The Public Sphere

The Public Sphere is the MPPA’s blog that houses articles about pertinent topics ranging from current events, public administration, public policy, and, most recently, student and alumni accounts of their career tips and journeys.

 

MPPA In Action

Leo Casiple

Interview: Won Toastmasters Speech Contest and Participated in Brussel’s Peacewriter Prize Competition

 

A highly accomplished alumni, Leo continues to give back through his talents and unique experiences to several organizations, rigorous competitions, and his alma mater CLU.

1. Congratulations on winning the Toastmasters’ Club Level International Speech Contest and participating in the Peacewriter Prize Competition! For those who don’t already know you and all your many interests and accomplishments, could you introduce yourself to the MPPA community?

Thank you. I won the Area 6 Contest in November 2021 and will advance to the Southern Division contest in March 2022. The International Speech Contest is 5-7 minutes long: anything less than 4.5 minutes or over 7.5 minutes results in a disqualification.

I did not place in the top three essays in the 2021 International Peacewriter Prize Competition, Brussels, but many colleagues have mentioned that I could teach an entire college class with the elements I wrote about.

To Read More…

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Majd Almalki

Interview: New Director of Gender Balance Statistics at the Institute of Public Administration of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Continuing to apply her MPPA knowledge, Majd is making a profound impact in her new role as a Director at the Institute of Public Administration in her home country of Saudi Arabia, where Dr. Khan recently visited with Majd and other alumni.

1. You recently received a promotion to be the Director of Gender Balance Statistics at the Institute of Public Administration of Saudi Arabia– Congratulations! Tell us about the Institute and what it seeks to achieve.

First of all, I would like to thank you for this opportunity. It is always a pleasure to share with the MPPA community what happened recently in my career. The Institute of Public Administration (IPA) is one of the leading government agencies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. IPA seeks to increase the efficiency of public employees and to educate them to make them capable of shouldering their responsibilities, use their jurisdiction in a manner that would raise the level of administration, and support the foundation of national economic development.

To Read More…

Student & Alumni Updates

Matthew Gammariello, MPPA, JD

New Employment: Immigration Associate Attorney at Hadley Bajramovic

Matthew details his exciting new job opportunity, where he will be “practicing immigration law for one of the biggest full-service immigration law firms in the area…

I will be doing deportation removal defense proceedings, cancellation of removal, asylum cases, and DACA renewals. I will be in immigration court 2-3 days a week,” as well as potential opportunities to present before the Immigration Appeals Board like the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

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Sara Rivera, MPPA

New Employment: Health Equity Manager at Ventura County Public Health

 

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Fall 2021 Term

Music Program Breakdown for the Westview Family Development
Leslie Madrigal, Stephanie Rendon, Laura Vasquez
Faculty Advisor: Chris Beck

Music is an integrated part of people’s lives that can spark a wide range of emotions and memories that last a lifetime. Studies show how music education introduced to young children “heightens children’s auditory acuity, thus increasing their ability to process language” (Etopio, et al., 2012).

Aside from that, there are also improvements in children’s self-identity that improve their confidence and also give them a place they have ownership of (Barber, Eccles, & Stone, 2001). Hence, this capstone will focus on developing a low-income music program for the properties owned or managed by Westview Family Development, a low-income housing unit in the City of San Buenaventura.

To Read More…

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Winter 2022 Term

Housing the Unhoused
Ana Perez, Thiana Martinez, Veronica Navarro
Faculty Advisor: Sean Veal

The name of the capstone course is Housing the Unhoused: Skid Row Homelessness Policy Analysis. Through this project, students will analyze the court case LA Alliance for Humans Rights vs. The City of Los Angeles. They will partner with Skid Row Housing Trust, an affordable housing not-for-profit developer, to address how the court case can impact the organization and homelessness in the Skid Row Neighborhood. Through the capstone, students will address issues centered on housing policy, homelessness, economic and racial inequality, and policy implementation.

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El Rio/Del Norte Area Plan Update
Debbie Canas, Jessica Diaz, Nathan Hatia, Tina Secrease, Lisa Vaiman
Faculty Advisor: Jacqui Phelps

The project is in partnership with the County of Ventura Resources Management Agency, and the students will be researching and analyzing existing laws and policies relating to environmental justice in order to propose recommendations for the El Rio/Del Norte Area Plan Update.

Faculty & Staff Updates

Summer Term Schedule
Students Can Register Now!

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Dr. Sabith Khan
Second Place Prize in the Voinovich Innovation Challenge 

In detailing his experience with the competition, Dr. Khan stated: “I participated in the… Ohio University‘s Voinovich innovation challenge – a national competition with over 38 entries (hosted by NASPAA), with MPPA student Madison Bartula-Henkle for a project that we are involved in: IOREM, a research collaborative of scholars engaged in migration and remittances. We won the second prize! Thanks to all parties involved, in promoting this initiative and for highlighting the role of research and public education in this process.”

Read about Madison’s experience with IOREM and the competition in her recent blog post here.

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Steve Mermell
Retirement from City Management in City of Pasadena

After five years of dedicated service as the City Manager for the City of Pasadena, and more than thirty years of public service, Professor Mermell announced his retirement plans last fall for this new year of 2022. We are grateful for the expertise and enthusiasm Professor Mermell brings in the courses he will continue to offer for the MPPA program, and we congratulate and commend him for his many years of remarkable service he provided for the City of Pasadena!

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PJ Gagajena
New Adjunct Professor

PJ Gagajena proudly serves as the Assistant City Manager for the City of Moorpark. As Chief Operations Officer, he oversees the City’s daily operations serving 36,326 residents and an annual budget of nearly $60 million. His 20-year career in local government includes working for the cities of Los Angeles, New York, Indio, and Torrance. PJ earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with a Minor in Asian American Studies from UCLA and holds Master’s degrees in Public Policy and Urban Planning from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Professor Gagajena will be teaching this Spring’s Emergency & Crisis Management course!

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Dr. Khan & ASPA
Limited, Free Memberships for Students

The MPPA program is delighted to offer FIVE FREE memberships to the South Asia section at the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA). Dr. Sabith Khan has been appointed as the Chair of this section recently.

If you are interested in networking, getting involved, and being sponsored to receive a FREE membership to ASPA and SASPA, please email ppalaoda@callutheran.edu!

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Omairah Azizi
New Program Specialist

As the Graduate Program Specialist for the School of Management, Omairah supports the MPPA, MBA-FP and MS Financial Planning programs. She organizes and manages the day-to-day activities of the Graduate Programs in relation to faculty and students. In addition to supporting the directors of the programs, she performs other departmental duties including preparing class schedules for the programs in each term, coordinating full-time and adjunct faculty teaching assignments and negotiating times and class locations with instructors. She also serves as a resource to graduate students and provides lead work direction to graduate assistants and student workers. She is also a graduate of California Lutheran University with a Bachelor’s degree in Communications.

Omairah’s Contact Information
CLU Campus: Pioneer House
Email: omairahazizi@callutheran.edu
Phone: (805) 493-3678

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Dr. Loredana Carson
Education Policy Offered This Summer Term

Elective course highlight! Describing her course, Dr. Carson shares: “This summer on Wednesday evenings I will be teaching Education Policy (PA 582-01) as an elective offering. Each week the class is structured around a central question that helps students understand the purpose of education in a wider context than how it typically portrayed. The class is interactive and enlightening, and I bring in guest speakers as available to discuss these and other important matters that pertain to education policy. You don’t have to be an educator to be impacted by education policy issues. We are all to some extent a product of our current system and understanding how it works (and doesn’t work) can be helpful to us moving forward. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions about this class.”

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International Meetings
Alumni in Saudi Arabia Meet with Dr. Khan

Dr. Khan, Program Director of MPPA met up with Saudi alumni on his recent trip to Riyadh, KSA. The first photo on the left (from left to right) pictures Majd Al Malki, Director of Gender Balance Statistics at the Institute  of Public Administration; Majd’s colleague and prospective student; and Dr. Khan and his wife, Fabiola Lara. The second photo on the right (from right to left) pictures Muhannad Al Khamis, External Auditor at GOSI; Abdullah Aldokhail, General Entertainment Authority; and Dr. Khan and his wife, Fabiola Lara.

What We Are Reading