The Stylus

A message from the SPP student body president

Not too long ago, I was chatting with a colleague of mine who was describing to me how grateful he is to have been a student at SPP. He noted the leadership potential around us, and the invaluable experiences he has had learning from and forging relationships with so many talented students, faculty and staff.

In this sense, I see my role, and that of the School of Public Policy Student Association (SPPSA) and all its officers, as being facilitators for enhancing the educational, professional and social experience of every student. A big component of this is reaching out to the larger Arlington community this publication seeks to serve and all its affiliated organizations. Providing better cohesion and community among and within the various schools will only enhance our own organization’s ability to provide greater access and opportunity for interaction with the policy and professional community.

Fortunately, the Graduate and Professional Student Association (GAPSA), University Life and others are already working towards achieving this.  SPPSA has the added opportunity to be a major contributor to such combined efforts by helping put together speaker series, networking events, meet-the-author workshops, local and multi-national entrepreneurial “challenge teams” and contests, scholarships and more.

Moreover, we would seek to continue the work of outgoing President Giovanella Deweever and her officers in organizing community service events. Going beyond that, with programs as unique as ICP and TPOL, we have the opportunity to reach out to similar programs domestically and internationally — the International Economic and Political Studies program of Charles University in Prague, for example, comes to mind.

There are innumerable ways to achieve these and other objectives, and we are fortunate as a school to already have groups and organizations such as University Life, Currents, Policy Impact, New Voices in Public Policy and others to help us do so. I hope to make SPPSA a highly proactive component of leadership and ideas to elevate the experience a student can get beyond the classroom.

As my friend had noted, it’s those value-added experiences that have really set his experience at Mason apart from any other school.

On behalf of Jassem, Melissa, Matt, Maggie and myself, I look forward to a new and exciting 2010 – 2011 year. We welcome all who wish to join us. In addition, I wanted to welcome our new dean, Dr. Edward Rhodes, and thank Dr. Kingsley Haynes for his long and successful leadership.

Regards,

Steve

Steven Mihalisko

School of Public Policy Student Association President