Collaborative Governance Graduate Certificate students work in a wide range of fields in the nonprofit, for-profit and government sectors. Here's what they have to say about the program:
In my work with the food security coalition, I apply the skills and techniques that they taught me all the time—how to manage a group, how to help them make decisions together, how to get what a large group knows out into their collective knowledge.
—Liz Oberhausen, Food Security Coalition Project Manager
Through the collaborative governance program, some of the key things that I found really helpful were the decision support tools that have been introduced to me in the classes, and not getting bogged down in looking for the perfect piece of data that’s going to give us the answer. There is no perfect piece of data that’s ever going to give us an answer, because collectively we have to make meaning together.
—Pam Peck, Metro Resource, Conservation, and Recycling Manager
Over the course of the program, I learned academic theories pulled from a number of different fields. I learned how to think through the process of facilitating groups to work together for the common good, principles of negotiation, and how to improve interpersonal dynamics between individuals. I now have a broader tool set and knowledge base for figuring out how to organize and support very complex multi-party processes, and move individuals from focusing on their work/organization to a cohesive group that is focused on making decisions that will be the most beneficial for everyone around the table. I think this knowledge is transferable to any field and helpful for anyone in a role that involves collaborative processes.
—Maureen Hinman, Director of Policy and Strategic Initiatives, Oregon School-Based Health Alliance
Contact
For program information and student advising:
Kristen Wright
(503) 725-9078
kjwright@pdx.edu
For registration and admissions:
Public Administration Department, Main Office
T (503) 725-3921
F (503) 725-8250
publicad@pdx.edu