Introduction & Acknowledgements

This textbook supports my public service careers course, where students explore different career options. While public service is often tied to government, we also look at opportunities in nonprofits and in businesses that create public good. I do not impose my own interests or values. Instead, students are encouraged to discover what matters most to them.

Career preparation should be part of the college experience from start to finish and embedded across the curriculum, whether a student is studying social science, engineering, computer science, the humanities, or any other field. This book is designed to help students become public service job ready—or at least to point them in the right direction—and to encourage them to think about the future of work and how they can prepare for it.

This is very much a work in progress, and suggestions are welcomed.

I used the generative AI applications ChatGPT and NotebookLM in several ways to facilitate this project. My role included being the author, prompt engineer, editor, and content curator. The technology complemented my subject matter expertise, which I have developed through my education, research, and professional experiences. I used generative AI to enhance and refine outlines and drafts, and its search capabilities informed the book’s case studies and short biographies.

Special thanks go to Mandi Goodsett, Heather Caprette, and Diane Kolosionek for their dedication and hard work implementing CSU’s Affordable Learning initiative. Their commitment to tailoring textbooks to the specific needs of our students and reducing the costs of higher education is commendable. More people should follow their example to make education more accessible and affordable.

I have created two other texts: The Ohioans’ Guide to State and Local Government and The Van Aken District, which examines real estate development from a local government perspective.

Over the last academic year, they’ve saved my students a combined $13,000 in textbook costs.