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November
8, 2005
DH 05 RH25
Contact: Russ Hudson,
Media Relations Coordinator
(310) 243-2455/2001
rhudson@csudh.edu
CSUDH PAA Chapter Wins National Award
over 250
Other Universities
A national award for the depth, breadth and quality of its
programs was given to the CSU Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) chapter
of Pi Alpha Alpha (PAA), the honor society for the field
of public affairs and public administration. The Dominguez
Hills chapter was among 250 chapters at top universities
across the United States that were candidates for the award.
The award took some in the chapter by surprise.
“When I heard that we had won, I first was surprised and excited,
and then I thought, ‘what did we do to deserve this?’” says PAA
treasurer, Sherriel Murry (M.P.A., 2002).
It may have seemed ordinary to Murry, but to the national
body, their work was exemplary. The award is given each year
to the PAA chapter that offers a variety of programs for
students, involves alumni, contributes to the success of
the national organization, and demonstrates strong management
while fulfilling the general goals of scholarship, leadership,
and excellence in public administration education. Last year,
the CSUDH chapter offered two major networking and career
opportunity events on campus, introduced the organization
to incoming MPA students during orientation, and inducted
27 new members for a total of around 200. They also simply
continued to do the same things the 200-member organization
has done year-in and year-out since its inception in 1984
by offering a strong network and peer-motivated environment
for those within the CSUDH’s public administration
program. Members of the organization must maintain an in-major
3.5 grade-point average for undergraduates and 3.7 for master’s
students.
For Assistant Professor of Public Administration Iris
Baxter, the award had even more significance because
she has been involved since 1992, first as a CSUDH student
herself, and now as the organization’s faculty advisor. “I
don’t think I realized the scope of it all until one
of the students was on the Internet and showed me we had
won out of some 250 chapters at top universities across the
country,” she says.
Baxter accepted the award at the National Association of
Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) annual
meeting last month in Washington, D.C. For her, the best
part of the recognition was the way in which it spread word
of CSUDH across the country. “When I was at the conference,
so many people from all over the world congratulated me.
Some knew who we were, but some didn’t. They asked
me general questions about campus and our program – it
really put our name out there,” she says. “That’s
what we want to do – get Dominguez Hills’ name
out there to the nation and beyond – and this award
did all of that.”
The chapter wasted no time in getting to work at the outset
of the year by introducing the organization to incoming MPA
students during their orientation before classes began. They
followed it up with a public sector career panel in November
2004, titled “Up Close and Personal with Public Sector
Leaders.” The success and response to that event led
to another career panel, this time focused on criminal justice
careers, in March 2005.
A major reason all of these events came to fruition was the
involvement of alumni members, who suggested they would have
benefited from such events while they were at CSUDH and wanted
to help those following similar career paths. They could
have chosen any number of ways to volunteer their time and
stay connected to their alma mater, but this is how they
decided to do so. Such a commitment serves as testimony to
how well regarded this organization is within the major and
on campus.
“It’s my way of giving back to the community,” says Murry. “I
feel responsible to help [current students] succeed, and if I can do that by
helping this organization and bringing career events to campus, that’s
what I’m going to do.”
Certainly, there’s a level of pride that goes along
with an award like this. After all, being singled out from
hundreds of other organizations across the country is not
something that happens every day, and as Garey Thompson (B.A.,
Behavioral Science, 2000; M.P.A., 2005), the organization’s
2004-05 president, suggests, it also makes all of their efforts
worthwhile. “It was a lot of hard work for all of us – we’re
not only maintaining an A average in grad level work. We’re
also out there trying to offer these options and events to
fellow students. So to be recognized like this, it makes
me proud, and it shows all our hard work paid off.”
California State University, Dominguez Hills
University Communications & Public Affairs
Welch Hall, B-363
1000 E. Victoria St.
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