Melia Polynice, Former President of
MPASA
We would like to profile Ms. Melia Polynice and share
her career advice with you as a recently graduated MPA student. She is past
2011- 2012 President of the Masters of Public Administration Student Association
(MPASA) and May 2012 MPA Program Graduate and winner of the Graduate Student
Award.Melia Polynice recently graduated with an MPA-IG degree with a dual
concentration in organization assessment and monitoring and fiscal policy
analysis. She was also the immediate past-president of the MPA Student
Association, an organization that received the Phoenix Award from the Office of
Student Life for efforts in revitalizing club and engaging graduate
students.
She is also the recipient of the 2012 Graduate Student Service Award for dedication to inspiring and engaging students of public administration. She considers herself a role model at John Jay, emphasizing the importance professionalism and compassion in public service. Melia was inducted in to Pi Alpha Alpha National Honor Society for Public Administration June 2011. She is a graduate of City College of New York with Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. While attending City College, she received the Professor Abraham Bernstein Class of 1930 Award in Creative Writing.
She is also the recipient of the 2012 Graduate Student Service Award for dedication to inspiring and engaging students of public administration. She considers herself a role model at John Jay, emphasizing the importance professionalism and compassion in public service. Melia was inducted in to Pi Alpha Alpha National Honor Society for Public Administration June 2011. She is a graduate of City College of New York with Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. While attending City College, she received the Professor Abraham Bernstein Class of 1930 Award in Creative Writing.
Ms. Polynice has over five years of professional
experience working in the public sector. As a Project Administrator at the
Center for Practice Innovations, she provides support for OMH policy driven
mental health training initiatives; she participates in both a learning
management system and website design workgroup; in addition she is the main
technical support staff for NYS Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) teams.
Before joining the Center for Practice Innovations, she was a Grants Associate
at Program Design and Development, LLC. She was responsible for daily office
administration duties, grant evaluation and compliance, grant proposal
development, and collaborations on special projects. The experience of working
with professional in the public and private sector motivated her to pursue a
Master of Public Administration.
1) As a recently graduated MPA student, what advice
would you offer new and continuing
students?
- New students: Set goals – Have clear goals, what is the exact thing that you want from this program? Being specific helps you to stay on track and keep focused.
- Continuing students: Re-evaluate the goals you set when you started your program, are they the same, or have they changed? If they have changed, how will you meet your new goals?
2) What are some of your more memorable moments from
the program?
Spring 2011 was my most memorable semester in the MPA
Program. I had just joined the MPASA leadership team and immediately doors began
to open. I had the opportunity to attend the American Society of Public
Administration (ASPA) Conference in Baltimore. During that semester, I took one
the most challenging, yet rewarding classes- PAD 740 with Professor Palm, who
retired this year. The final project, a meta-analysis of Inspector General
Reports, helped me gain a new perspective on how to address chronic systematic
deficiencies that increase vulnerability. My project focused on the Center for
Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS). I reviewed their auditing process and how
limited audit scopes did not address medical necessity on excessive (increase)
claims. What’s the connection between the ASPA Conference and PAD 740? I was
steadily working to finish my meta-analysis on the
trip.
3) Tell us a little about what do you now – how has
the MPA helped you in your current role? How do you see the program affecting
your future?
I am a Project Administrator at the Center for Practice
Innovations at the NYS Psychiatric Institute, which is a part of the Division
for Mental Health Services and Policy Research. Simplified, I provide
administrative and operational support for the
Center.
- One of my main roles is assisting with the
implementation and daily support of a learning management system, which educates
mental health professionals on national scale. The MPA program has helped me in
my current role in many ways. For example, my current position is grant-funded,
and when my grant location was switched from a small non-for-profit to a large
organization, the information I learned in the Organizational Performance
Assessment and Human Resource Management courses helped me to adapt to this new
transition. These courses also helped to clarify the importance of having a
holistic perspective of human capital and the importance of performance
management in understanding how organizations
function.
4) Were there any resources at John Jay that you
would recommend that students take advantage of?
Using the library, especially the online journals and
databases. When you are down to the wire and you need to conduct research all
night, it’s a life saver to know how to conduct
searches.
5) Any final advice for students?
- Assess your top skills and apply to internships and jobs that utilize these skills and strengths. Research the culture of the organization to ensure that there is a strong fit.
- Get involved in organizations like MPASA, a leadership role will prepare you for a role in managing and administering programs in any sector or industry. This is a great training ground. If you make a mistake, you are not going to get fired!
