Texas Society of Certified Public Managers®

By Dr. Howard R. Balanoff
hb02@txstate.edu

On Friday November 10, 2006, the Annual Texas American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) and Certified Public Managers® (CPM) Conference was held on the Downtown Campus of the University of Texas at San Antonio. The Conference was sponsored by the South Texas Chapter of ASPA, the College of Public Policy and the Public Administration Department of the University of Texas at San Antonio and Texas State University’s William P. Hobby Center for Public Service.

The 2006 conference coordinators were Dr. Jerrell Coggburn, of the Department of Public Administration at the University of Texas at San Antonio and Dr. Howard Balanoff, Professor & Director of the Texas CPM Program and Texas State University’s William P. Hobby Center for Public Service.

The conference featured 15 breakouts and 1 plenary session. Delivering the plenary presentation was Austin political expert Mr. Harvey Kronberg, editor of the Quorum Report. Mr. Kronberg conducted a review and analysis of the recent national and Texas elections.

The Texas ASPA & CPM Conference featured a series of breakout panels which focused on building bridges across public administration boundaries. These panels were sponsored by university public administration and public policy programs across the state and included the following topics.

Bridging Public Administrators and their Law Enforcement Agencies
Panel sponsored by the Centex Chapter of ASPA

Building Bridges across State and Local Government
Panel sponsored by the MPA Program of Texas State University

Can Government Be Great?
Panel sponsored by the Public Administration Program of Texas Southern University

Networks that Matter: Crossing Time and Sectors
Panel sponsored by the University of Texas at Dallas

Public-Private Partnerships: Citizen Participation and Perceptions
Panel sponsored by the Center for Public Service of Texas Tech University

Leader Development for Public Service: Leadership Worth Measuring
Panel sponsored by the Bush School of Government and Public Service of Texas A&M University

E-Government and Technology Innovations in Public Administration
Panel sponsored by the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin

Building Bridges across Communities
Panel sponsored by the Department of Public Administration of the University of Texas at San Antonio

Additional breakout panels focusing on professional development were composed of faculty, alumni and students from MPA & CPM Programs at Texas universities were conducted during the Conference. Of special interest to students were two breakout sessions that focused on helping individuals prepare for interviews and develop effective resumes.

In addition to the panels Texas ASPA leaders, MPA Coordinators and CPM Alumni held their business meetings at this Conference.

© Copyright 2007, American Association of Certified Public Managers®