Master of Public Affairs | Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good

OpEd: Should feminine hygiene products be subject to sales tax?

Bianca Rosen, MA Public Affairs ’17 In 40 states and the District of Columbia, women pay for having their periods. Literally. The sales tax in these states does not exempt feminine hygiene products as a necessity of life. Instead, these products are taxed like other luxury or non-essential items. In California, the sales tax…

MoPA Internship in Washington, D.C.

As a candidate in the Master of Public Affairs program (MoPA), I am spending the summer completing my internship requirement in Washington, D.C. for theGROUP, an independent strategy, policy and communications firm. – Sarah Souza

227 Years in the Making

Yesterday, California voters voiced their political opinions and headed to the polls. As a result, for the first time in history, a woman is the nominee of a major political party. On the news this morning, the anchors were discussing Hillary Clinton’s primary election win and said something that caught my attention. – Rebecca

In Nevada, Luck and Opportunity Abound

What interested me most about the Master of Public Affairs program here at the Leo T. McCarthy Center was the promise of gaining real-world, hands-on experience during my education and study at the University of San Francisco. To have active participants in public policy, with connections to a network of actual movers and shakers in San Francisco politics, guiding and directing your learning, as the professors do here, is invaluable to the kind of knowledge and perspective that one truly hopes to gain in an education. – Trevor Martin

McCarthy Center Rockstars

The results are in! Several of our students were nominated for Student Leadership Awards celebrating students whose leadership has contributed to the growth, development, and vitality of USF and the broader community. Award recipients represent student role models who exhibit commitment, enthusiasm, and the pursuit of excellence through their endeavors. Join us in congratulating our…

Balancing practicality and academia – one guy’s perspective

Five years ago, when I was recruited to teach a lobbying class at the (relatively) new Master of Public Affairs program at the University of San Francisco, I think I giggled a little bit. Me? Sure, I’ve been lobbying in San Francisco and the Bay Area for fifteen years, but I have a bachelor’s in Ultimate Frisbee from UC Santa Cruz. I queried Corey Cook, the Director of the Leo McCarthy Center, why he’d made this particular terrible error in judgment. His answer intrigued me. – Alex Clemens

Building Credentials in Politics at the Nevada Caucus

Volunteering for the Nevada Caucus is an experience I’ll never forget. From waking up at 3:00 a.m., to stopping for coffee four times on the way to Reno, to seeing the snow for the first time and later finding out that it was one my cohort-mates, Jeno’s first time driving in the snow, and bonding with my cohort-mates the entire way, I can say that the trek was well worth it. Over the course of four days, we went from being a random group of graduate students from San Francisco to being celebrities in less than 24 hours. – Christine Hackett

3 Numbers To Know About Our Masters Programs

The Master of Public Affairs and Practical Politics (MoPA) program was founded in 2010 and graduated its first cohort in 2011. The vision of MoPA was to prepare students to thrive in the public affairs and political worlds that is unique to the Bay Area. A few years later in 2013, the Master of Arts in Urban Affairs (Urban) was established. Urban was designed to train students to graduate ready to be specialists in analyzing the policy challenges of 21st century urbanism—providing the skills and the knowledge to be effective leaders in community-driven urban policy and projects.