Ambassador Greg Engle Delivers the
William P. Hobby Distinguished Lecture

By Dr. Howard R. Balanoff, CPM, Distinguished Professor & Guest Author

On February 20, 2009, more than 150 American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) and Texas CPM alumni, faculty, and students attended the Annual Texas ASPA and Texas Certified Public Manager® (CPM) Conference held at Texas State University’s Higher Education Learning Center in Round Rock, Texas. The annual conference was sponsored by the Texas Chapters of ASPA; the journal, The Public Manager; and Texas State University’s William P. Hobby Center for Public Service.

The 2009 conference coordinators were Dr. Ken Matwiczak, Senior Lecturer at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas and Dr. Howard Balanoff, Professor and Director of the Texas CPM Program and Texas State University’s William P. Hobby Center for Public Service. Also attending and participating was ASPA’s President Don Klinger.

The 2009 Texas conference featured twelve breakouts and two plenary sessions. Delivering the plenary presentation was the Honorable Gregory W. Engle, Diplomat-in-Residence at the University Of Texas Lyndon B. Johnson School Of Public Affairs; Ambassador Engle is also the former Managing Counselor of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq and the former Ambassador to the Togolese Republic. The title of his presentation was “Opportunities and Challenges in International Public Management.”  Former Texas Lt. Governor Bill Hobby introduced Ambassador Engle to the audience.

In addition to the Hobby Distinguished Lecture, Harvey Kronberg, noted Texas political analyst and editor of the Quorum Report, conducted a plenary session on the current politics and activities of Texas government and the Texas legislative session.

The Texas CPM and ASPA conference featured a series of breakout panels focused on the conference theme “Opportunities and Challenges for Public Service.” Panels sponsored by the Texas CPM Program, Texas ASPA Chapters, and Public Administration Programs at Texas universities around the state included the following topics:

• Assessing Accountability Requirements in State and Local Government
• Looking for a Bold Future: Creating a Community Vision
• Public Services Careers: Challenges and Opportunities in Public Service
• Fundamentals of Grant Writing
• Coping with Natural Disasters in Texas: Preparing and Cleaning Up after Hurricane Ike
• Public Diplomacy Challenges: International to Local
• Performance Management Equals Performance Improvement
• Return on Investment with CPM Programs in Texas
• Whither the DHS, Wither the Border Fence?: Implications for Homeland Security in the Rio Grande Valley
• Challenges and Happenings on the Texas Gulf Coast

Additional breakout panels focused on professional development and were composed of faculty, alumni, and students from MPA and CPM programs at Texas universities. Texas ASPA chapter leaders and CPM alumni also conducted their business meetings at this conference.

As a companion to the conference, the Fifth Annual CPM and ASPA golf tournament was held on February 19 at the TeraVista Golf Course in Round Rock Texas.

The annual Texas ASPA and CPM conference is a result of close collaboration between the Texas CPM program and the various ASPA chapters throughout the state. It is also a result of the close coordination between the William P. Hobby Center for Public Service at Texas State University and other graduate programs in public administration located throughout Texas. Co-sponsoring the conference for the second time was The Public Manager.

For additional information about the Texas CPM program, please go to www.txstate.edu.cpm or contact Dr. Howard Balanoff, Professor and Chair of Texas State University’s William P. Hobby Center for Public Service at hb02@txstate.edu or (512) 245-3453.

For more about The Public Manager, go to www.thepublicmanager.org.

	The Honorable Gregory W. Engle (right) receives a plaque from former Texas Lt. Governor William P. Hobby in appreciation for delivering the William P. Hobby Distinguished Lecture at the Texas ASPA & CPM Conference.
	Faculty and students from the University of Texas at Pan American and members of the Texas Rio Grande/Rio Bravo Chapter of ASPA are shown at the Texas ASPA & CPM Conference.
	Bart Bevers, Inspector General for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, is shown delivering a presentation at the Texas ASPA & CPM Conference
	Harvey Kronberg, Editor of the Quorum Report conducts a plenary session on the Texas Legislative Session at the Conference.

© Copyright 2009, American Association of Certified Public Managers®