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Robert M. La Follette
School of Public Affairs
1225 Observatory Drive
Madison, WI 53706
Telephone: 608.262.3581
Fax: 608.265.3233
Last updated:
August 18, 2011
© Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
Alumni and Friends: La Follette Notes Spring 2009
Scholarships help future policy analysts pursue career goals
Financial supporters of the La Follette School are helping students pursue careers in the nonprofit and public sectors. The scholarships have enabled them to focus on their studies, they say, and not take on as much debt as they follow their interests in public affairs.
First-year students Joanna Marks, Bo McCready and Scott Williams received scholarship funds donated to the La Follette School.
Now in their second semester, all three students are intrigued by policy analysis,
but in different fields. Joanna Marks is focusing her attention on social and poverty policy. She brings several years of experience to La Follette, having worked for a nonprofit advocacy group in Louisville, Kentucky, to conduct policy and data analysis as part of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT initiative on the well-being of children.
Analyzing energy and environmental policy is Scott Williams’ career goal, though a policy analysis position that would expose him to more varied issues also intrigues him. “Energy and environmental matters are among the more urgent challenges that we have to face in this century, and I am thankful to have the opportunity to help solve some of the world’s problems,” Williams says.
Bo McCready is looking to a career in educational policy, with an emphasis on secondary and post-secondary education. While working on his bachelor’s degree in history and political science, he took a course in public administration from Dennis Dresang. “During that course I discovered my passion for public service,” says McCready, who published his senior thesis about his hometown of Whitewater, Wisconsin, as the book Early Whitewater Industry. “I knew that I wanted to be at La Follette, learning policy analysis, so I could make a positive contribution to society.”
The support for students that donors provide helps the La Follette School offset declines in university-funded fellowships, cuts that otherwise would have impeded recruiting top students. But financial assistance from alumni and friends tells a prospective student much more, says student services coordinator Mary Cate Treleven.
“Gifts to support students go beyond helping students defray their education expenses,” Treleven says. “Such donations tell our students how much our alumni and friends value their experiences at La Follette and the ongoing contributions to society that our faculty and alumni make.”
All three students say they are very grateful for the financial assistance. “The contributions from alumni and friends of the school helped me attend my preferred graduate program,” McCready says. “I cannot thank them enough.”
Williams comes to La Follette after spending two years as a television news producer in Madison. “The financial support from the scholarship meant the decision to go back to school was a lot easier for me to make,” Williams says.
For Marks, the scholarship reflects the value of the work she did for nonprofits. “The scholarship affirms my work prior to graduate school and my decision to invest further in my career,” she says. “At La Follette I am gaining vital tools and knowledge to address issues affecting disadvantaged children and families through systemic change. The donations help to make this possible.”