Today’s post is by guest blogger and first year MPA & MA-REEI student Damon Smith.

I came to Bloomington for the first time in February 2012 to visit SPEA and see what it had to offer firsthand.  I got such a good impression that I knew I wanted to attend Experience Day the following month.  Two important aspects of the event stick out to me. Firstly, I got to meet SPEA professors, discover what kind of classes were offered, and learn about the great career opportunities that graduate study at SPEA offers. Secondly, I was able to meet several people who later became my good friends.  It was wonderful to be able to hear what SPEA had to offer and gain insight from other prospective students’ concerns.

In the evening, SPEA held Gala, an annual fundraising auction, that allowed fellow prospective students and I the opportunity to interact with current students in an atmosphere not centered around school. This really completed the whole experience for me because I knew that these were the kind of people I wanted to be around for the next few years.

SPEA offers many great dual degree programs, and I knew I wanted to be in a MPA/MA program. The day after Experience Day, I was also able to meet with the director of the Russian and East European Institute (REEI). This was very important for me, because I learned about that program and how everything works from the other end.

Driving back home later that day, I knew I would be back in Bloomington in a few months as a SPEA student.

SPEA from an International Development Perspective

Today’s blog is by second year SPEA student Weston Merrick.

I’ve found in my tenure at SPEA that whether by innate character or past educational experience, my fellow graduate students want to make an indelible mark on the world. While the inspiration might be innate, actually making the mark takes the qualitative and qualitative know how to do so. The International Development concentration at SPEA creates a balanced and flexible curriculum to give us the skills to make an impact.

The course load helps cultivate two distinct skill sets that are necessary for international development practitioners. First, it seeks to equip SPEA students with the ability to think analytically and quantify the impacts of the programs they are administering. Quantitative skills may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of development, but the predominant players in development, whether it be USAID, Oxfam, or CARE, understand that resources are scarce, and therefore practitioners must meaningfully and accurately demonstrate the impact of their expenditures. Relatedly, knowing how to budget and manage finances is critical in development programs, and through relevant courses, SPEA gives a fundamental understanding of what public finance entails. In addition, it is vital to be well read on the latest development literature, which requires the ability to understand statistical results and assumptions used in academic papers. To refine these skills, students take courses in Data Analysis and Modeling, Public Finance and Budgeting, Cost Benefit Analysis, and Public Program Evaluation.

The second skill set that SPEA provides students is the ability to analyze the context of countries and regions through relevant curriculum. Some of this done in broad strokes, through classes like Developmental Economics and Globalization and Entrepreneurship, through which students are taught best practices and their inherent strengths and weaknesses. These courses help build the basic skills upon which more specialized knowledge is added.

International development is a diverse field that encompasses everything from working at the Treasury Department on loan forgiveness plans to implementing anti-malaria programs in Lagos. Recognizing development’s many career possibilities SPEA offers a wide range of electives and allows students the flexibility to build a learning plan appropriate to their unique interests. These electives include everything from NGO Management in Comparative Perspective to Global Health Issues and Management from Art of Diplomacy to foreign language courses.

These courses have helped shape my view of development and the impact I can make. However, the most important thing to me about SPEA is its student body. Every day, I am inspired by my peers’ vigor and knowledge. Their commitment to shaping the world pushes me to want to do and learn more. My peers’ charity, humility, and passion permeates everything at SPEA, and these characteristics will have the most lasting impact on me.

The Dual Student Experience

Today we have a guest post from SPEA first-year MPA/MSES student, Rebecca Ciciretti.

Going into my senior year of college, I was still uncertain about the direction I wanted my life to head after college was over.  After deciding that graduate school was the best option for furthering my studies, I began researching graduate programs in the environmental policy field.  I quickly found that not many schools had what I was looking for.  A lot of the schools I considered had strong public health or public affairs programs, but no tie to environmental issues.  Other schools had strong environmental science programs that focused on research, which is an area in which I knew I had no interest.  I understood from the beginning that to make effective policy changes in the environmental field, you must understand the science behind the issues.  The dual MPA/MSES program at SPEA was the only program I found that fit the criteria for which I was looking.

The MPA/MSES program is, in my mind, the best of both worlds.  Not only do you leave Indiana University in two and a half years with two Master’s degrees (only a semester longer than getting one degree), but you get to take classes in both the MPA and the MSES fields.  The core requirements for the dual program are a combination of the MPA and MSES cores, with classes such as statistics, economics, and environmental chemistry.  Beyond the core classes, you are able to take MPA and MSES classes and choose concentrations in either of those fields, or other concentrations designed especially for dual students.  The variety of options available to dual students is incredible and really allows a student to choose exactly the right fit that will allow them to thrive.

Although I am only in my first semester at SPEA, I knew from the first day I got here that I had made the right decision.  The other first-year students in the dual program with me are eager to learn from one another and are always willing to help.  Everyone has their own strengths and within our dual cohort, we play to those strengths when completing homework assignments and studying for tests.  The MPA/MSES program will allow me to get a high quality, well-rounded education and leave SPEA with a better understanding of the world and a holistic approach about how to improve it.