UCONN MPA ALUMNI COUNCIL
September 19, 2014
Department of Public Policy Office, West Hartford
Minutes
Members Present: Michele Burge (phone), Maria Capriola (phone), Alyssa Goduti, Eric Gray (phone),
Catherine Guarino, Jeff Hallin, Jason Jakubowski, Larisa Kottke, Aaron McGarry (phone), Rebecca
Myshrall, Rob Phillips, Julia Yakovich (phone)
Students and Staff Present: Alyssa Carboni, Val Rogers, Deneen Hatmaker, Linda Friedman
The meeting was called to order at 12:05pm.
I. Approval of Minutes
The minutes of 5/16/2014 were moved by Myshrall, seconded by Phillips and approved unanimously.
II. Alumni Council Roster Academic Year 2014 – 2015
The Nominations Committee made the following recommendation for an alternate member appointment,
term expiring June 30, 2017: Kasia Janik. The recommendation was unanimously approved.
Kottke agreed to serve on the Nominations Committee. Myshrall agreed to serve as Acting Secretary for
the spring semester while Capriola is on maternity leave.
III. Program Offerings
The Council discussed four professional development workshops being planned for students. The four
topics include: professionalism, civility and ethics (October 15th); multi-generational communications in the
workplace (November 12th), interviewing skills (spring); negotiating a job offer (spring). Jakubowski will be
serving as moderator of the October 12th workshop; Council members will be reaching out to a number of
alumni about serving as panelists for the October 12th workshops.
IV. Program Update
An alumni/faculty/student networking social will be held on October 8th at the Arch Street Tavern. A
lunch for Council members and current faculty will be held at the beginning of the February 20th Council
meeting.
The 40th anniversary fundraising efforts raised $41,203.50 from a total of 55 donors. The 40th campaign has
ended and the fundraising goal of $40,000 was reached. An alumnus has reached out to the MPA Program
about making a sizeable donation to start an endowment for the David B. Walker Award. More details on
this will be reviewed at a future meeting.
Curriculum changes were handed out and discussed. There has been no change to the core required classes.
The capstone “class” will return to one semester, with projects being focused on program evaluation or an
applied management project. Students will no longer be required to have a focus area for their elective
courses. With the changes to capstone, the number of credits reduces from 48 to 45.
The meeting adjourned at 1:12pm.
Respectfully submitted, Maria Capriola, Secretary