As a former English major, perhaps the most valuable tool the MPA program has taught me is how to write concisely. With assignments often having a maximum length of two pages, the program is effective at engraining in its students a clear and direct writing style. Assignments also often take the form of memoranda, which provide ample practice for arguing one’s point in a clear and straightforward manner.
Below are two example of writing assignments I have done for the MPA program. The first is a memorandum written to the director of the National Park Service making recommendations for a workforce planning strategy for the agency, with a length of five pages double-spaced. The second is a more academic examination of a seminal work in Public Administration/ Decision theory, Allison & Zelikow’s Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis
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