  Variations in the nuclear mean-field, in neutron-rich nuclei, are
investigated within the framework of the nuclear shell model. The change is
identified to originate mainly from the monopole part of the effective two-body
proton-neutron interaction. Applications for the low-lying states in odd-$A$ Cu
nuclei are presented. We compare the results using both schematic and realistic
forces. We also compare the monopole shifts with the results obtained from
large-scale shell-model calculations, using the same realistic interaction, in
order to study two-body correlations beyond the proton mean-field variations.
