Midterms down... What's next?

Hey everyone! Hope your semesters are off to a good start!

Can we go back to fall break? I don't know about you, but those couple of days off were quite nice! Most of us should have finished midterms by now and are eagerly anticipating our grades if we haven't gotten them back already... I can definitely say that the administrative law and budgeting exams were a challenge and I definitely thought I did terrible, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I did well. Just a hint for anyone taking the courses in the future, don't neglect your readings. Your study guides should definitely focus the most on what the readings have to say about the subject.

Now that midterms are over, I've been helping Dr. Lambert pull casino revenue data to build a database of tax amounts, attendance, casino revenue, and individual payouts for the past 16 years. It's quite a daunting task as every state gaming commission has their own way of conveying the information, but it's definitely interesting to see just how profitable casinos are for municipalities.

Lastly, I just put in my graduation application the other day. It's a scary, yet exciting thought... I'll be graduating this coming May! Time has just flown by in the program, it seems like I just started it yesterday.

Stay tuned for future posts!

-James

Peeling back the covers of those new textbooks…

…Here we are in the third week of school. I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely bogged down with my readings for the semester.  Nothing I’m not used to though. I’m currently taking Budgeting Techniques and Administrative Law, so it’s going to be a pretty busy semester.

As the new graduate student for the MPA office, I suppose I ought to start by introducing myself. My name is James Catchen. I’m in my second year of the MPA program and with the inclusion of this semester, just four classes stand between me and that glorious spring 2014 graduation.

Apart from being the graduate assistant and taking classes, I’m currently developing my own project… thinking ahead for Capstone, I suppose. I’m working with a non-profit on campus, the Nurse Advocacy Center for the Underserved (NACU) to develop disaster management plans or at least a rough sketch of a standard one that can be applied to all 8 of their locations they serve. Each location itself is a nonprofit organization, most of which don’t have any disaster management planning but all utilize NACU’s services. Along the way, I’ve teamed up with the Safety Net Alliance of Northern Kentucky to enlist the help of nonprofits in the region who can guide or possibly collaborate with me as we attempt this project.

If you’re working with a nonprofit, I highly recommend looking into the Safety Net Alliance to see if your organization is a member or if you can become a member. It’s a great way for the nonprofits in this area to band together to help each other as well as network for new possibilities come graduation and beyond.

Anyhow, I hope you all are having a wonderful start to your semester. Stay tuned for further developments and stories from the semester!