising.

 

Our team of three has been navigating over 30,000 inquiries since March from struggling families, desperate parents, and suicidal Floridians from the Panhandle to The Keys at the end of their rope -- and that intensity came without warning or resources on where to turn or how to find answers. Many I spoke with mentioned their respective lawmakers did not return their calls or respond to their messages, requesting help in the darkest season of their lives. They wrote letters, sent direct messages, made videos on social media, rallied at protests, and captured attention of the media across the nation, but still were gaslighted by those in power. Some told me it was their first time contacting a lawmaker at all.

 

In the eye of the COVID hurricane, it remains impossible to completely unpack the flaws in our system and would be premature to point fingers, but there remains a critical lesson before us -- if people cannot rely on state agencies and officials in moments of trauma, then how will they respond with trust on the other side of this moment? It’s just not fair to expect them to give us the benefit of the doubt, when the majority of doors they approached were closed under lock and key. 

 

Public Service Motivation is a fascinating topic, but alone it’s not enough to produce the change we need. We have to also be critical and educate ourselves on operations, finances, governance, and big, clunky ideas that do not inspire us if we want to propel the causes that do. I have already begun to draw connections from my MPA coursework directly back to my career, including the notion of punctuated equilibrium theory before us now maybe the urgency of this moment will create a better, brighter future through a surge of education, advocacy, and legislative reform but we cannot lose momentum.

 

Moving forward, we have to not only elect transparent and effective lawmakers across our agencies, but we need to set the bar higher from within to undo damage and repair relationships. Maybe we cannot be perfect, but we can always strive to improve and to rebuild with intention. Together, we have to demonstrate that our bureaucracies are reliable, nonpartisan, and committed to service, even reimagining it for ourselves, if that’s what it takes.

Right now, the road towards recovery remains uncertain, but I do know the public deserves better than lip service between campaign calls. After all, we public servants work for the people.

Lauren Cooper is a Master of Public Administration and Masters of Nonprofit Management student at University of Central Florida. She currently serves in the Florida House of Representatives as an aide to state lawmaker Representative Anna V. Eskamani, pushing to make the legislature more accessible, transparent, and effective through intersectional policy and grassroots advocacy. She attended Rollins College for her undergraduate degree in Communications with a Minor in Sustainable Development. Her emergence as a public servant has driven her to pursue a secondary degree to be able to take lessons from the classroom and apply them within her workplace and across the State of Florida. As a first-generation Seychellois American, she is committed to seeing communities big and small being incorporated into the greater political dialogue to mobilize change.

The COVID-19 Pandemic and MPA Education: Student Perspectives on Public Service Values and Public Service Motivation

An Introduction 

by Shilpa Viswanath

 

Beginning in  March 2020, during the weeks preceding spring break for many students at institutions of higher education (IHEs), thousands of colleges and universities across the country abruptly cancelled in-person teaching, campus events, and campus travel in response to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. While teaching and advising moved online, students were suddenly and completely cut off from accessing campus resources including campus housing, libraries, campus-based technology, sports facilities, health facilities, counseling facilities, dining facilities and more. Six months later, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve rapidly into a worsening public health crisis with the United States witnessing 5.75 million coronavirus cases (CDC COVID Data Tracker). While IHEs such as Notre Dame, UNC-Chapel Hill and University of Alabama have reopened or attempted to unsuccessfully reopen college campuses in Fall 2020 amidst government issued public health regulations; recent discussions in the context of higher education have mostly focused on administrative consequences of the pandemic including strained university budgets, shrinking enrollments, hiring freezes, declining faculty productivity, efficient course delivery mechanisms, and student accountability and assessment. This blog series aims to incorporate graduate student perspectives on public administration training and its relevance to understanding the role of the public sector and the differential impacts of public policy during the COVID-19 pandemic. The question becomes, how can current and future public administrators contribute to some of our “big questions” surrounding the administration and public policy outcomes emerging as a result of COVID-19. 

The Masters in Public Administration (MPA) degree is targeted at developing skills and techniques used by (future) public managers to implement public policies and public programs. According to the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) there are currently 308 member institutions, which offer undergraduate and graduate degrees in public affairs and administration. This blog series invites personal narratives of current and future MPA students in public and nonprofit organizations. Guest bloggers explore issues surrounding public administration learning outcomes while experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic as students or street-level bureaucrats. This blog series is particularly interested in understanding how MPA education informs understanding of the pandemic and provides students with the skills to work on the frontlines of the pandemic. Our student contributors write about the public service values they learnt from their MPA programs which helped them better understand and better serve in administrative roles on the frontlines of the pandemic. 

These insightful contributions from  MPA students across the United States discuss public service values, public service motivation, ethical considerations, and leadership skills of local, state and federal bureaucrats during the rapidly evolving and complex circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. This collection of MPA perspectives also sheds light on the relevance of public administration classroom teaching and the connections graduate students make between their course work and real world applications of public administration theory and research. To begin this series, MPA student Lauren Cooper from University of Central Florida highlights the fragility of the administrative state during the COVID-19 pandemic and shares personal experiences from the frontlines in her role as a legislative aide in the Florida House of Representatives. In her blog post, she explores the importance of citizen-government interaction and administrative accountability during an emergency situation. This is intended to be an ongoing and productive dialogue, we welcome further contributions and diverse public administrative perspectives from current and former MPA students. To contribute to this symposium, kindly send your thoughts to wps@jjay.cuny.edu. If you have any questions, please contact the blog series editor: Shilpa Viswanath, sviswanath@jjay.cuny.edu.

                            

Dr. Shilpa Viswanath is an Assistant Professor of Public Administration in the Department of Public Management at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Dr. Viswanath studies public sector human resource management with a special focus on gender. Her work also spans the study of bureaucracy in India. She has published in Administrative Theory & Praxis and Journal of Public Administration Education. Dr. Viswanath is currently serving as Chair of Section for Women in Public Administration (SWPA) at American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) and is a board member of Academic Women in Public Administration (AWPA). Before coming to John Jay in the fall of 2020, she was an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin.

Equitable Conferencing: Caregivers Perspectives and Prospects

Closing Thoughts on Equitable Conferencing:
Caregivers Perspectives and Prospects

Jamie Levine Daniel and Shilpa Viswanath

We initiated the “Equitable Conferencing: Caregivers Perspectives and Prospects” blog series in February 2020, just before COVID-19 drastically impacted academic conferencing, and most other aspects of academia, for that matter. Since the Spring 2020 semester, conferences were put on hold, canceled, or conducted online as we navigate a period of uncertainty. However, what we can be most certain of is that caregiving in academia can no longer be an afterthought. COVID-19 highlights the challenges of caretaking in academia while working from home. The disparities resulting from care responsibilities, along with potential solutions, are discussed in the rich blog contributions appearing from February - May 2020. These emerging issues centered around lack of and clarity surrounding caregiving policy, unknown caregiving cost, difference in personal experiences, and variation across academic institutions. Bloggers shared personal reflections and innovative solutions that require a significant shift in thinking and practice to address caregiving in academia.  

Dr. Gina Scutlnicu identifies three challenges: lack of funding for childcare, lack of family support, and lack of/limited access to networking/visibility opportunities (something we will all have to grapple with). Dr. Seth Meyer underlines that while there is no one universal family (adoption, for example, comes with its own unique stressors), there are some universal experiences and needs. Similarly, Sombo Muzata Chunda and Layla Alanazi highlight the (lack of) uniform policies and the undesirable choices parents have to make between caregiving on a personal level and being left behind professionally. These issues are only going to be magnified as caregivers balance increasing caregiving with decreasing resources, in the face of continued professional pressures.

Multiple contributors called for funding (either conference scholarships or university funds) that can be used for dependent care expenses.  In addition, several contributors (Dr. Kendra Stewart, Dr. Elizabeth Berkowitz, Dr. Tony Carrizales, Dr. Viswanath, Hannah Lebovits) highlighted the need for visible signals and infrastructure: welcoming language, drop-in rooms, nursing stations, etc. This symbolic and active representation can help shift cultures.  Dr. Heath Brown highlighted the need for planning and logistics that allow for minimal travel/time spent away.  While we are not traveling these days, this advance notice is still critical to enable caregivers to participate in virtual networking opportunities.

In the introduction to this symposium, we noted that  “Academic conferences, an essential component of academic life, contribute a whole new element to the parenting and caregiving challenge.” We published those words approximately three months ago. Fast-forward to today. I sit here now, in the shadow of stay-at-home orders due to Covid-19, wondering how to close this symposium. My partner and I arranged schedules so I could get in some writing – he has the morning shift with our five-year old, while I have the afternoon shift (including cooking dinner).  Tomorrow, based on various meetings, we will switch. I will have the morning caregiving shift, and he will have the afternoon (including getting ready for Shabbat). Our world has narrowed to these half-day juggling acts.

Just as our day-to-day lives have changed, so too has conferencing, and the crux of academic work.  We will most likely not be meeting in large gatherings anytime soon.  Spring 2020 saw a slew of cancellations, summer conferences are following suit, and fall conferences seem to be increasingly inching toward virtual opportunities even as they voice aspirations of face-to-face meetings. Even as conferences move online, the caregiving challenges do not disappear. Research  points out that there are over 65 million unpaid family caregivers in the United States supporting ill, disabled, or aged family members. Additionally, research undertaken by the Lancet Commission on Women and Health reveals that over 70% of global caregiving hours are provided by women and girls. A report from the World Economic Forum points out that - “When it becomes difficult to balance caregiving with work, or if the demands of work come into conflict with one’s caregiving responsibilities, carers may be forced to cut back on their working hours or take a leave of absence. This impacts their ability to equally participate in the workplace.” Most of us will not be able to meaningfully participate in multiple days of back-to-back sessions of online conference sessions.  With college campuses shut and social distancing measures enforced in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 virus, faculty members with caregiving responsibilities are experiencing an amalgamation of their personal and professional lives making it harder to draw boundaries and dictate their work-life balance. This will remain an area to confront and adapt to in academic conferencing. 

Even as we ponder ways to make virtual conferencing in the post-COVID-19 era equitable, we thank our contributors for sharing deeply personal narratives and recommendations to improve conventional academic conferencing for caregivers. The issues they raised and the solutions they provided are important for us to consider when conferencing virtually and when we return to face-to-face meetings. Beyond conferencing, these considerations magnify the challenges many of us are facing in our own personal and professional lives now. Thank you, to the John Jay’s Women in the Public Sector blog for giving us the space to explore these issues.

Dr. Jamie Levine Daniel is an assistant professor at the Paul H. O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis. Her research focuses on the relationship between nonprofit resource acquisition and program service delivery, with particular experience interest on the relationship between earned revenue and mission.

Dr. Shilpa Viswanath is an Assistant Professor of Public Administration at the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse. And, faculty affiliate at the University of Wisconsin - Madison’s Center for South Asia. Her research and teaching engage in themes of gender and social equity; labor unions and local governments, and, are rooted in her identities of being an immigrant in the United States, a faculty woman of color and a mother. She presently serves on the executive board of American Society for Public Administration’s Section for Women in Public Administration and, on the board of the Section for International and Comparative Administration. 

Equitable Conferencing: Caregivers Perspectives and Prospects

Working Towards a Family Friendly Conference Culture

by Michael R. Ford

Several years ago I attended an academic conference in Florida.  It was a Friday to Monday conference and I presented on a Sunday. I flew down Saturday, presented Sunday, and flew home. It was a typical conference experience for me as a junior tenure-track scholar trying to build a record. In other words, it was nothing remarkable. What I did find remarkable was a critique I received from a senior scholar who attended the conference. He told me, bluntly, that I was behaving like an invited speaker, and that I had not yet earned that right.

I was taken aback. I had chosen this conference specifically because it was a weekend and afforded me the opportunity to actually go and present. Why? I have two school-aged children and my spouse works full-time. I get the kids ready in the morning, I feed them, and I get them to school. My spouse’s schedule is a bit unpredictable, so I need to be available to pick them up from afterschool care as well. At the time of this conference I was actually taking a friend’s child to school as well because their family had similar childcare challenges. For busy parents, being able to attend any conference is a major logistical challenge. My “behavior” was not arrogance, it was me making it work.

My family’s scheduling challenges are not unique. People in and outside of academia deal with similar challenges all the time. But for some reason we seem to lag behind in making our profession accommodating for those with young children. Conference presentations are essential to an academic career. It is hard enough with tight travel budgets for many of us to make it work. The last thing we need are senior scholars thinking that having family responsibilities somehow means we are not dedicated to our career.

As the president of the Midwest Public Affairs Conference (MPAC) I am committed to making our conference as accommodating as possible. The obvious first step is working to provide on-site child care. This can be difficult to arrange, and of course comes with a significant monetary cost. Funding childcare also means less money for stuff (bags, giveaways, fancy meals, etc). A second step is selecting locations that are easily drivable or accessible by train from Midwestern universities.  That means our locations may be less accessible to those outside of the Midwest, and perhaps not as exciting (at least on the surface) as popular national conference destinations. But even with childcare at the conference I am not buying three plane tickets for me to present one paper! A third step is creating family friendly receptions that are not too late at night, and not centered around alcohol. 

But perhaps the biggest thing I can do for MPAC (and we can do as a profession) is to normalize the idea of kids and families being part of the conference experience. Specific gestures matter, but a culture that embraces the reality that academics have family responsibilities, is something that will have a lasting impact. To change the culture all of us must be mindful of our own behavior and expectations regarding conferences. I know everyone will not be happy. If I have learned one thing running a conference, it is that at least some people will be critical of every decision you make. I get it. Some people want the flashy location, want the stuff, want the fancy meals, and do not want kids around. That is fine. But I am committed to carving out a space for those of us who need something different.

Michael R. Ford is an associate professor of public administration at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, where he teaches graduate courses in budgeting and research methods. He frequently publishes on the topics of public and nonprofit board governance, accountability and school choice. He currently serves as the president of the Midwest Public Affairs Conference.