The document details expenditures for every corner of the capital city, from public works and safety, to libraries and education, to the voters\u2019 registrar and the Mayor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
And Abreu and Mills have a significant hand in bringing it together.<\/p>\n
The current student and alumnus, respectively, of the Department of Public Policy in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences have been part of the Department\u2019s Internship and Professional Practice Program (IPP) in the Hartford Office of Management, Budget and Grants.<\/p>\n
The IPP program places UConn graduate students in local and state government and nonprofit internships throughout Connecticut, providing key support to these agencies and work experience for the graduate students.<\/p>\n Over its 11 years of operation, more than 250 UConn public policy graduate students have worked on key issues in the state\u2019s public sector and have moved on to become some of the most influential public servants in the state.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a win-win,\u201d says Melissa McCaw \u201914 MPA, Hartford Interim Chief Financial Officer and Director of the Office of Management, Budget and Grants, who is also a former IPP intern. \u201cThe program attracts the cream of the crop, and we\u2019ve benefited from that.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2018A distinct and consistent impact\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Mohamad Alkadry, professor and head of the Department of Public Policy, arrived at UConn in August 2017. His office on the fourth floor of the Downtown Hartford campus overlooks the Travelers Tower and Hartford City Hall.<\/p>\n The Department of Public Policy trains students in public and nonprofit management, survey research, policy analysis, and evaluation, and prepares them to address public issues facing Connecticut and the nation. Today, he says, experienced and talented public servants are ever more essential.<\/p>\n \u201cPublic administrators are the trained professionals,\u201d he says. \u201cThey plan for the long-term, not the next three or four years. They stay after politicians move on. And they are constantly making or executing equitable and fair decisions based on data.\u201d<\/p>\n Forty students in the Department\u2019s programs in public administration (MPA) and public policy (MPP) participated in the IPP program at more than 25 Connecticut offices this year, with about one-third interning in each of the state government, local governments, and nonprofit organizations.<\/p>\n The interns work 15 hours per week, which amounts to about 580 hours of professional public service per intern each year. And they often interact closely with public leadership.<\/p>\n \u201cWe take our students\u2019 work and bring it straight to Mayor [Luke] Bronin\u2019s office,\u201d says McCaw, who earned her MPA and graduate certificate in public finance and budgeting.<\/p>\n \u201cWe give them work we would assign to any other analyst. It\u2019s a testament to how well the program prepares them.\u201d<\/p>\n Last year, 97 percent of graduating IPP students were employed within six months.<\/p>\n \u201cWe see UConn having a distinct and consistent impact in Connecticut,\u201d says David Garvey \u201906 Ph.D., director of the IPP program and the Department\u2019s Nonprofit Leadership Program.<\/p>\n Getting at the numbers<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>Jeff Hallin \u201905 MPA, Hartford Assistant Director of Management and Budget and a public policy alumnus who serves on the program\u2019s Alumni Board, attests to the Program\u2019s extensive training that has led to its ranking as #8 among\u00a0U.S. News & World Report\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0best public finance and budgeting programs.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat most prepared me for my work is the rigors of the analytical work done in the Program,\u201d Hallin says. \u201cThe biggest team project we do \u2013 the budget \u2013 requires that we all have that knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Public](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/PublicPolicy171129a019.jpg\")
![\"Public](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/PublicPolicy171129a08.jpg\")