MORGANTOWN — Morgantown City Manager Paul Brake will be heading to Harvard this summer to take part in the Kennedy School Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program.
Brake is attending the three-week course in June after receiving one of two $16,500 scholarships provided by the International City/County Management Association.
Brake said he was “humbled and honored,” to learn he’d been selected for a scholarship to attend the intensive program on the school’s campus, in Cambridge, Mass.
“What I understand from talking to people I know who have gone through it, it’s very much centered around case study and analysis of real situations and public issues,” Brake said.
“So you may be given a scenario and then you would present and explain, based on the available information, how you would carry about and what sort of solutions and recommendations you would provide. Then you receive critique from the faculty as well as fellow participants.”
According to Brake, the program is more akin to a university semester condensed into three weeks than the traditional professional conference.
“Very specifically, they drill down on leadership, negotiation, public/private partnerships, cooperative governance and behavior/decision making,” Brake said, adding that there is also a heavy focus on problem solving and strategic planning.
“I hope to obtain a new perspective from the faculty, materials and interaction with other colleagues,” he said. “One of the great things about this program is that I will be able to immediately apply the knowledge I gain to help benefit Morgantown and its residents.”
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