Munk School Wins Gold Medal in National Public Administration Case Competition
Students from the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy triumphed in the annual National Public Administration Case Competition held last weekend.
The competition is organized by CAPPA (the Canadian Association of Programs in Public Administration) and by IPAC (the Institute of Public Administration of Canada). Twelve graduate schools of public policy and public administration fielded teams. It was the competition’s tenth year and the first held online.
The winning Munk School team consisted of Maegan Ong (MPP2), Hongyu Xiao (MPP2), Ismail Badrawi (MPP1), Alexandrea Johnston (MGA1) and Joshua Marando (MPP1).
This year’s competition focused on the crisis in Canada’s long-term care system. Students briefed the six judges on a national LTC strategy but from the perspective of public servants working for the provincial government in their home province. This required a deft understanding of demographic and health care trends, fiscal and intergovernmental relations, and negotiation and implementation strategies.
The Munk team was chosen by coaches Janet Mason and Drew Fagan after a series of case competitions held at the Munk School last fall, as well as through a competitive interview process.
The judges praised the Munk School team’s strong grasp of the LTC issue, as evidenced by their crisp presentation based on an insightful and detailed deck. The creativity of the team’s public policy proposal was impressive, the judges emphasized, as was their capacity to think and act as a team.
The two coaches expressed their sincere thanks to the many faculty, fellows and friends of the Munk School who contributed to the team’s success by attending practice sessions and providing briefings on key aspects of the case. They noted that the competition is a real “all of Munk” effort.
This is the eighth year that the University of Toronto has competed. This year’s victory repeats a gold medal won in 2014, when UofT hosted the competition, and also follows three silvers and one bronze over the years. This is the seventh successive year that Ms. Mason has coached the team, joined by Mr. Fagan for the first time this year.
