MPA Program Curriculum
The curriculum consists of five components: prerequisites, core courses, electives, a practical experience, and a comprehensive examination. The MPA program requires 42 hours of course work in addition to any prerequisites. Auburn is on the semester system. A full course load is 9-12 hours. The core curriculum consists of 24 hours, while the remaining twelve hours of course work are electives. The practical experience is either a six-hour internship for students without government experience or an applied research project for those with experience.
Prerequisites
Coursework in the MPA core assumes certain competencies on the part of students. These may be demonstrated as follows:
COMPETENCY |
MEASURE |
English |
Verbal GRE of at least 450 or writing sample |
Math |
Quantitative GRE of at least 450 |
American Government |
Undergraduate course or experience |
Economics |
Undergraduate course in Microeconomics |
Micro computer applications |
Undergraduate course or demonstrated competence |
Students who have not satisfied these competencies before they enter the program may take them concurrently with MPA courses. Check with the MPA Director about undergraduate courses that will satisfy these requirements and attempt to schedule them during your first few semesters. It is important to complete the prerequisites as soon as possible to gain full benefit of the regular MPA courses.
II. The Core Curriculum
These eight courses form the backbone of the MPA curriculum.
POLI 7350 - Seminar in Public Administration(Bowling, Hale)
Various processes, functions, theories, practices, and systems as treated in the literature of public administration.
POLI 7000 - Research Methods (Clark)
Statistics and other quantitative techniques for the analysis of policy and for administrative decision making.
POLI 7260 - Organizational Theory and Administrative Behavior ( Seroka, Sumners)
The structure and functioning of government organizations. Course includes coverage of research literature.
POLI 7140 - Financial Administration (Jung)
Theory and practice in budgeting, governmental accounting, the review of financial theory, and the politics of the budgeting process.
POLI 7150 - Public Personnel Administration (Hale)
Personnel policies, processes, and politics in American Government.
POLI 7330 - Seminar on Administrative Leadership, Responsibility, and Democratic Government (Slaton, Veal)
Problems of ethics, democratic theory, and leadership as they relate to public administration.
POLI 7360 - Seminar in Policy and Administration (Bowling)
Formation, execution, and evaluation of public policy, plus in depth analysis of selected policy areas.
POLI 7520 - Program Evaluation (Weaver)
Theory and practice of action program evaluation in the public sector with attention to program planning, process assessment, and impact assessment.
SCHEDULE OF CORE COURSES
Under normal circumstances the core courses are offered on a fixed schedule (shown below) each year in order to facilitate student planning. The courses are offered in the late afternoon or evening one day per week in a two-and-a-half hour seminar. While the faculty try to maintain this schedule, modifications are sometimes necessary. The MPA director will publicize any changes as far in advance as possible.
MPA Core Class Schedule |
|
Course |
Semester |
POLI 7000 |
FALL |
POLI 7140 |
FALL |
POLI 7150 |
SPRING |
POLI 7260 |
FALL |
POLI 7330 |
SPRING |
POLI 7350 |
FALL |
POLI 7360 |
SPRING |
POLI 7520 |
SPRING |
III. Electives
The twelve hours of electives may be fulfilled in a variety of ways. Students without a background in political science will be strongly encouraged to spend most of their electives on graduate level political science courses. Examples would be constitutional law, state and local government, etc.. Students with a background in Political Science may choose from a number of subfields. Examples of subfields would be Health Administration, economic development, management, or nonprofit administration. The Auburn University Graduate School Bulletin, available at Hargis Hall, has a complete description of all available graduate level courses in all graduate programs.
IV. The Practical Experience
The remaining six hours of study required by the curriculum are fulfilled in one of two ways. Students without significant prior governmental experience take an internship. Students with direct government experience normally complete an approved research project, although they may take an internship with the approval of the MPA director. Each of these counts as six hours of course work. In both cases, the goal is to give the student practice in applying the concepts and insights of the course work to concrete administrative problems in the public sector.
The internship may be completed at any time during your enrollment. It must be the equivalent of at least one semester of full-time work, but it may be spread over several semesters on a part-time basis. The MPA director will assist in finding an internship which is interesting and applicable to public administrators. We will attempt to find one that pays a stipend equivalent to a one-third GTA position if financial support is needed. Bear in mind, however, that the requirement for financial assistance places limits on the agencies and types of jobs that are available. Depending on your financial situation, the MPA program will make every possible effort to find an internship which fits your needs. Many students seek out positions on their own. This technique can be highly beneficial and successful. The internship should be related to your area of concentration, so it is important to select an area early enough to plan an internship .
The research project is not a thesis, but it is a major undertaking. The primary difference lies in its focus on a practical problem rather than the length of the product or the amount of work required. Also, MPA projects are not reviewed by the Graduate School or placed in the library. The subject matter will be jointly decided by the student and the program director. Usually, the topic is a problem in the student's home agency. While the project carries six hours credit, it may be completed in segments of three hours each. Some students find this procedure useful.
V. The Comprehensive Examination
The comprehensive examination is a critical part of the MPA program. It is the student's opportunity to display what he or she has learned in the program. It is the only opportunity for the faculty to judge how the student has assimilated the instruction and experiences of the program. Although the examination is based upon substantive knowledge of the core courses, it is not simply a series of course examinations strung together. Rather, it requires students to integrate material from different courses and to apply it in new ways. Therefore, success in individual courses will not guarantee success on the comprehensive examination. Preparation for the exam should begin with the first course in the program and continue throughout a student's tenure. Feel free to consult the program director for advice about preparation. Questions from previous examinations are available in the MPA office.
The comprehensive exam will be offered twice a year -- Fall and Spring. Students who fail the examination are allowed one opportunity to retake it at one of the regularly scheduled examination periods. Typically, the exam is taken during your last semester, but the scheduling is left up to the individual and MPA director. Each student will receive notice of when the exam will be given. A committee of three faculty members prepares the exam. The same faculty committee grades the examinations. The exam asks the student to display the following four skills:
- Factual knowledge of basic institutions, processes, and rules affecting public administration. Mastery of this area is essential, but it is substantially assumed at the graduate level or is tested for in specific courses. It is not the primary target of the comprehensive exam. Significant factual errors will be of great concern to your readers, but you will not get much credit for lengthy descriptions that have no theoretical relevance. You should budget your time accordingly.
- Understanding of the major theoretical concepts of the field. Does your discussion (a) use concepts (b) that are appropriate to the topic (c) in such a way as to indicate your command of them? Properly linking concepts with concrete examples is a useful indicator of items b & c.
- Knowledge of some major generalizations of the field. Does your discussion (a) use appropriate generalizations (b) in such a way as to indicate their utility and limitations? For example, if asked to involve large numbers of citizens in a community planning project, you might choose to discuss specific incentives for participation. To justify your need for incentives you might discuss the free rider problem (the logic of collective action).
- Ability to integrate concepts and generalizations from various subfields and courses. Does your discussion indicate an awareness of the implications of one subfield for another? For example, in dealing with such topics as management by objective and personnel evaluation one might well include a discussion of measurement techniques and problems from research methods.
Return to the Top of this page
Questions about this page
Last updated July 1, 2007