The document outlines 5 journal prompts for a local public administration student in Washington DC. The prompts address issues like improved infrastructure, revenue strategies for nonprofits, transparency in government finances, hiring practices, and oversight of public services. The student is asked to discuss examples from their community and reflect on topics like budgeting, decision making, discrimination, and advantages/disadvantages of different oversight models.
Play hard learn harder: The Serious Business of Play
1) Identify your community (Washington DC), and reflect on a local
1. 1) Identify your community (Washington DC), and reflect on a
local public issue that needs improvement and/or has been
revised or updated (e.g., improved roadways, improved
processing at the Department of Motor Vehicles [DMV], new
traffic construction, improved public parking, safer public
parks, implementation of recreation projects, addition of bike
paths). Determine what types of information that the public
organization manager needed to properly solve the issue. As
your guide, ensure to frame your response using Simon’s four
decision-making strategies listed in the Unit IV Lesson.
2) Reflecting on the unit readings for budget strategies,
identify and discuss examples of revenue streams for a
nonprofit organization in your community. Examples of local
public services could include fire services, library facilities,
community projects, or nonprofit public services. Discuss a
strategy that was effective or one that was not.
Your journal entry must be at least 200 words in length. No
references or citations are necessary.
3) The words
financial accountability
and
agency transparency
are great buzzwords when it comes to effective governing.
Based on your experience or news events, reflect on the pros
and cons of administrators or agency offices providing too much
financial information to the public. Will public offices (or
individuals) be open to having the citizenry scrutinize financial
information or decisions?
Your journal entry must be at least 200 words in length. No
references or citations are necessary.
2. 4) Reflect on a past experience in the workplace or with an
organization, and summarize the difference between hiring for
quotas and hiring on merits alone. Is either one discrimination?
Why, or why not?
Your journal entry must be at least 200 words in length. No
references or citations are necessary
5) Suggest which public services would serve the citizenry
more effectively in your local community. Reflect on
advantages and disadvantages if oversight roles were switched
(e.g., if the state rather than the local government began
providing oversight for police and fire protection), or discuss if
the local government alone should have complete control of
public education in your community.
Your journal entry must be at least 200 words in length. No
references or citations are necessary.