MPA student Interns for United Nations Economic and Social Affairs Department  

Matthew Kuczynski, a third year dual Master's degree student in Public Administration and Diplomacy, recently completed an internship with  the Economic and Social Affairs Department at the United Nations.

Kuczynski worked in the Public Administration office, where interns are responsible for proofreading documents, creating databases for different governments, and providing project support to full time staff. One of the largest projects he worked on was a public service awards conference.

"We invited 750 people from over 190 countries," Kuczynski explained.  "I wrote a series of summaries about the winning entries, explaining why they were receiving the award." The winners of the public service awards presented their work at a conference in Seoul, South Korea.  Following the conference, Kuczynski helped generate a report and started planning for next year's awards program.

While on assignment at the UN, Kuczynski also helped experts put together presentations on E-learning, assisted with other public administration projects, and took part in E-training courses created by the UN.

"I learned a lot about E-governance," he reflected. "Issues such as service delivery, gender accessibility, and rural area development were at my finger tips." 

His time at the United Nations also led to  a career-changing decision."My experience caused me to change my career focus from security to development," Kuczynski explained. "I even wrote my thesis on a development topic." Kuczynski hopes to introduce some of the methods of public administration he learned during his time at the United Nations to the MPA program here at Seton Hall, and would like to see courses that address E-learning added to the curriculum.