APG Reports
Health Policy and Administration Affiliate Program Group
Douglas Callenberger ’95 HPA, President
dcallenberger@cvty.com
Two years ago, the HPA-APG created a strategic plan designed to achieve the goals detailed in the purpose statement of the APG. Each task or goal in the plan was built to utilize creative means to stimulate the continued interest of all graduates and students of the department and to provide opportunities for alumni to join together for the advancement of the department and college in its entirety. While I am proud to share with you that we have achieved many of the desired goals, there is still work to be done in the future. It has been through the support of alumni, the department and students alike that we have been able to achieve goals such as launching a mentoring program for the MHA program students. This new program aligned each of the 2006-2008 MHA students with a mentor who graduated from the same master’s degree program and who is currently working in a similar field of interest as his or her protégé.
The MHA Mentoring Program was developed to be similar in structure to the very successful undergraduate mentoring program that has been in place since 2002 and has been a hallmark of department and the APG. In February, the undergraduate mentoring program held its annual dinner where mentors and protégés came together to map out a collaborative plan for what will be a successful year of information sharing, professional insights and discussion. That evening, we were also fortunate to have a guest speaker, Miryam Granthon ’93 COM, who addressed the values and outcomes of a successful mentor and protégé relationship. Who better to do this than Miryam, who has been a mentor since inception of the undergraduate mentoring program? Also recently developed and in its second year of helping students better understand career possibilities is a career roundtable that has typically preceded the mentoring dinner. Participation by students has increased each year and was deemed a “success” by all who participated in the event this year.
In addition to the mentoring-related programs, we have focused and will continue to focus energy around networking and relationship building opportunities for HPA alumni through various regional networking events. Each year, the APG and the Department of Health Policy and Administration co-sponsor a reception during the ACHE annual meeting in Chicago. We also hope you will take advantage of other opportunities to connect with HPA alumni at networking opportunities under development in several regional areas. Be sure to connect to the HPA department's Web site, www.hhdev.psu.edu/hpa, for additional details regarding these events.
It is events such as mentoring and networking that can't be done without volunteers and participation of alumni like you. As noted above, there are several very important programs that are still under development such as “Alumni in the Classroom” and a “Guest Speaker Series” that will bring industry experts to campus to share their insights and perspectives on topics related to the HPA program. Each of these strategic goals will require additional alumni involvement and we welcome your participation and support.
Finally, this will be the last article I write to you regarding the HPA-APG, as my tenure as the president of APG Board comes to an end. I plan to stay very active with the HPA-APG and hope that you will get involved with the APG by visiting www.hhdev.psu.edu/hpa/alumni, providing the department with your latest information and news, and volunteering time or resources that will continue to make the APG and the Department stronger every day.
