Communicate & Interact
The fifth and final core competency set forth by NASPAA is the ability to communicate and interact productively with a diverse and changing workforce and citizenry. This competency can be mastered by demonstrating an understanding of the needs and values of different individuals and groups.
Public Participation in Public AdministrationOne of the largest parts of understanding the needs and values of citizens is by garnering public participation. I wrote an essay on the importance of using citizen participation to understand their needs and wants. Citizen participating is not limited to one group, but to all and can be used as a great tool to interact with a diverse citizenry. I chose to research citizen participation, because as a future public service worker it is extremely important for me to understand the citizens that I could be serving one day. Above all else, serving the people around us is a benefit of working in the field of public administration. By using techniques such as utilizing social media for surveys and outreach, understanding what motivates public participation, and understanding how to gain the public's trust I can use public participation throughout my career to make decisions. All sides of an argument need to be accounted for to make a good decision, and allowing for public discussion can be a good way to hear those viewpoints. If citizen participation is not encouraged beforehand, there will be feedback regardless.
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University of Iowa Racism PodcastIn a Diversity and Inclusion course, I was tasked with creating and recording a podcast about a diversity issue in the public sector. I chose to discuss some issues that have taken place at the University of Iowa, which is a public university, and offer up some comments on my understanding of the issue and how it should have been handled. I used the Bennett Model to evaluate where the University of Iowa was in it's response process. I enjoyed creating this podcast and I feel it is a good example of ability to evaluate a diversity issue and and understand it from a public service viewpoint. By analyzing this situation I was able to see different viewpoints that I normally would have. In summary, I concluded that the administration was the root of the problem. People seek out guidance from their authority and, in this case, the University of Iowa did not react accordingly in correlation to their diverse campus population.
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