New Pickerington City Manager Balanced Job and Education with executive MPA Program

In 2013, 25 years after earning a degree in civil engineering from Ohio State University, Greg Butcher decided to go back to school. Some things took a little getting used to.

“To go from a paper syllabus to an online curriculum was a big change,” he said. “I had no idea what Blackboard [the online learning software used by Ohio University] was -- I didn’t even know it existed.” 

Butcher was motivated to earn a Master of Public Administration degree after 12 years of working in local government as the engineer for Violet Township in Pickerington, Ohio.

“During that time, I realized the value of local government service and what the mission of local government looks like,” he said. “A position in public administration was appealing, and I viewed it as a logical next step in my professional career. I certainly understood that to obtain that goal an advanced degree specific to public administration would be beneficial.”

Butcher was looking for an in-classroom learning environment that accommodated his full-time job. Ohio University’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs Executive MPA program seemed like the perfect match.

“While there were plenty of online opportunities available, the classroom experience appealed to me,” Butcher said. “The ability to [go to class] on a Friday evening and Saturday morning was equally appealing, and I was able to work that into my personal and professional life.”

The program is designed for working professionals, combining online and in-person classes on 20 Saturdays over two years. 

The Voinovich School’s curriculum gave Butcher a strong understanding of public administration fundamentals, which coupled well with his background in engineering.

“An advanced degree in public administration coupled with an undergraduate degree in engineering has enabled me to look at both the analytical side and the process side of government,” he said. “Particularly local government.”

He received his degree in 2015 and continued to serve as Violet Township’s engineer for four more years until August 2019, when Pickerington City Manager Frank Wiseman announced his upcoming retirement. The Pickerington city council voted unanimously to hire Butcher as Wiseman’s successor; Butcher officially started work as Pickerington’s city manager on September 30, 2019.

“I’m proud to be recognized and trusted to be the city manager of a high-performing city with 25,000 residents after 30 years as a practicing professional engineer,” Butcher said. “I think it is a credit to me and I think it’s also been received well by the city of Pickerington staff and hopefully its residents as we move forward.”

Overseeing the many different facets of local government has been a new experience for Butcher. 

“Managing a multidisciplinary workforce inclusive of service, utilities, tax, parks and recreation is a different set of circumstances above and beyond civil engineering and infrastructure, which was my background,” he said. “It’s a different environment outside of what one could perceive as my comfort zone, [but] my experience with local government and the education I received at the Voinovich School has prepared me for those challenges.”

He is excited to continue serving the people of Pickerington in this new position.

“I am a big believer that the role of local government is to be responsive and customer oriented,” he said. “That’s our core mission.”