What are Graduates Doing Now? Using Professional Résumés to Track MPA Nonprofit Concentration Alumni

Authors

  • Leigh Nanney Hersey The University of Memphis
  • Dorothy Norris-Tirrell University of Central Florida
  • Susan Tomlinson Schmidt Nonprofit Leadership Alliance

Keywords:

alumni, career paths, Master of Public Administration (MPA), résumés

Abstract

Students earn a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree or other professional graduate degree as a means for career entry or advancement. For urban universities with missions of community building, the career and service paths of MPA students are of particular interest. While the MPA degree is a generalist degree, most programs offer multiple concentrations commonly including a nonprofit concentration. This paper is an exploratory examination of MPA alumni career progression and community engagement. The professional résumés of program graduates from the University of Memphis MPA program since the inception of the nonprofit concentration provide the data to analyze demographic and organizational variables and identify trends in career and service pursuits. The initial findings suggest that MPA graduates are fulfilling their public service goals, regardless of concentration, through employment in both local government and nonprofit organizations and through volunteering in their community. In addition, this research suggests that alumni résumés are a useful tool for tracking alumni career progression.

Author Biographies

Leigh Nanney Hersey, The University of Memphis

Assistant professor, Division of Public and Nonprofit Administration, School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Memphis. 

Dorothy Norris-Tirrell, University of Central Florida

Associate professor of public administration, University of Central Florida 

Susan Tomlinson Schmidt, Nonprofit Leadership Alliance

Vice president of the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance. 

Downloads

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 1 (2014)

Section

Articles

License

Sagamore Publishing LLC (hereinafter the “Copyright Owner”)

Journal Publishing Copyright Agreement for Authors

PLEASE REVIEW OUR POLICIES AND THE PUBLISHING AGREEMENT, AND INDICATE YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THE TERMS BY CHECKING THE ‘AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS COPYRIGHT NOTICE’ CHECKBOX BELOW.

I understand that by submitting an article to Journal of Nonprofit Education and Leadership, I am granting the copyright to the article submitted for consideration for publication in Journal of Nonprofit Education and Leadership to the Copyright Owner. If after consideration of the Editor of the Journal of Nonprofit Education and Leadership, the article is not accepted for publication, all copyright covered under this agreement will be automatically returned to the Author(s).

THE PUBLISHING AGREEMENT

Assignment of Copyright

I hereby assign to the Copyright Owner the copyright in the manuscript I am submitting in this online procedure and any tables, illustrations or other material submitted for publication as part of the manuscript in all forms and media (whether now known or later developed), throughout the world, in all languages, for the full term of copyright, effective when the article is accepted for publication.

Reversion of Rights

Articles may sometimes be accepted for publication but later be rejected in the publication process, even in some cases after public posting in “Articles in Press” form, in which case all rights will revert to the Author.

Retention of Rights for Scholarly Purposes

I understand that I retain or am hereby granted the Retained Rights. The Retained Rights include the right to use the Preprint, Accepted Manuscript, and the Published Journal Article for Personal Use and Internal Institutional Use.

All journal material is under a 12 month embargo. Authors who would like to have their articles available as open access should contact Sagamore-Venture for further information.

In the case of the Accepted Manuscript and the Published Journal Article, the Retained Rights exclude Commercial Use, other than use by the author in a subsequent compilation of the author’s works or to extend the Article to book length form or re-use by the author of portions or excerpts in other works.

Published Journal Article: the author may share a link to the formal publication through the relevant DOI.

Author Representations

  • The Article I have submitted to the journal for review is original, has been written by the stated author(s) and has not been published elsewhere.
  • The Article was not submitted for review to another journal while under review by this journal and will not be submitted to any other journal.
  • The Article contains no libelous or other unlawful statements and does not contain any materials that violate any personal or proprietary rights of any other person or entity.
  • I have obtained written permission from copyright owners for any excerpts from copyrighted works that are included and have credited the sources in the Article.
  • If the Article was prepared jointly with other authors, I have informed the co-author(s) of the terms of this Journal Publishing Agreement and that I am signing on their behalf as their agent, and I am authorized to do so.