UCO student takes top honors at national contest

University of Central Oklahoma student Melissa Rosenfelt, a graduate student in the Master of Public Administration (MPA) program from Shawnee, Oklahoma, took top honors at the 15th annual L. Frances P. Liddell Student Policy Debate — part of the Conference of Minority Public Administrators (COMPA).

The theme for this year’s conference, “Unmasking the Complexities of Identity, Place and Space: The Public Administrators’ Challenge,” calls to all public servants who seek to unmask, study and en- gage in discussions surrounding complex problems and topics in the form of identity, place and space. The policy debate seeks to develop and strengthen the abilities and qualities of public administrators, including speaking competence, ethics and confidence on public policy issues. Rosenfelt spoke on topics surrounding sanctions, economic principles and Indigenous peoples.

“The policy debate offers students the opportunity to defend and present their positions on current public policy issues with well-reasoned and sound arguments,” said Elizabeth Overman, Ph.D., professor of political science at Central.

“Melissa excelled and competed against Ph.D. students from the University of Illinois, Rutgers University and the University of Baltimore.”

Rosenfelt is an Indigenous, independent journalist and an enrolled member of the Seminole Nation of Okla- homa. She currently serves as president of Pi Alpha Alpha (PAA), the national honor society for students of public administration.

The UCO MPA is a 36-credit hour program that can be completed in as little as two years, when attended full time. Part-time options are available, as well.

The UCO MPA is accredited by the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs and Administration (NASPAA). The program offers flexibility for working adults with night and weekend classes at the Edmond campus and downtown Oklahoma City locations, as well as a fully online program. MPA graduates work in all levels of government — city, country, state and federal — as well as in nonprofit organizations, the military, indigenous and tribal nations and the private sector.

For more information about the UCO MPA program, visit uco.edu/cla/departments/political-science/mpa/.