MPA Graduate and Siblings Earn Degrees

Christina Henry with family at graduation.

Tseng College MPA graduate Christina Henry with family.

If luck comes in threes, than this year’s commencement bodes well for a family with a trio of graduating seniors — one of them CSUN student Christina Henry, who earned her Master of Public Administration degree this May at CSUN. (Her brother, Ryenn West, received a medical degree the same week from Duke University School of Medicine, and her sister, Kandace West, earned a pharmacy degree from USC School of Pharmacy.)

Henry’s graduation celebration included a reception hosted by CSUN’s Tseng College for its Master of Public Administration and Master of Public Policy graduates.

“I work in the public sector, and this degree will help me do my job better,” says Christina, who serves the City of Los Angeles as a recreation director. “There are so many ways to use this information. I am a supervisor in recreation and parks, and I oversee about 50 to 60 part-time employees.”

The program teaches strategies in areas such as budgeting, management and policy issues unique to the public sector. According to the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration, many prominent officials earn MPA degrees, including Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General (Harvard University); Ellen Sirleaf, president of Liberia (Harvard University); and Anna Escobedo Cabral, former U.S. treasurer (Harvard University).

The Tseng College’s MPA program brings together students working in different areas, including government agencies, health, law enforcement and nonprofits. They not only learn theory but exchange ideas and take practical knowledge to their workplace.

With professionals and managers from a variety of public agencies in her classes, Christina found herself learning different tools and perspectives. “They all do public administration — just different aspects of it.”

Now that Christina earned her MPA, her education ambition continues. She is already thinking about pursuing a doctorate degree.

For more: Master of Public Administration [Tseng College]

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