From Jeffrey Russell, Dean of Continuing Studies: A democracy requires government to function effectively, and public employees are the ones who make that happen.It’s easy to take government services for granted. Most of us don’t think twice about the clean water that comes from our faucets, the trash that’s picked up on schedule or the effort that goes into caring for our most vulnerable citizens.One key to doing these jobs well is lifelong learning. In a rapidly changing world, public employees must commit themselves to mastering the latest developments in their fields so that government runs as efficiently as possible.