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Nice article! I am currently writing a manuscript on Human Service Organizations and I am grappling with several questions regarding the scope of various degrees that train individuals to work in the public sector.

I recently read McGuinness and Schank's book _Power to the Public_ on this idea of Public Interest Technologies. I am curious how your ideas fit with theirs.

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That's great to hear!

I have a copy of their book but haven't actually read it yet. That said, I am quite familiar with the field of public-interest technology, as it has both been a big part of my career and something I've spend countless volunteer hours on (including several years running Code for DC). You might be interested in some things I've written on the topic, listed here: https://civicinsighter.com/about

Other book suggestions—if you haven't already read them—are: Recoding America by Jen Pahlka (https://www.recodingamerica.us/), A Civic Technologist's Practice Guide by Cyd Harrell (https://cydharrell.wpcomstaging.com/book/), and Hack Your Bureaucracy by Marina Nitze and Nick Sinai (https://www.hackyourbureaucracy.com/).

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Thanks for the book recommendations, and links to your previous articles---especially am excited to read your GovLoop articles as it overlaps with my current interests.

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Love this! Early in my career, I saw the same dichotomy between high-minded policy folks and administrators grinding it out in the trenches. I calibrated my own Masters from American University to split the MPA/MPP degree programs - but could only wish for course offerings like Professor Sinai’s. I think inclusive methodologies like HCD/co-design should actually be mandatory for public administration degree programs in this day and age.

I’d like to share one additional aspiration - maybe something you can expand on in a future post - that American MPA programs expand offerings beyond traditional New Public Management (NPM) approaches. NPM, in my view, pairs well with neoliberal economics and policies. But I personally wish I could find more coursework and intellectual leadership aligned with University College London (UCL) Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, which is developing tools and capabilities for co-creating and co-shaping markets instead of teaching established tools for fixing market failures.

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Interestingly, American University offers a combined Master of Public Administration and Policy degree... but only online. In-person degrees are still split MPP vs. MPA. https://programs.online.american.edu/mpap/master-of-public-administration-and-policy

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