MPA Program Highlights 

Earlier this year, the Colin Powell School conducted a search for an MPA Academic Director (also full-time faculty member at CCNY). I am excited to share that Annika Marlen Hinze will be joining us in the Fall as the MPA Academic Director. A formal announcement from the Moynihan Center will be shared soon. This is an exciting addition to our team and I will continue in my role as Program Director and work closely with Annika. Please join me in welcoming her to the MPA community. You can read her bio below. Annika will also be joining us at the MPA End-of-Year Celebration on May 22!

Annika Marlen Hinze 

Annika Marlen Hinze is an associate professor of political science at Fordham University. She served as the director of Fordham's Urban Studies program from July 2016 to June 2024. At Fordham, she is also a co-PI with the Initiative on Migrants, Migration, and Human Dignity, which supports immigrant accompaniment practice, research, and teaching for faculty and students at Fordham and works closely with migrant-serving organizations in NYC and at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Her research and teaching focus on urban politics, immigration policy, democratic theory, gender equality, and qualitative and mixed methods research. Her first book, Turkish Berlin: Integration Policy and Urban Space (University of Minnesota Press, 2013), compares integration policy and lived integration of second-generation Turk-German women in two Berlin neighborhoods. She is also the co-author (with Dennis R. Judd) of the 10th edition of City Politics: The Political Economy of Urban America (Routledge, 2018), as well as the 11th edition of the newly titled City Politics: Cities and Suburbs in 21st Century America (Routledge, 2022), and co-editor (with James M. Smith) of the recently published 8th edition of American Urban Politics in a Global Age (Routledge, 2024). Hinze is a member of the editorial board of Urban Affairs Review, and a member of the Fordham University Press editorial board. She is also the co-editor of the International Political Science Review, the flagship journal of the International Political Science Association. Annika recently completed a research project on the persistent segregation of recreational space in the NYC metro area, and she is currently working on another book manuscript, A Country Behind A Wall: Immigration Policy, Public Discourse, and the Reality of the Borderlands, which she is hoping to complete this year.

Annika studied English, North American studies, and modern history at Humboldt University and Free University in Berlin, Germany; holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from the University of Illinois, Chicago; and has done field research in cities in Canada, Germany, Turkey, and the United States.

• Summer planning:  If you are interested in taking electives this summer, now is the time to register, as some courses fill up quickly. If you need support with the e-permit process (required for courses at other CUNY colleges), please reach out. Note that processing times vary by college, and there have been some recent changes to the interface (I am in the process of updating the MPA Hub accordingly). For more details, refer to my emails from March 23 and April 22 (subject: "MPA Program | Summer 2026 Planning (Elective and Work Experience)"), or visit the MPA Hub for our degree map and tracker. As a reminder, please hold off on registering for Fall classes, the schedule is still being finalized and I appreciate your patience.

• CCNY New Student Email: All student email accounts have transitioned to a Microsoft 365 environment and your @stu-mail.ccny.cuny.edu mailbox is the official student email. You must log in via Outlook.com using your CUNY Login ID (firstname.lastname##@login.cuny.edu), not your new campus email address. If you need assistance, you can contact the IT Service Desk at servicedesk@ccny.cuny.edu.

• Graduating students: A separate reminder with key upcoming dates is coming by the end of this week. Stay tuned!

• Career Coaching: Don’t forget to book your spring coaching sessions with Lenny. Two sessions per semester are mandatory for first-year students. 

  1. Book Session 1 – 45 min

  2. Book Session 2 – 30 min

• Colin Powell School Newsletter: A valuable resource for updates and opportunities within the school. Sign up here. 

• Perspectives/ Constructive dialogue module certification: If you are interested in completing the optional constructive dialogue certification (highly encouraged), check your CCNY email to get started. Upon completion, you will earn a digital badge to showcase on LinkedIn and your résumé. 

• Fall 2026 Admissions: The final application deadline to the MPA for this fall is May 12, 2026. If you know anyone in your networks who may be interested in the MPA Program, please encourage them to learn more and apply here. 

• MPA Course Schedule Spring 2026

• CCNY Academic calendar Spring 2026 

• MPA office/classroom (SH-1 and SH-107) usage: Both spaces are available for you to work or study during the week. SH-107 may occasionally host special events during the day but is available after 4 PM. Please note: for the spring semester, an external class will be running in SH-1 from 3:30 to 4:45PM. 

• Job openings: 

  1. Policy and Budget Director – New York State Assembly Member Emérita Torres (District 85, South Bronx). This role has been shared by an MPA alum. If you are interested in applying, feel free to let me know.

  2. The Division of Budget (DOB) is hiring and offering preliminary interviews to any interested MPA students. Check out their current openings and email us at mpa@ccny.cuny.edu for more information. 

MPA Events

• Tuesday, May 19 | 5-7pm | Shepard Hall, room 107

MPA Capstone Presentations. 👉 Register on Eventbrite. Join us for an evening of insight and impact as MPA Graduating Students present their final projects! This year, they partnered with three local organizations — Caribbean Equality Project, Mentor A Promise, Sapna NYC — to develop policy briefs, united by a shared commitment to solutions rooted in community voice. This event is open to all. Light refreshments will be served. 

• Friday, May 22 | 4:30-6pm | Shepard Hall

MPA end-of-year celebration. 👉 Register on Eventbrite. Come celebrate our community and honor the Spring 2026 MPA graduates. It's a time to connect, reflect, and rejoice with peers, professors, and mentors. This event is open to all MPA students, faculty and staff. Food and drinks will be provided. 

-> First-year students may attend this spring networking event to fulfill the professional development course requirement. 

• Thursday, May 28 | United Palace

Colin Powell School Divisional Graduation Celebration! Our graduating students will be walking on stage!

Non-MPA Event

• Until the end of May
  CCNY Counseling Workshops and Groups. Click here to view the topics and register.

We are remembering Sal (MPA 25") who passed away this summer. You can visit his GoFundMe page to honor his memory.