Executive Master of Public Administration students celebrate graduation
30 March 2021
● News and media
It has been a long and disrupted journey, but ANZSOG’s 2019 Executive Master of Public Administration (EMPA) cohort have celebrated their graduation at a virtual event earlier in March.
The cohort has seen the EMPA course shift online, and their government employers scramble to adjusted to a disrupted environment as they worked to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.
After two years of working together to address problems, and learn new skills from some of Australia and New Zealand’s best academics and practitioners, the group will join more than 3600 ANZSOG alumni, many in key positions within the public sector.
James Goodwin, from the NSW Environmental Protection Authority was voted as Dean’s Prize Winner and delivered the valedictory speech on behalf of the cohort.
He said that: “I suspect, though, that most of us had no idea how much the world would change over the course of our EMPA and how much our journey would be shaped by those changes.”
“To me, it seems so long ago that we first came together as a cohort in Melbourne to learn about Public Value and explore the challenges we faced in a VUCA world.
“At the time, it felt like EMPA would equip us to be better leaders in an increasingly complex and uncertain world.”
He said that he wanted to thank his fellow students for their role in sharing their experience and supporting each other.
“I know that for many of you, COVID transformed your work demands, whether it was through leading frontline responses, developing additional support for the community, redesigning your service delivery or in other ways,” he said.
“This must have made it even more challenging to find time for EMPA, and you did it! I am particularly inspired by the resilience of the Victorian cohort given the additional constraints you experienced last year.
“Groupwork was also central to our EMPA experience. A big thanks to the almost 30 of you who were in one or more of the groups I was involved in. You all brought different perspectives and ideas to each groupwork task, and I learnt so much from that.”
EMPA participants are nominated by their agency to undertake the challenging program, which integrates theory and practical application in a unique cross-jurisdictional classroom setting.
The course is constantly evolving to incorporate new ideas in public management and respond to the changing demands of the public sector and ANZSOG’s owner governments.
In 2020, the EMPA was able to shift to online delivery while continuing to give participants the chance to work closely together, share ideas and build a strong network that will last for the rest of their careers.
The 2021 EMPA cohort has already begun its journey, and expressions of interest are now open for the 2022 EMPA.
For the 2019 EMPA cohort Prizes were also awarded for the best performers in each subject as follows:
Subject
Student
Jurisdiction and Department
Delivering Public Value (DPV)
Nigel McMillan
NZ – Ministry of Social Development
Government in a Market Economy (GME)
Samuel (Sam) Hamilton
CTH – Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment
Designing Public Policies and Programs (DPPP)
Nigel McMillan
NZ – Ministry of Social Development
Decision Making Under Uncertainty (DMUU)
Kate Petrie
QLD Department of Health
Managing Public Sector Organisations (MPSO)
Louise Evans
VIC – Department of Health and Human services
Governing by the Rules (GBR)
Ben Kong
VIC – Department of Health and Human Services
Leading Public Sector Change (LPSC)
Kirsten Nelson
WA – Corruption & Crime Commission
Public Financial Management (PFM)
James Goodwin
NSW – Environment Protection Authority
Work-Based Project (WBP)
TEAM 17
Tania Wilson – CTH
Matt Tibble – VIC
Sumit Sinha-Roy – WA
Kirsten Nelson – WA
Jason Crean – NSW
Nijole Szabo – CTH
CTH – Dept of Home Affairs
VIC – Mental Health Reform Victoria
WA – Dept of Health
WA – Corruption & Crime Commission
NSW – Dept of Primary Industries
CTH – Dept of Education, Skills and Employment