UNM School of Public Administration hopes to attract public service interest with new undergraduate minor
Posted: September 24, 2022
A new undergraduate program designed to introduce students to the field of public service will be offered next year at the School of Public Administration (SPA) at The University of New Mexico. The new undergraduate minor in public service, created in collaboration with The Volcker Alliance, is designed to inspire and prepare college students to serve their communities and nation.
With programs like the Next Generation Service Corps, a groundbreaking initiative of the Volcker Alliance that draws diverse, talented young people into government and nonprofit careers, schools like the UNM SPA can introduce undergraduate students to public service, collaborative leadership skills, and the beginnings of government careers regardless of their chosen focus or background. The goal of SPA is to retain students as public servants in New Mexico and help them build a career for years to come.
The Volcker Alliance has awarded the UNM School of Public Administration a grant through its Next Generation Service Corps initiative to help UNM implement the program in Fall of 2023 with recruitment beginning next spring. The public service minor will be open to all students, so anyone looking to improve our democracy and address social problems through public service will be able to learn key values and build practical, collaborative leadership skills, regardless of their chosen major at UNM.
“The College of Arts & Sciences (A&S) is excited that SPA is providing opportunities to outstanding and diverse undergraduate students across the university to realize their passion and desire to serve their communities and bring about the change they want to see,” said A&S Interim Dean Arash Mafi.
“There are many opportunities for students to enter public service,” said Rosenthal Endowed Professor and SPA Director Patria de Lancer Julnes. “You can come from many different backgrounds to work in public service, not just public administration. You could be an engineer and work for the government. You could be a business major who is interested in social entrepreneurship and create your own nonprofit to develop innovative approaches for the causes you care the most about in your community.
“There are many roads leading to Rome, so to speak. We want this program to help create public service values and provide students with skills that they can use to address the issues in their community.”
Read the full story at UNM Newsroom.
