Joshua Hoogland and wife Whitney at the fall 2018 hooding ceremony.
The first applicant to the Master of Public Administration (MPA) program, Joshua Hoogland ’05 ’18, recently accepted the position of assistant director of property tax at the Minnesota Department of Revenue. In his new position, he will help guide statewide policies and assessments.
Earning a bachelor of science in real estate from St. Cloud State in 2005, Hoogland has since worked for Hennepin County in commercial and residential appraisal assessments. Over time, his interests evolved toward the public service aspects of the job, which prompted his interest in learning more about public administration.
He waited for the MPA program to launch before returning to St. Cloud State to earn his master’s degree and was one of the first students to enter the brand new program in the fall of 2015. As a resident of Maple Grove with a growing family, the structure of the program – Plymouth campus, SCSU campus and hybrid courses – worked well for his lifestyle.
“I strongly believe my learning over the past few years positioned me well for this opportunity,” Hoogland stated in an email to his MPA professors about his new position. He credits his professors – Dr. Shawn Schooley, Dr. Darla Hamann and Dr. Steve Wagner – in aiding in the improvement of his perspective of his job at the time and, in turn, sharing that with the staff that he managed.
Hoogland reflects on his master’s degree: “The education also provided a great deal of motivation for how I can aid in advancing public service and public administration as a profession. I grew significantly as a public employee and am motivated to continue learning into the future.”
Hoogland begins his new position February 20.
#SCSUGrad
