With each TPS newsletter, we not only reach out for updates from our distinguished alumni, current students, and faculty, we also have a special theme that we use to create a conversation. The theme of the Fall/Winter 2017 TPS newsletter is equilibrium, and we asked contributors to reflect on the role of balance in the discipline and in the day-to-day reality of being a public service professional. We had an overwhelming response from our alumni, students, and faculty, so we've selected a portion of those responses to showcase.
What do you see as key tensions in public administration?
Uncertainty and friction between the federal, state, and local government, caused by the current administration.
William Scott, 2010 MPA
What advice would you give to current students and/or new professionals, in terms of how to find a healthy life-work balance?
Always be aware of self-care and work as hard at it as you do your career. Find hobbies, pets, or even volunteer somewhere to give your life emotional balance, meaning, and purpose. My job is but one part of who I am. It does not define my existence on this planet. Leave a legacy that is more than your employment history.
How do you work to find a healthy balance between your personal and professional lives?
I have 4 dogs and 2 cats.
Michael Norman, MPA Student
What do you see as key tensions in public administration?
Personal rights and community rights that are not aligned.
How do you work to find a healthy balance between your personal and professional lives?
I have to set boundaries and realistic expectations about what I can accomplish each day/week/month/year.
Donna Duarte, MPA Student
What do you see as key tensions in public administration?
Continuing to push high expectations in programs when the budgets are reduced.
J.A. Bucy, 2002 MPA, 2003 Healthcare Certificate
What do you see as key tensions in public administration?
The biggest challenge in my opinion in public administration and all of US public service is the lack of respect that public service is currently getting from a huge part of the electorate. This lack of respect translates into a lack of quality of individuals choosing to go into public service as either electeds or as part of the bureaucracy. This lack of quality individuals choosing to stay away from public service will have a long lasting effects.
What advice would you give to current students and/or new professionals, in terms of how to find a healthy life-work balance?
It's important if a person is going to go into public service, especially at the higher levels or in more intense environments (director, staff of a member of Congress, commissioner or deputy commissioner level ) to find time to do things that they enjoy. Much like corporate service, public service will consume an individual's time at an extreme level if commitment to downtime isn't met. 24/7 service is expected but is completely unreasonable to achieve
How do you work to find a healthy balance between your personal and professional lives?
It's important for me to try and find time to deprocess by traveling and doing things that allow me to unplug, even if it's for short periods of time.
Dr. Rodney Stanley, Chair, Department of Public Administration
What do you see as key tensions in public administration?
Getting practitioners to see the importance of academic research.
What advice would you give to current students and/or new professionals, in terms of how to find a healthy life-work balance?
Work when you are at work and tend to personal matters when you are not at work. For example, don't answer emails when you are home if you can help it.
How do you work to find a healthy balance between your personal and professional lives?
Setting boundaries between work time and home time.
Dr. Cliff Lippard, 1995 MPA, 2012 PhD
What do you see as key tensions in public administration?
The tension between the dedication of most public servants and the low level of respect for that service among much of the public.
What advice would you give to current students and/or new professionals, in terms of how to find a healthy life-work balance?
Make work fun but also preserve your personal and family time. Set boundaries.
Sidney Schuttrow, 2014 MPA & Nonprofit Management Certificate
What do you see as key tensions in public administration?
Access to funding for state programs.
What advice would you give to current students and/or new professionals, in terms of how to find a healthy life-work balance?
Time management is key. Leave work at work as much as you can, but making time for yourself is the most important thing.
How do you work to find a healthy balance between your personal and professional lives?
I spend time with family and friends, but also enjoy my alone time doing a hobby or exercising.
Angela Mathews, 2016 Nonprofit Management Certificate
How do you work to find a healthy balance between your personal and professional lives?
I create a set schedule so I don't overwork myself and I make many to-do lists with timelines to make sure I am prioritizing my responsibilities in an efficient manner. It's also helpful to identify the resources you have available and take advantage of those to prevent taking on more than is needed. Then when it's time to leave work, it can really be left until the next day.
Jason Goodrich, 2015 MPA & Nonprofit Management Certificate
What do you see as key tensions in public administration?
Ineffective governance, poor communication, and siloed business practices.
What advice would you give to current students and/or new professionals, in terms of how to find a healthy life-work balance?
Set some ground rules for yourself, and stick to them.
How do you work to find a healthy balance between your personal and professional lives?
Leaving work at work is the best way to maintain balance; absent that, establishing certain ground rules that either of the two do not infringe on the other.
April Terrell, 2009 MPA
What advice would you give to current students and/or new professionals, in terms of how to find a healthy life-work balance?
Make time for the things that you enjoy doing. Do not feel bad about taking time for yourself.
How do you work to find a healthy balance between your personal and professional lives?
Turn off my work cell or put it on "do not disturb." Go on vacations.
Dr. Meg Streams, Associate Professor, Department of Public Administration
What advice would you give to current students and/or new professionals, in terms of how to find a healthy life-work balance?
Public sector and nonprofit work ideally has the advantage of providing us with a kind of personal satisfaction that comes from needed service, in areas of the economy where private firms do not see a profit opportunity or where public values must be safeguarded. But that satisfaction can compete occasionally with the draining effects of doing more with very little, or of feeling the value of the work goes unnoticed, so the risk of burn-out arises. Even so, what we call “life-work balance” is generally not achieved at a constant level throughout one’s life; there will be phases where one or the other must take priority. Early in a career, a great deal of added effort is typically needed both in the educational area and in learning to excel at professional life. Recognizing that balance may not be achieved not just in a day or week, but over months or years, my advice is to try to stay connected enough to others and the community so that when the pace changes you can move back towards equilibrium…even a happy medium.
How do you work to find a healthy balance between your personal and professional lives?
At a nonprofit job interview in my twenties, I was asked, "Do you handle challenges with equanimity?" and also, "How well do you tolerate ambiguity?" I answered honestly that the first was something I work towards but do not often achieve, and that I don't tolerate the second very well. Surprisingly I got the job anyway, and the person who hired me taught me a lot about the role of those capacities in the complex and politically-charged environment of public service. I've come to believe equanimity is one of the most valuable assets one can have in work and in personal life. It doesn't come easy, it doesn't keep bad things from happening, and we will all fall short sooner or later, but I think an individual who can keep their balance in the face of the unexpected will find it easier to remain healthy themselves, while contributing to the health of relationships at home and at work. I'm still working on becoming that kind of individual <smile> -- it's probably a lifelong task -- but I try to see challenging times as an opportunity to strengthen the "muscles" of calm reflection, deliberation, consideration, and conversation that can help us maintain our balance.
Ariel Evans, 2016 MPA
What do you see as key tensions in public administration?
Politics versus agency administration authority. Too often politics interfere with the way an agency runs or has the ability to run itself. We become to focused on what the "elected officials" have to say about the way we do business versus actually doing the work of the business.
What advice would you give to current students and/or new professionals, in terms of how to find a healthy life-work balance?
You know your body and load better than anyone. You know how much you can take before it becomes too much. Listen to your body and your mind. Utilize the annual leave or PTO time given and take at least one mental health day a month. The key is making this a consistent part of your work/life balance.
How do you work to find a healthy balance between your personal and professional lives?
I look to find outside sources that allow me to take my focus off of the job. I work to ensure that I leave at a set time each day to ensure my mental stability and it keeps my body on a schedule to ensure I don't burn out. I also take "mental health days" when i'm sensing an overwhelming feeling in my workload. This helps me to regroup and refocus by taking time away for a day or two and not be involved in the daily grind.
Russ Cheatham, 1993 PhD
What advice would you give to current students and/or new professionals, in terms of how to find a healthy life-work balance?
Laugh every day, even if you have to force yourself to do so. And always remember: life is not a permanent gig--there's work--retirement--then death, always.
Janice Rodriguez, 2009 PhD
What do you see as key tensions in public administration?
The perennial dialectic between politics and administration, as most recently exemplified by some presidential cabinet appointments.
Bobbie Porter, 2012 MPA & Nonprofit Management Certificate
What do you see as key tensions in public administration?
Political divisiveness furthering mistrust in government and perpetuating a reputation for ineffectiveness.
What advice would you give to current students and/or new professionals, in terms of how to find a healthy life-work balance?
Determine your boundaries for work time versus personal time, and stick to them!
Craig Hanrahan, 2011 MPA & Healthcare Administration and Planning Certificate
What do you see as key tensions in public administration?
First, politicizing the function of the "executive" is a key tension in public administration. Second, gaining and maintaining public trust while providing a public service.
What advice would you give to current students and/or new professionals, in terms of how to find a healthy life-work balance?
Develop and maintain clear boundaries between your work and personal time. You will be immersed in work so allow sufficient time to recharge.
How do you work to find a healthy balance between your personal and professional lives?
Finding ways to disconnect and focus on family, friends and hobbies during time off.
Dr. Laurie Gavilo-Lane, 2013 PhD,
Adjunct Instructor, Department of Public Administration
What do you see as key tensions in public administration?
The primary tension that I've been grappling with is between bureaucratic neutrality vs. advocacy, especially given our politically-polarized landscape. A secondary tension that I'm interested in studying is the division between federal vs. state governmental functions and the financial relationships between the different levels of government (i.e. basic tenets of fiscal federalism).
