Inaugural Gosack Forum to Be Held April 13

Photo Submitted

Ray Gosack. Photo courtesy of city of Fort Smith.

The Master of Public Administration and Nonprofit Studies program in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences will host its inaugural professional development series entitled the Gosack Forum in honor of our alumnus, the late Ray Gosack. The topic of this spring's forum is "Why pursue a Public Service career?"

The forum will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, April 13, in the Arkansas Union 507-508. Undergraduates as well as graduate students who wish to explore possible careers in public service are highly encouraged to attend.  The forum is free but requires an RSVP. A light lunch will be provided at 11 a.m. The panel discussion will begin at 11:30.

We have invited a great panel of public service professionals who will discuss their career paths but also offer you some ideas how you may wish to prepare yourself for your future careers.

11:30 a.m.

• Introduction of panelists and purpose of the Forum
• Dean Kruithof, city manager, Miami, Oklahoma
• Ray Gosack and the Gosack Endowment

11:45 a.m. – Panel discussion:

• Mervin Jebaraj, director, Center for Business and Economic Research at the Sam M. Walton College of Business
• Morgan Atwood, attorney and advocate, Jefferson City, Missouri
• Kim HorneI, director or product safety and compliance, Walmart
• Dean Kruithof, city manager, Miami, Oklahoma
• Melissa O. Reeves, director of public relations, city of Springdale.

At 1 p.m. the forum will have two break-out sessions that will rotate after 30 minutes:

• 1 p.m. – Break-out session I: Résumé writing (bring your current résumé)
• 1:30 p.m. – Break-out session II: Interviewing for public service careers

Faculty will be available after the forum to answer any questions you might have.

To attend, RSVP to Meredith Brady at mpbrady@uark.edu by April 10.