Professional Skills

Before I began the SFSU MPA program, I had about five years of professional experience. Approximately two and a half years later, I have diversified and increased my professional skills. As a working student, I was able to put what I learned in MPA program into practice. Below are four professional skills I have gained in the last eight years from my current and previous positions and the MPA program.

Policy Analysis - Have conducted policy analyses by researching and analyzing policies, committee hearings, budgets, budget analyses, cost-benefit analyses and interviews. 

*Examples of Policy Analysis - CAPI Policy Analysis (by Thomas Radwick, Mirthala Santizo, and Jenny Yi), Ethical Policy Analysis, Cost-Benefit Analysis

 

Program Evaluation - Have conducted program evaluations using qualitative, quantitative and mixed-model research methods.  Methods included using secondary data (surveys, US Census, CA Department of Education, etc), creating surveys, and conducting individual and focus group interviews.  Also, have performed data analyses using SPSS and Excel.

*Example of Program Evaluation - Our Second Home Evaluation (by Mirthala Santizo, CiCi Hoang and Sheldon Gen, PhD)

 

Budget Analysis and Fiscal Forecasting - More than five years of experience conducting budget analyses and fiscal forecasting by researching and analyzing current and future year budgets, personnel shifts and programmatic/study changes.

*Examples of Budgeting and Fiscal Forecasting - Budgeting Final Paper, Budgeting Final Excel worksheet, and Budget Example from work with study protocol visit schedule

 

Communication/Teamwork - More than eight years of experience working with public and nonprofit organizations at the local, state and federal level.  Can work independently and in a team setting. Also, can lead and participate in team projects.

*Examples of Communication and Teamwork - Our Second Home Evaluation (by Mirthala Santizo, CiCi Hoang and Sheldon Gen, PhD)