Organizational Change Skill Acquisition and Change Agency Preparedness in U.S. NASPAA-Accredited MPA Programs Helisse Levine Long Island University Nicole J. Christian Dowling College Beverly P. Lyons Long Island University ABSTRACT New challenges in our global and regional economies question managers’ ability to navigate change in the years ahead. Because colleges and universities are the incubators for future leaders, we argue that MPA programs across the country must train leaders of public organizations in organizational change and leadership skills to be successful during this transformation. Although a growing body of literature focuses on how employees and managers perceive organizational change and change management (e.g., culture change, effect of globalization), a considerable rift exists between the analysis and the practical application. Filling this gap, and in keeping within NASPAA’s accreditation guidelines to prepare students to be “leaders, managers, and analysts in the professions of public affairs, public administration, and public policy,” the purpose of this research is to identify the skills required by graduate students of public administration programs to effect change in public organizations and determine whether NASPAA-accredited MPA programs are providing these skills as reflected in course curricula and program catalogs. We caution that in light of NASPAA’s emphasis on universal competencies, coupled with the current economic and fiscal constraints faced by all levels of government, the ability of public affairs and administration graduate students to master organizational change skills should be considered a fundamental objective in the assessment of NASPAA-accredited MPA programs’ learning outcomes. Keywords: leadership skills, change agency preparation, NASPAA-accredited MPA programs, course curricula, learning outcomes JPAE 19 (3), 479–492 Journal of Public Affairs Education 479 H. Levine, N. J. Christian, & B. P. Lyons The world of business and government has ostensibly changed since the latest global recession as unemployment and foreclosures have increasingly become common experiences. Coined the “new normal” by Wall Street, sluggish economic growth, high levels of unemployment, and a 2%-growth world have led to government budget problems, hastening the need for public leaders to do more with less. These new conditions in our global and regional economies question what leaders will need to know to navigate this “new normal” going forward. Kotter (1990; Kotter & Cohen, 2002) points out that mastering adaptation and transformation are at the cornerstone of a new kind of leadership that embraces and supports change. In the private sector, new technologies, processes and applications are well recognized as vital to the firm’s long-term viability. Similarly noted by a host of public administration scholars (e.g., Schraeder, Tears, & Jordan, 2005), public sector organizations face the same demands. Because colleges and universities are the incubators for future leaders, we argue that MPA programs across the country must train leaders of public organizations in organizational change and leadership skills to be successful during this transformation. From a business education perspective, Crosling, Edwards, and Schroder (2008) make the case that because “market, political and social” (p. 108) forces are at work, business school curricula must change to address these forces. In the area of public affairs and administration graduate education, despite attention to areas of law (Szypszak, 2011) and finance (Peddle & Thurmaier, 2011) to name a few, we argue that MPA programs across the country must also train leaders of public organizations, including nonprofit and health care organizations, to have the leadership skills to be successful during transformation. Public sector employees must be motivated to see change as necessary and have a sense of urgency to achieve it (Knowles, 1998; Kotter, 2002). Given the global, complex, uncertain and interrelated environment (Maak & Pless, 2006) government leaders of the future will have to be more shepherd-like in their approach, including developing and allowing others the opportunity to lead (Hemp, 2008). This means that the public sector workplaces will need to usher in a paradigm shift in the traditional leadership approach to become more inclusive and collaborative. Importantly, students of public administration must be given the opportunity to be steeped in the knowledge, skill and application of management concepts, including those related to organizational change (Hemp, 2008; Cope, 2009; Olshfski & Levine, 2004). Although a growing body of literature focuses on how employees and managers perceive organizational change and changemanagement (e.g., culture change, effect of globalization) a considerable rift exists between the analysis and the practical application. Filling this gap, and in keeping within NASPAA’s accreditation guidelines to prepare students to be “leaders, managers, and analysts in the professions of public affairs, public administration, and public policy” (NASPAA, 2009), the purpose of this research is to identify the skills required by graduate students of public administration programs to effect change and adaptation in public organizations and determine whether NASPAA-accredited MPA programs are providing these skills in course curricula. 480 Journal of Public Affairs Education Organizational Change Skill Acquisition A review of organizational change literature follows. To identify the skills managers need to be successful leaders of change, we develop and conduct openended, face-to-face interviews to a purposive sample of public administrators in the New York metropolitan area. A content analysis of NASPAA-accredited MPA program curricula is conducted to determine evidence of organization change skill builders. We conclude with study limitations and suggestions for further study. LITERATURE REVIEW Over a decade ago, Valle (1999) noted that public organizations, which are subject to continual crises, whether acute or chronic, severe or less severe, need to develop mechanisms to cope with the demands of their ever-changing situations. In other words, change management, defined by Moran and Brightman (2001) as “the process of continually renewing an organization’s direction, structure, and capabilities to serve the ever-changing needs of external and internal customers,” represents a critical component of organizational management (p. 111).1 Previous research indicates that navigating the changing landscape of our world requires leaders of public organizations to cope with continual environmental change and to prepare the members of their organizations to cope with, and adapt to, changes of mission, environment, and/or direction (Valle, 1999). Understanding where the change occurs in the industry (context), the practices needed to succeed (management process), and the ability to lead others through the change (management capability) is a necessary integrated approach to successfully managing change. These changes in leadership style and approach are directly connected to how these changes will be implemented in the workplace. Consequently, Miller (2011) suggests that students will need to have a curiosity-driven approach to their leadership style where they are always open to new ideas and remain proactive. Therefore future public sector leaders will need to be skilled in assessing changes in the environment, policies, and demographics of their service population. Previous research relevant to skills required for successful public sector organizational change leadership includes (a) integrated approach to leadership, (b) change sustainability, (c) collaboration, (d) shared purpose, and (e) radical transformation and agility. Change Sustainability An effective way to ensure change sustainability is to get leaders and directors involved in the change process from the beginning. Therefore, leaders will need to be skilled in the ability to integrate themselves into the change processes from the onset so the process does not begin and end in one department and flow to each department in a staccato silo fashion (Chocqueel-Mangan, 2011; Miller, 2011). Leaders also will be required to understand the culture, strengths, and weaknesses of different departments and be able to forge links with and between them (Miller, 2011, p. 58). Chocqueel-Mangan (2011) maintains that leaders will need to create a “shared purpose” between and among executives, Journal of Public Affairs Education 481 H. Levine, N. J. Christian, & B. P. Lyons department heads and the rank and file. For the change to stick, it must be in the organization DNA (Chocqueel-Mangan, 2011). Leaders must also be able to effectively transform business units or teams and infrastructure (systems, policies, etc.) in a way that will sustain change in an organization. Collaboration To combat resistance to change, the leader must focus on and deal with fear, which Edmonds (2011) claims is one of the main causes of resistance to change. Employees will only embrace the change and follow the process if they feel empowered. This takes deft negotiation and facilitation on the part of the public leader. Accordingly, the leader must engage and communicate with skeptical staff while developing clarity, strengthening the team, and communicating the organization’s vision. These skills were once required of executive staff only, but all public leaders will need to break free and encourage others to break free of the comfort zone and “move forward in a new direction” where these skills are a part of everyday work life (Edmonds, 2011, p. 35). To build collaboration, the public manager must also be able to understand people’s work and work style (Shulman, 2010). As Shulman (2010) points out, in the for-profit world, leaders can demand and mandate changes from the top, but in the public sector where workers often have strong views, opinions and commitment levels, leaders must take the time to understand and respect others’ perspectives and ideas, or change processes can be sabotaged from within. Public managers must have strong skill in persuasion and presenting a “compelling vision” to staff members (Shulman, 2010, p. 24). A public leader with proficient collaboration skills will gain more respect from staff than if he or she has expertise in a certain skill area. Shared Purpose Today’s public sector leader must be a purpose builder in addition to his or her expertise in a particular area. Edmonds (2011) explains that ground rules that everyone in the organization can agree on must be set before ushering in change. The more people agree to and understand in the beginning, the more likely they are to stay engaged in the entire process. The leader, therefore, must know, understand, and embrace the need for the change and what the change is before the rest of the organization gets on board. In this regard, Edmonds (2011) recommends s that there be some “project management and stakeholder engagement before leading the transition to change”; otherwise, the change process will be dismissed as a passing fad with no real organizational traction (p. 33). Preparing people early to accept and be ready for change is another responsibility for the leader. Radical Transformation and Agility “Radical transformation” (Chocqueel-Mangan, 2011, p. 58) of the business and service model is the norm for today. Mangan (2011) makes the case that today 482 Journal of Public Affairs Education Organizational Change Skill Acquisition more than ever before, organizations need trained leaders who are able to redesign processes, behaviors, and relationships that will net a new approach to the market. It is no longer about developing a new “workforce of creative, wacky thinkers” (Chocqueel-Mangan, 2011, p. 58) to revamp products and services and to find new clients. Today it is about developing a “cadre of managers who have a broad enough array of skills to cope with the new world” (Chocqueel-Mangan, 2011, p. 57) and can identify when change is on the horizon. With the rapid growth of technology, “survival of organizations is dependent on the selection and development of future leaders” (Amagoh, 2009, p. 989), and those leaders must be empowered to be able to engage others in organizational change processes and policies (Melcrum Research, 2009). It takes trained and developed leaders to be able to successfully implement and manage change processes that could take months or years and often can affect the entire business or service model from production and outreach (sales) to evaluation. Agility is a common theme in ensuring long-term performance in challenging times (Miller, 2011; Chocqueel-Mangan, 2011). Agility is having the ability to work in many facets of leadership in an organization, not just in one aspect of work. Because staying in one aspect of work can become a change inhibitor, it’s important for a public sector manager to be able to see relationships among and between departments and to be able to facilitate work among them (Miller, 2011). DESIGN A qualitative exploratory research method involving two phases was used. The first phase was to identify the skills required by MPA students to effect change and adaptation in public organizations. We conducted face-to-face open-ended interviews to a purposive sample of six managerial leaders in the public sector. Open-ended questions allowed for greater flexibility of responses (Patton, 1990; Kvale, 1996). Then, to determine whether NASPAA-accredited MPA programs are providing the aforementioned skills in course curricula, we conducted a review and analysis of the content of a random sample of MPA course curricula selected from the 139 NASPAA-accredited MPA programs across the country. Characteristics of the Public Administrators Interviewed The interview respondents are senior-level administrators in state, county, or town government in Long Island, New York. Each is a policy expert and manages the day-to-day operations of a division/department with an average of 5 to 20 employees. The respondents were selected because of their many years of service (average tenure for the respondents is 20 years of service) and senior-level standing and included administrators from different levels of government. Organizations in our research had office-wide annual budgets of at least $1 million with a minimum of five public programs managed in-house. Interview administrators have at least a master’s degree (one public administrator has a law degree) and 10 years or more experience managing people in the public sector. One manager who is about to Journal of Public Affairs Education 483 H. Levine, N. J. Christian, & B. P. Lyons retire after 34 years in public service has two master’s degrees and has worked at the federal, state, county, town, and village levels. Another, an attorney by training, managed a congressman’s office for a decade, returned to the private sector for some years, then was recruited to work at the county government level in economic development. Another interviewee is a social worker by training and rose through the ranks in the housing, youth, and community development fields. The other three interviewees included a village/town administrator, budget director/treasurer, and agency manager. FINDINGS Phase One: Interview Process We asked respondents four lead-in questions: (1) What qualities are needed for public organizations to be successful today? (2) What kinds of skills do public managers need in the 21st century to make an impact in today’s public sector? (3) What challenges must public managers prepare for to handle today’s present economic climate? (4) What kinds of skills did they look for when hiring public managers? First, the interviewees acknowledged that getting people to change is very difficult, and managing a changing economic, social, and political landscape even more so. Overall, respondents noted that the current economic and cultural climate demands more from public leaders than ever before. In responding to the qualities public organizations need to be successful today, each of the six administrators began by stating that government organizations needed to meet less and accomplish more, which takes effective leadership, knowledge, desire and high emotional intelligence. One public manager nearing retirement noted, “In government for management track [positions] the ability to handle technology is the foundation I look for—not so much how often technology is used but whether he or she has the ability to learn what is needed to do the job.” The respondent added, “What I mean is, using technology or having agency knowledge or expertise is not the most critical factor in navigating the changing public landscape but having the ability to learn new things to get the job done is what counts.” One of our administrators suggested that “high intellect and analytical skills ranked high on the list because a public manager is expected to juggle many duties and wear many hats since public work is more a marathon not a sprint.” The respondent also said, “Public leaders must be ready to listen, think, plan, and then implement.” Leading change and innovation was identified as being “forward thinking” and “proactive.” These skills were described as “necessary,” “critical,” and “important.” When asked what kinds of skills public managers need in the 21st century to make an impact in today’s public sector, interviewees noted the following 10 strengths at least once in their responses: (1) effective leadership; (2) knowledge; (3) desire/ 484 Journal of Public Affairs Education Organizational Change Skill Acquisition passion; (4) empathy; (5) analytical skills; (6) emotional Intelligence; (7) ability to be proactive; (8) future-oriented; (9) confident; and (10) listening/communication skills. Also, the interviewees suggested that additional enhancement skills needed by public managers include a commitment to mission. One manager stated that public managers need “to be proactive and future oriented or not much gets done” so public managers will need to be even more connected to trends in the public landscape to be more effective. Further, the days of marathon meetings as proof of working hard in government or the public sector are also dwindling in importance. One manager noted, “My general attitude is stop the meetings—get it done” This “get it done kind of attitude” is an important skill for public administrators to develop. In further discussion about skills, one manager brought up the concept of emotional intelligence. He observed that “emotional intelligence is paramount for successful public management.” He said, “You could be a cold fish and be a good writer/talker, but can you sense they can be trusted, sincere, caring, empathy, etc., politeness, sharing,” making the point that being credible and trustworthy are important characteristics for today’s public manager, especially during times of economic and social crisis. Each respondent agreed that leadership in the public sector requires a range of skills and experience and that leaders in the public sector will be expected to draw on all of these. One administrator emphasized “that most things can be learned but that ‘articulation and timing’ of the message or the change process was critical.” Therefore, the interviewee said, public administrators must be nimble, intellectually agile and have knowledge of “micro/macroeconomics, understanding a sense of money and how it affects the public and the world,” meaning that public managers must grasp the global effect of policy, procedures, and the economy. This response confirms Mangan’s (2011) assertion that navigating the changing landscape of the public sector will require an integrated approach to leadership that includes understanding “strategic context” (p. 57), specifically, addressing contemporary issues by thorough investigation of that particular environment and the specific situation. This is a critical function of organizational change— understanding and being proactive in a particular environment. The most senior of the six administrators interviewed (a village administrator) believed that “one to one communication” was key because “e-mail, texting and telephone is not necessarily the best way to communicate all messages.” The respondent said, “Experience working together in a team, communicating clearly, and being transparent, [are important], especially now during one of the most devastating economic crises to hit Long Island.” A municipal budget expert suggested that “not only is ‘fiscal savvy’ important but also communicating and organizing a budget [are] important for all public managers.” He believes that public administrators must “wear many hats” and “be prepared to communicate, translate and create a vision in order for organizations to thrive.” Journal of Public Affairs Education 485 H. Levine, N. J. Christian, & B. P. Lyons All interviewees acknowledged that the current fiscal crisis on Long Island will have a ripple effect in all areas of public life for a long time to come—for 10, 20, maybe 30 years. With this as a backdrop, they underscored how important it is for public leaders to be highly skilled in all facets of governance: budgeting, evaluation, program management and team building. Now more than ever, as one interviewer put it, “The future of the public sector is in this generation’s hands.” Phase II: Review and Analysis of Course Content During the review and analysis of the course content phase, we randomly selected one third of the 139 NASPAA-accredited MPA programs across the country. The final data consisted of 46 (33%) NASPAA-accredited MPA programs. To ensure consistency, two authors independently reviewed the content of courses listed on the websites of the selected MPA programs and coded the information separately. Then both coders conducted a collaboratively reviewed the independently coded information for comparison purposes. The authors reviewed each MPA program course curriculum and course descriptions to determine two factors: (1) the core focus of the program and (2) if organizational change was a fundamental element of the curriculum and courses. The authors also detailed whether or not leadership instruction was included in the courses or curriculum. All 46 (100%) of the randomly sampled MPA programs had as a program emphasis or core curriculum the following 11 areas: (1) public finance and budgeting; (2) economics, (3) the policy process, (4) organizational theory and development, (5) quantitative methods, (6) policy analysis, (7) human resource management, (8) ethics, (9) program evaluation, (10) decision making, and (11) the administrative process. In addition, all programs included specific courses about leadership, and as a part of that leadership curriculum, navigating change or innovation was an element in the description. However, only 24% (11 programs of 46 selected) included an organizational change course or focus in the core curriculum. For the most part, MPA program curricula included instruction in areas related to improving public sector professional practice, such as policy, human resources, and finance. Presumably, because organizational change is a fairly new concept in the public sector, it has thus far been embedded in the leadership curriculum in MPA programs. All of the MPA programs offered specialty tracks, and of those with a nonprofit management specialization, leadership and/or change was a fundamental element of the course curriculum for that specialization. Of the sampled MPA programs, all programs but one had as a part of their mission statement career advancement, or management or professional preparation at its core. The exception is UC at Denver, which had as its tag line: “Lead. Solve. Change.” Organizational management and change is a required course in its core course offerings and as part of this course, students learn organizational change theories and practices. 486 Journal of Public Affairs Education Organizational Change Skill Acquisition Overall, NASPAA-accredited MPA programs are structured around developing professional practitioners and improving skill level to prepare individuals for leadership or management roles. In terms of leadership and organizational change, Table 1 below depicts where organizational change/leadership is situated in the sampled MPA programs. Table 1. Situating Organizational Change/Leadership n = 46 Organizational Change Course Percent 11 24 4 9 Leadership in Curriculum 46 100 Promoted/Emphasized individual change agency preparation 13 28 Promoted/Emphasized Professional Practice (Managerial Positions) 45 98 Organizational Change in Curriculum DISCUSSION Several common themes emerged from the interview phase, including the need for emotional and technological intelligence, the ability to accept, foster, and sustain change through collaborative efforts, and the importance of analytical skills. These responses echoed several examples from the literature including Shulman’s (2010) suggestion that since public organizations are mission-driven, people expect them to be stable and secure, passing on knowledge and values. As a result, most public organizations are conservative and therefore resistant to major shifts in direction or changes in vision. In addition, as noted by Charbonnier-Voirin (2011), as the public workplace changes, managers need to be ready to help employees adapt their work style to a changing environment. For example, interviewees cited “motivating, developing and leading by example” as critical for effective public management style. In addition, responses from administrators interviewed confirm that leadership is an integrated process (Amey, 2005), and that includes organizational change (Jarrett & Ellis, 2010; Cochran, 2010). Also it corroborates the findings of Mangan (2011) that organizations need “a cadre of managers who have a broad enough array of skills to cope with the new world” (p. 57). Overall, public administration skills are not limited to training in organizational change only, but as we learned from our Administrators, also includes cross-functional strength in effective leadership, industry knowledge, desire/passion, empathy, analytical skills, empathy, EI, proactive/future-oriented, confidence and communication skills. This harkens Journal of Public Affairs Education 487 H. Levine, N. J. Christian, & B. P. Lyons back to Miller’s (2011) caution that public leadership style should include being open to new ideas and being proactive and ready to move forward. IMPLICATIONS AND FUTURE STUDY Responses to open-ended interviews of New York public administrators provided the skills managers need to be successful leaders of change. After reviewing more than 60% of all NASPAA-accredited MPA program curriculum and courses, we found organizational change courses in 24% of sample MPA programs, and 28% promoted change agency preparation. The implications of this study are that organizational change preparation and skill, as a contemporary field in public management, are linked to leadership training in the MPA curriculum. The results can serve as a first look into the emerging field of students’ preparation as leaders and change agents. Leadership study is multifaceted, as Amey (2005) points out. It includes many sides of the human equation, and therefore preparing leaders is a complex task that will include skill and education in a variety of disciplines, including public administration. Preliminary research also shows that organizational change theory and skill have been included under the leadership instruction umbrella. Underscoring its importance during this current economic climate, some institutions, as identified through this research, are isolating social and organizational change as a separate graduate-level MPA course. We learned from our public administrators that it takes prepared leaders to successfully implement and manage change processes. A necessary skill for future leaders is the ability to facilitate and implement organizational change. As one of the largest incubators of future leaders, public management schools, particularly MPA programs, can provide students the knowledge, skills, tools and abilities to navigate and leverage change and crisis for long-term organizational success. MPA programs are at the forefront of change management preparation since MPA programs are where future public leaders incubate, develop and are primed to serve. This study, however, is limited by the small sample of public administrators interviewed and the interviewees’ specificity to the New York area. Given the main objective was to learn more about the problem, rather than infer back to the population, the use of a purposive sampling design fits well with the exploratory nature of the research. Wimmer and Dominick (1997) note that qualitative research of this type “is more interested in the depth of the data rather than breadth” (p. 84). Although in practice, application of skills varies across the political, economic, and geographical spectrum, isolating and articulating core leadership skills offered in MPA programs across the country is a worthy contribution to public administration scholars, students, and practitioners. In addition, the content analysis of the MPA curricula was limited to core leadership and broadly based change skill acquisition courses, and not whether each of the five skill areas of organizational change management appeared in the syllabus itself. 488 Journal of Public Affairs Education Organizational Change Skill Acquisition CONCLUSION Organizations, public and private, are influenced by outside forces that are making it necessary to alter procedures and systems to stay successful. In the 21st century and beyond, MPA students, as future business leaders, will need the knowledge, skill, and ability to facilitate, embrace, and implement change in the workplace. As Weiner (2009) cautions, change agents are needed in today’s workplace to help organizations identify, facilitate, and manage change. Although training and development in organizational change is universally needed, starting with MPA students (one of the larger populations of individuals being trained and developed for high-level public leadership positions across the globe), the results of this exploratory study confirm that best practices of public administrators and preparation of future public managers (i.e., students) will need to emphasize an integrated approach to leadership (Chocqueel-Mangan, 2011). In other words, successful public leaders need to master skills in a variety of areas, including collaboration, shared purpose (Edmonds, 2011), and sustainability (Miller, 2011), and these functions build the foundation for skill building in organizational change. As previously noted, the mission of NASPAA-accredited MPA programs is to prepare students to be “leaders, managers, and analysts in the professions of public affairs, public administration, and public policy.” Further exacerbated by the economic and fiscal constraints organizations at all levels of government currently confront, the ability of public affairs and administration graduate students to master organizational change skills described in this study becomes an even more fundamental objective in assessing NASPAA-accredited MPA programs’ learning outcomes. In addition, acquiring organizational change skills aligns with several of NASPAA’s newly developed core competency domains, including (a) leading and managing in public governance; (b) analyzing, synthesizing, thinking critically, solving problems, and making decisions; and (c) communicating and interacting productively with a diverse and changing workforce and citizenry. Also, connecting competencies with program missions precipitates new queries regarding organizational change acquisition and change agency preparedness. Is a standalone Organizational Change course necessary to satisfy required leadership skills during fiscal crisis? Would offering organizational change modules in existing courses fulfill these requirements? Further studies are warranted to gain a solid perspective of organizational change preparedness instruction in the public sector by further reviewing course syllabi and extending the target sample to student experiences and reflections. A larger quantitative study conducted with multiple states or a nationwide sample of public administrators would be a valuable next step to this research. Expanding the sample pool of MPA programs would further complement continued information gathering, including a more nuanced coding of areas of organizational change management skills. Journal of Public Affairs Education 489 H. Levine, N. J. Christian, & B. P. Lyons FOOTNOTE 1 For a comprehensive review of theories of change management, see Todnem, B. R. (2005). Organisational change management: A critical review. Journal of Change Management, 5(4), 369–380. REFERENCES Amagoh, F. (2009). Leadership development and leadership effectiveness. Management Decision, 47(6), 989–999. Amey, J. M. (2005). Leadership as learning: Conceptualizing the process. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 29(9/10), 689–704. Bisoux, T. (2010, May/June). Reshaping business. BizEd, 9(3), 18–23. Charbonnier-Voirin, A., & El Akremi, E. (2011). 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The adult learner: The definitive classic in adult education and human resource development. Woburn, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann. Kotter, J. (1990). A force for change: How leadership differs from management. New York, NY: The Free Press. Kotter, J. Cohen, D. (2002). The heart of change: Real-life stories of how people change their organizations. Massachusetts, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Kvale, S. (1996). Inter views: An introduction to qualitative research interviewing. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Maak, T., & Pless, N. P. (2006). Responsible leadership in a stakeholder society: A relational perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 66(1), Proceedings of the 18th Eben Annual Conference in Bonn (June 2006), pp. 99–115. 490 Journal of Public Affairs Education Organizational Change Skill Acquisition Melcrum Research. (2009). Guiding managers during change at Mayo Clinic: How managers can be trained to support employees during change. Melcrum Publishing, SCM, 13(5), 12. Miller, J. (2011, April). How to achieve lasting change. Training Journal, 58–62. Moran, J. W., & Brightman, B. K. (2001). Leading organizational change. Career Development International, 6(2), 111–118. Olskhfsi, D., & Levine, H. (2004). Organizational change and innovation. In Marc Holzer & SeokHwan Lee (Eds.), Public productivity handbook. New York, NY: Marcel-Dekker. Patton, M. Q. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods (2nd ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Peddle, M. & Thurmaier, K. (2011). Reformulating and Refocusing a Fiscal Administration Curriculum. Journal of Public Affairs Education, 17(4), 523–542. Szypszak, C. (2011). Teaching Law in Public Affairs Education: Synthesizing Political Theory, Decision Making, and Responsibility. Journal of Public Affairs Education, 17(4), 483–499. Schraeder, M, Tears, R. S., & Jordan, M. H. (2005). Organizational culture in public sector organizations: Promoting change through training and leading by example. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 26(5–6), 492–502. Schulman, J. (2010, Fall). Collaborative change: How ARTstor entices 1,300 educational institutions to work together. Stanford Social Innovation Review, Fall 2010, pp. 23–24. Valle, M. (1999). Crisis, culture and charisma: The new leader’s work in public organizations. Public Personnel Management, 28(2), 245–257. Wimmer, R. D., & Dominick, J. R. (1997): Mass media research: An introduction. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Helisse Levine is associate professor in the MPA Program and director of the Advanced Certificate in Nonprofit Management at Long Island University, School of Business, Public Administration and Information Sciences. She earned her PhD in public administration from Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey, in 2005. Her research interests include the role of economic and fiscal constraints on government organizations, social inequities in health care and government across race and ethnicity and public administration pedagogy, with emphasis on assessment as promulgated by NASPAA. Since entering academe she has contributed to many public administration and finance journals. She is co-editor of both the Handbook of Local Government Fiscal Health and Women in Public Administration: Theory and Practice. Journal of Public Affairs Education 491 H. Levine, N. J. Christian, & B. P. Lyons Nicole Christian has successfully combined her executive-based skills and knowledge to run a successful consulting firm that focuses on grant writing, business development, and executive development. She earned her BBA from Marymount University and her MPA and Advanced Graduate Nonprofit Management Certificate from George Mason University. Nicole is also an experienced adjunct professor at Dowling College, Long Island University, and Empire State College, teaching at both the graduate undergraduate level since 2007. Her research focuses on public administration and management, transformational leadership and employee satisfaction. She is a well-published scholar and is in the final stages of earning her PhD in Applied Management and Decision Sciences at Walden University. Beverly Lyons is full professor. She is the director of the MPA and the Advanced Certificate in Gerontology Administration programs at the Brooklyn campus of Long Island University. She has clinical and administrative experiences from a variety of health care and corporate settings. She has a multidisciplinary background involving gerontology, policy and program planning, social work administration, and medical/community health nutrition. Dr. Lyons has authored publications focusing on disparities across the life course, including a book: Sociocultural Differences between American-Born and West Indian-Born Elderly Blacks. She is the recipient of a National Institute on Aging postdoctoral fellowship as well as a number of grants. 492 Journal of Public Affairs Education