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Columbia Offers Fellowships to Mid-Career City Employees Committed to Public Service

Mar. 16, 2009

Beginning this fall, Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) will provide a few exceptionally talented mid-career employees of New York City government with full or partial support to pursue an executive master’s degree in public administration. The fellowships are made possible by a generous gift to the school from the estate of its former dean, Harvey Picker.

“We are delighted to be able to extend this educational opportunity to a select group of city employees each year who exemplify the school’s dedication to public service and the importance of New York City to Columbia’s mission,” said Arvid Lukauskas, acting director of the school’s Picker Center for Executive Education, which administers the program. “We expect to assist two to three students per year and will decide on the corresponding level of funding once we evaluate the applicant pool.”

SIPA will provide fellowship support to the most promising applicants from among the city’s large pool of talented civil servants. There is no separate application process for the fellowship. Recipients will be selected from among new civil servant applicants to the executive program in public administration and from continuing students who are city employees.

The City of New York employs more than 300,000 people in education, law enforcement, urban planning, transportation, environmental policy, public health, social services and other fields. Professionals in these public-sector fields are lifelong learners, acquiring skills and broadening their horizons throughout their careers.

The executive program trains mid-career professionals to become more sophisticated public managers by incorporating into the curriculum broad questions of public affairs along with specific analytic, managerial and communication skills. Its rigorous, hands-on approach to policy and management problem solving is of great use to city employees, especially those working closely with nonprofit groups or the private sector.

SIPA students are part of the world’s most global public policy community, affiliated with a school enrolling 1,100 students from more than 95 countries each year, and supporting an alumni network with more than 15,000 public policy professionals.

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