Master of Public Administration, Public Sector Administration (MPA)

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The Master of Public Administration (MPA) at the University of Southern Indiana is the preferred graduate degree for individuals who hold or hope to acquire a supervisory position in the public or nonprofit sector. Individuals interested in these sectors pursue the MPA in order to improve their management-related job skills and performance, obtain leadership positions within their current organizations, or begin their career in a public or nonprofit organization. Some students choose to pursue the MPA to strengthen their academic credentials and knowledge of the public sector to prepare for law school or doctoral level work.

Mission Statement: The Master of Public Administration Program at the University of Southern Indiana strives to meet the needs of current and future civic leaders and managers by providing students with the practical knowledge and professional and academic skills, rooted in a strong understanding of the theories of public administration, to become ethical, creative, and inspirational leaders in the public and nonprofit sectors. Our graduates are prepared to meet the economic, social, and political challenges that face leading public sector institutions and nonprofit organizations.

Vision Statement: Preparing civic leaders to meet society’s challenges in the 21st century.

Goals of the MPA program

Articulate the theoretical and institutional foundations of the public and nonprofit sectors, and how these sectors are shaped by their economic, social, and political environments.
Demonstrate the practical skills necessary for the management of public and nonprofit organizations, such as grant writing, budgeting, public speaking, human resources management, organizational behavior, electronic communication, and report writing.
Gather and analyze data to advance the knowledge and practice of public administration and public policy.

Admission Requirements

Students admitted into the Master of Public Administration program at the University of Southern Indiana must complete the following admission requirements:

A completed Application for Admission to Graduate Studies.
A completed MPA Personal Information Form.
A copy of your most recent résumé or curriculum vitae.
References from two individuals who are familiar with your work.
One official transcript from each undergraduate and graduate institution attended. All official transcripts must be sent directly from the Registrar of the institution attended to the Office of Graduate Studies. Applicants seeking admission to the MPA program must hold a baccalaureate degree (any major is acceptable) with a 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale.
A $40.00 nonrefundable graduate application fee.
International Students Only: A minimum score of 79 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or a 6 on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) test is required.

Conditional Admission

Students who meet all other admission requirements but have a GPA below 3.0 may seek conditional admission to the MPA. Conditionally admitted students may only take two graduate courses (six credit hours). If a grade of B or better is earned in each USI graduate course taken while the student is classified as a conditionally admitted student, the student will be unconditionally admitted to the program.

Guest Student Status

An individual may enroll in PA courses as a guest student. A guest student may take up to two graduate courses (6 credit hours) without being formally admitted to the MPA program. If a guest student is subsequently admitted to the MPA program, public administration courses successfully completed will count toward the degree requirements.

A student seeking to enroll in PA courses as a guest student must submit a Guest Student application, one official transcript from each undergraduate and graduate institution attended, and the one-time nonrefundable $40 graduate application fee. The Director of the MPA program and the Director of Graduate Studies will not allow a student with an undergraduate GPA below 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) to enroll in PA courses as a special student. Admission as a guest student does not guarantee enrollment in PA courses. Guest students may enroll in PA courses only when enrollment caps have not been met and when students formally admitted (or expected to be formally admitted) to the MPA program have had an opportunity to enroll.

Curriculum

The MPA program consists of 36 credit hours. Students are required to complete a core curriculum of seven courses (21 hours), and either A) a capstone seminar (3 hours) plus 12 hours of electives, or B) a thesis project (6 hours) plus 9 hours of electives. Elective courses are chosen from one of two specializations: public sector administration or nonprofit administration. MPA courses are offered using three formats: in the classroom once-a-week in the evenings and on Saturday mornings; a distance/hybrid course that meets several times during the semester, while the rest of the sessions are online; and a purely distance course with no class sessions and all course content is online. Courses are offered each fall and spring semester and during the summer in four, five, nine, 10, or 14-week sessions. Students who take two courses during the fall, spring and summer can complete their MPA degree in two calendar years.

Core Curriculum (21 hours)

PA 601 - Organizational Behavior Credits: 3
PA 606 - Public and Nonprofit Personnel Administration Credits: 3
PA 609 - Budgeting in Public and Nonprofit Administration Credits: 3
PA 618 - Research Methods in Public Administration Credits: 3
PA 632 - Introduction to Public Administration Credits: 3
PA 644 - Policies and Processes in the Public Sector Credits: 3
PA 645 - Program Evaluation in the Public and Nonprofit Sector Credits: 3

Capstone Seminar (3 hours) or Thesis Project (6 hours)

Students selecting the Capstone option complete the Capstone course plus 12 hours of electives.
PA 697 - Capstone Seminar in Public Administration Credits: 3
OR
Students selecting the Thesis option complete the Thesis course plus 9 hours of electives.
PA 699 - Thesis in Public Administration Credits: 6
Refer to the MPA Capstone/Thesis section below for more information about selecting either the Capstone Seminar option or Thesis Project option.

Public Sector Administration electives (12 or 9 hours)

Students completing the capstone option must select 12 hours of electives.

Students completing the thesis option must select 9 hours of electives.

COMM 602 - Qualitative Research Methods in Communication Credits: 3
COMM 613 - Political Communication Credits: 3
COMM 614 - Problematic Workplace Communication Credits: 3
COMM 621 - Strategic Communication Credits: 3
PA 527 - Urban Politics and Governance Credits: 3
PA 564 - Environmental Politics and Policy Credits: 3
PA 565 - Comparative Public Policy Credits: 3
PA 603 - Technology Issues and e-Governance Credits: 3
PA 611 - Leadership Skills in Public Administration Credits: 3
PA 612 - Connect with Southern Indiana Credits: 3
PA 614 - Interpersonal Communications within Organizations Credits: 3
PA 615 - Legal Aspects of Public Administration Credits: 3
PA 653 - Ethics in Public Administration Credits: 3
PA 655 - Project Management in Public Administration Credits: 3
PA 663 - Strategic Planning Credits: 3
PA 684 - Grant Writing Credits: 3
PA 690 - Special Topics in Public Administration Credits: 3
PA 695 - Internship in Public Agency Credits: 3
PA 698 - Independent Study in Public Administration Credits: 3

MPA Capstone/Thesis

Note: Students who decide to complete a thesis project and enroll in PA 699 - Thesis in Public Administration are exempt from taking PA 697 - Capstone Seminar in Public Administration .

All MPA students will be required to complete a capstone seminar (with the exception of students doing a thesis project), which is centered on a specific issue, problem, or topic in the field of public administration. Students in the seminar will be required to complete a capstone project, which is based on assessing a student’s ability to relate theoretical knowledge and skills to solving a practical applied problem in the field of public administration. Students will work collaboratively to present a question to a problem, collect and analyze data, present their findings and results, and propose possible solutions.

Students will have an opportunity to enroll and complete a thesis project (PA 699 - Thesis in Public Administration ). The thesis course is designed to allow students an opportunity to conduct original academic research in an area of public administration. PA 699 is a variable credit class that is offered as a three or six credit hour course. PA 699 is repeatable up to six credit hours and will be graded on a Pass/No Pass (P/NP) basis. Students wishing to enroll in three credit hours in a semester will register in PA 699.001 and students wishing to enroll in six credit hours in a semester will enroll in PA 699.002. Students who have not completed the thesis course during the semester in which they are registered will be assigned an “in progress” (IP) grade. An IP grade means a student cannot receive credit for the thesis course without re-registering in the course. In order to receive credit for the thesis, the student must successfully complete a written paper and defend the thesis project in an oral defense. Students will be required to choose an advisor whose research interests closely align with theirs, who is a full-time member of the MPA faculty, and with whom they have completed at least one course in the MPA program. A student must also select two committee members for their thesis committee for a total of three thesis committee members. These committee members must be full-time tenure-track or tenured faculty members of the graduate faculty.

In addition to the thesis course, students can enroll in PA 698 - Independent Study in Public Administration , where students can conduct independent research on an issue in the field of public administration under the supervision of a member of the MPA faculty. Students can also enroll in PA 690 - Special Topics in Public Administration , a course that deals with a special topic in the field of public administration offered through the Master of Public Administration program. Some of the potential topics may include Facilitation and Mediation, Government Reorganization, Housing and Community Development, Historic Preservation, Disaster Management, and Arts and Heritage Management courses.

All students will be required to complete a comprehensive examination as a requirement for graduation from the program administered by the MPA Examination Committee, which consists of members of the MPA faculty. The comprehensive examination will cover the basic mastery of universal required competencies in public administration that make up the core curriculum of the MPA program, along with a mastery of the competencies of either the public sector or nonprofit administration specializations.