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My name is Tony Gething and I studied for the MSc programme in Public Administration
and Development
Really because of the flexibility it offered. I’m still not fortunate enough to have to
work at the moment and so full time study was really out of the question, so that was
one side of it. On the side there was also the fact that the course outline – obviously
I did research at the beginning looking at which particularly course I wanted to do that
was commensurate with what I was hoping to get out of the programme – and Birmingham
was the one that really ticked all the boxes.
I was just speaking to Linda and Andrea actually, who were enormous support throughout the two
years of the programme, and really what I enjoyed most was what I didn’t enjoy about
my first degree, which was basically feel that you’re drowning in theory and start
to try to find a link between the theory and the application. And of course now, after
I’ve been a practitioner so to speak for twenty five years in the field in which I’ve
been working, to look at the theory then with the background of the experience that you’ve
had from actually working in that area, made it extremely rewarding. I just said to Linda
and to Andrea, who both agreed with me by the way, that you can understand why on occasions
people say that youth is wasted on the young because you’re not really understanding
– well I don’t think so – certainly you get much much more out of a programme
after you have some years of practice behind you I think.
The on-site portal of the university was enormously helpful. The induction programme was very
very useful because I’m currently living in Romania and Bucharest and have been for
the past five years and so on this one particular day, all the materials arrived in the post
and I opened them and you think OK, what do I do now? So the induction course really,
in getting used to actually working online and how the site works and the navigating
around that, was immensely useful when you actually then jump in the deep end as it were.
Well it’s directly related to what I’m doing. I’m currently working as a senior
advisor to the European Union, particularly on Romania and Bulgaria, and so really as
I say, it ticks all the boxes in terms of looking at the processes of European integration,
of transition, of the process of democracy, of public administration reform – these
are all the areas in which I’m working and of course looking at the latest research in
that particular area and also having the opportunity to also speak to people who are working on
similar programmes in places like Jamaica, Ghana, South America and just down the road
in Walsall or West Bromwich, just brings a completely new and vibrant perspective to
what you’re doing. So it was really in summary being able to get really new perspectives
and to share the experiences we have in a way that makes it very helpful for practitioners.
Yes, do it! Don’t think about it, do it! It was the mistake that I made. I mean I was
really thinking about upgrading I suppose from an academic perspective for probably
ten years, thinking that I’ve been working now in this area for ten years, fifteen years,
twenty years, I really could do with going back and looking at the books again, as it
were. But life takes over, you know, you’re working and life just seems to, I don’t
know, you’re driven by life rather than sometimes taking control of it yourself and
so it really is just a case of saying well, this course seems to be completely commensurate
with what I want to do and then just do it. That’s the best advice I’d give – do
it.