scifiknitter

It's been longer than unusual between posts. I have been busy finishing the last course of my grad program. As soon as my final is graded and my final grade has been posted, I will have completed all requirements for the degree of Masters in Public Administration from Troy University. The end did not come easily. Up until this last course, I have been able to fulfill the requirement of one proctored exam per course by having the Executive Director at my agency serve as my proctor. I was able to take my exams at the comfort of my desk at work, with a well-known keyboard under my fingertips. This possibility was eliminated for all public administration students effective with this term, unless you happen to be located in a combat zone. Alas, I was unable to make the argument that given the budget problems in New York, any quasi-governmental agency is in the line of fire these days. So I arranged to take my final at a professional testing center in Rochester. Make that quasi-professi...

I am almost at the end of grad school. I submitted my last paper last week. It was a 25 page case study about a school district that couldn't keep its halls and bathrooms clean. I got my grade today - 340 out of 350 points. A week from today I take my final final exam. I have to travel for this one because the school has changed the terms of engagement, effective this term. It used to be I could arrange for someone with professional credentials to act as my proctor. Now the school gives me three options only. I can take my exam in one of their centers (the closest one is Philadelphia PA) or at a commercial testing center. Or I can buy a machine that plugs into a computer and watches me take the test - a "Remote Proctor". The fracking thing looks like a Cylon. And it does not work on a Mac. I am not about to buy such a thing for one test. I chose Troy University's MPA program because it was cheap (still is), has a reasonable and balanced set of course requirements (sti...

I am two weeks into my last grad course. It's called Capstone in Public Administration and is intended to tie together everything we have learned in our core courses. I am writing a series of short papers, where I find a current development in public administration and tie it to a couple of concepts from a specific area of study. Each paper is posted on a discussion board, and we are all to read the papers written by others in our group, and make substantive comments. These comments are almost as much work as the papers if done properly, as you have to support your statements and cite references. I also will be writing an extensive case study, and sharing portions of it with my classmates over the next few weeks. The final will be a shorter proctored case study, with a four-hour time limit. The most disappointing aspects of my grad program have been the uneven contributions by my classmates, and the laziness of a few of my professors. Time after time, I have to read poorly written ...