Link: Top 5 Issues in Local Government Survey
ELGL and Dr. Colleen Casey, Assistant Professor for the School of Urban and Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Arlington have partnered together for the Fall 2015 semester to bring her students a unique challenge in local government management unlike anything an MPA program has ever done before.
The Challenge: ELGL members will decide the top five issues in local government management based on the results from the attached survey. This survey is a list of issues predetermined by the ELGL leadership. From the top five, Dr. Casey will choose an issue for her class to address and her students will group together and work to provide solutions. At the end of the semester, her students will submit their solutions to a review committee of ELGL members for consideration and the committee will choose the top submission to be recognized.
The Goal: The mission behind this project is to combine both the professional and academic perspectives of local government management into one forum for educational development. By having ELGL members prioritize the top five issues facing local government, students will be able to brainstorm innovative solutions to real-time, critical problems faced by many local government professionals today.
In addition, by having an ELGL sponsored review committee judge the validity, practicality, and, usefulness of their project solutions, students will have the opportunity to see how their solutions relate to tangible local government management. As we all know, solutions that seemed successful in theory may be problematic during implementation.
The Value: There is value in having students and professionals collaborate together to solve problems in local government management. What students lack in experience they make up for in imagination, inventiveness, and perspective. On the other hand, local government professionals are equally crucial to help guide and provide realities to prospective solutions while also fueling the enthusiasm for experimentation and discovery.
This partnership is an example of how education is no longer confined to the classroom. ELGL has a wonderful opportunity to take our resources and put them into something that can help promote real solutions and real results.
For this to happen though we need responses to the attached survey. Please take a minute to fill out this survey and stay tuned for more updates as the semester gears up.
Link: Top 5 Issues in Local Government Survey